The Badger Law Group, Probate Litigation

Disputes sometimes arise during the administration of a trust, estate or guardianship. Because family relationships are often involved, resolution of these disputes requires sensitivity to these relationships and a sure hand to guide you, whether you are the fiduciary, a beneficiary, or an interested third party.

EXPERIENCE:
Our attorneys have negotiated these sometimes treacherous waters successfully, so as to leave family relationships as intact as possible, while obtaining the best results for our clients.

Probate disputes may involve the valuation or distribution of assets, determination of proper beneficiaries, contesting the validity of a will or trust, or the mechanics of estate or trust administration. BLG attorneys and staff have more than three decades of experience in successfully representing both fiduciaries and beneficiaries.

SERVICES:

Representing and defending fiduciaries (trustees, executors, guardians) in attempts to remove them or challenge their actions
Representing beneficiaries and family members in claims against a will, a trust or in guardianship matters
Challenging or defending a will or trust instrument on grounds of incapacity, undue influence or fraud
Judicial reformation of the terms of a trust or compromise of a will
Representing spouses in claims against a will
Protecting the interests of incapacitated persons in contested guardianship proceedings

RECENT SUCCESSES:

Negotiated settlement dismissing all claims against a trustee of $3 million trust for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty
Negotiated settlement to recover most of a $1.4 million estate from the executor/trustee who had diverted the assets