Crafted, Strategic Representation In Any Type Of Litigated Estate Dispute
When estate planning or administration goes wrong, estate litigation may be necessary to resolve the disputes that emerge among the parties involved. This type of litigation can be complex, costly and emotionally draining, as it often involves family members, close friends or trusted advisers. Litigated estate disputes can also have significant consequences for the rights and interests of the parties, as well as the legacy of the deceased person. Even when an estate contains more than a million dollars in assets, those assets can quickly be depleted through protracted litigation.
For all these reasons and more, it is critical to for those facing the potential of estate or trust litigation to become fully informed about their options, including what an effective and efficient resolution might look like v. the costs and risks of going to trial. Either way, you want an effective and proven trial lawyer who has handled hundreds of inheritance disputes from start to finish. In Beachwood and throughout Ohio, the easy choice for representation is The Law Offices of Adam M. Fried, LLC. The firm’s focus is estate and trust litigation, and founder Adam M. Fried brings more than 24 years of legal experience, most of which has been spent as a trust and estate litigator for a larger firm. He decided to open his firm to provide highly personalized service and strategic representation, giving his clients the benefits of his wealth of knowledge and litigation skills.
An Attorney With A Broad Range Of Estate Litigation Experience
Estate litigation can cover a wide range of legal issues and disputes, depending on the facts and circumstances of each case. Attorney Fried utilizes his diverse litigation experience to vigorously advocate for plaintiffs or defendants in any type of estate litigation, including:
Will Contests
A will contest is a challenge to the validity or interpretation of a will. A will contest may be based on various grounds, such as lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, forgery or improper execution. It may also involve a dispute over the meaning or effect of a provision in the will, such as a gift, a condition or a revocation.
Trust Disputes
A trust dispute is a conflict over the creation, administration, or termination of a trust. Litigants can include the parties to the trust, such as the settlor, the trustee, or the beneficiary, or third parties, such as creditors, tax authorities, or other claimants. A trust dispute may arise from various issues, such as breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, mismanagement of assets or interpretation of trust terms.
Litigated Probate Issues
Probate litigation is a legal proceeding involving the administration of a probate estate, including disputes over the appointment of an administrator or executor, the inventorying and accountings of estate assets, and the identification of heirs at law and beneficiaries. It may involve the appointment or removal of a personal representative, the inventory or valuation of assets, the payment or priority of debts and taxes, the distribution or transfer of property, or the accounting or reporting of estate transactions, or lawsuits to determine the ownership of property such as real estate, brokerage accounts, retirement assets, and closely held businesses and just about any other type of property that one can imagine in the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.
Legal, Financial And Other Claims On The Estate
An estate claim is a demand or assertion of a right or interest in the estate of a deceased person. An estate claim may be made by a creditor, a beneficiary, a spouse, a child, a dependent, or any other person who has a legal or equitable interest in the estate. An executor or administrator might also have a claim against estates. It is not unusual to see claims against estate’s litigated on such things as to the obligation claimed to be owed, the timeliness of presentment and or the manner in which notice of the claim was served.
Questions Of Testator Capacity And Power Of Attorney Authority
Mental Capacity relates to the cognitive ability of a person to perform a certain task, such as to execute a will, enter into a contract, make medical decisions, or assign agency through a power of attorney to name just a few. Whether a person had the requisite capacity to perform a particular task will be assessed using the appropriate test of capacity. Often whether a person had capacity to perform a task in the past, such as executing a will, is not determined until some point in the future, such as in a will contest where the test of capacity to make a will is assessed retrospectively through existing medical records and other testimony and evidence. The existence of cognitive decline, even a diagnosis of dementia, does not compel a finding of lack of capacity, meaning that persons who suffer from dementia can still potentially meet the test of having sufficient capacity to perform the task at issue.
Attorney Fried has taken hundreds of depositions in the search for evidence to produce or defend his case, has lectured to the legal community on deposition skills in undue influence cases. He has deposed estate planning attorneys, medical experts, trustees, executors, family members, caregivers, bankers, and brokers, all to demonstrate the strength of his clients position.
Power of Attorney abuse and Breach of Trust/Self-Dealing
Powers of Attorney, health and financial, are incredible tools frequently used by estate planners to help their clients avoid the need for guardianship. When a principal has appointed an agent for health care, the agent is empowered to make medical decisions for the principal when the principal can no longer make decisions for himself or herself due to lack of medical decision-making capacity. An agent under a Financial Power of Attorney, on the other hand, can, depending on the scope of the power contained in the financial POA, exercise the power, regardless of the capacity of the principal. Thus, even if a principal has the capacity to manage his or her own financial accounts, the agent can also exercise that power. Breach of Trust and Self-Dealing involves claims that an agent has misused the authority, acted in a way that is against the best interests of the principal, or otherwise, engaged in self-dealing to benefit himself or herself in contravention of the interests or intent of the principal.
Fiduciary Duty and Fiduciary Relationship
A person who occupies a fiduciary or confidential relationship with a person, occupies a special place in the law and owes that person the Duty of Loyalty. A fiduciary relationship exists when a person places special trust and confidence in the fidelity of another and, when a person occupies such a relationship, any advantage taken or received will be looked upon with some degree of suspicion. Because the power a fiduciary holds over a person who places trust and reliance in the fiduciary is so great, Ohio law establishes certain presumptions to the effect that bad conduct can be presumed, switching the evidentiary burden to the fiduciary to demonstrate his or her conduct is free from the exercise of undue influence. Proving the existence of a fiduciary relationship is a powerful tool in the hands of an attorney that litigates over estates or trusts and is a topic that Mr. Fried has written and lectured locally and nationally.
Fighting Financial Exploitation And Undue Influence
Financial exploitation and undue influence are forms of abuse or manipulation that target the assets or property of a vulnerable person, such as an elderly, disabled, or dependent person. They may occur when a person uses deception, coercion, or pressure to gain control or access to the resources or decision-making of another person, often to the detriment of their best interests or wishes. Financial exploitation and undue influence may involve various actions, such as theft, fraud, misappropriation, extortion or isolation. Fighting elder abuse and exploitation is a major area of focus for the firm and an issue that attorney Fried is passionate about.
Seeking Legal Clarification Of Estate Plan Ambiguities
Sometimes the circumstances of the estate at issue change in ways that are not predictable when the plan was created. Asset changes, second marriages, unanticipated deaths and the order of those deaths may significantly impact the manner and mode of distribution and create circumstances where the intent of the settlor or testator is not easily carried out. Ambiguities are also created, sometimes, as a result of incomplete or poor drafting of wills and trusts. The process of demonstrating settlor intent is difficult and involves complex evidentiary rules and guidelines that require a significant amount of knowledge to weave through in proving or defending a case based on ambiguity. Adam M. Fried has litigated ambiguity cases and has lectured and authored articles on the subject of the use of extrinsic evidence in the quest for finding settlor intent.
The Right Legal Representation Can Make All The Difference
Even a great attorney will not know everything there is to know about the law that governs the problem at hand. An effective lawyer, however, will have a substantial grasp of the intricacies and policies supporting the reasons and principles that support the decision making a judge or jury will need to engage in when deciding your case. The more knowledgeable and experienced the attorney, the more likely he or she will be able to help you craft the compelling narrative necessary to effectively prove your case. There is so much noise and so many dead-end issues in an estate litigation case, that lawyers often get lost in the narrative and spend unnecessary time and expense on things that won’t move the needle in terms of proving your case. The messy or mundane details of an estate need to be concentrated into a cohesive story about the life and intentions of the person whose estate is at issue – a story that judges and juries find more convincing than the differing narrative presented by opposing counsel.
Many Lawyers and their clients turn to attorney Adam M. Fried for his ability to distill complex information and present it passionately and intelligently. It is the secret to his strong track record of success on behalf of the clients he serves.
Contact The Firm To Discuss Your Legal Options
Based in Beachwood, The Law Offices of Adam M. Fried, LLC, serves clients locally and throughout Ohio. Mr. Fried selectively offers consultations to prospective clients and counsel for estate disputes. If you’d like to learn more about how he can assist you, call 216-710-4555 or submit an online contact form.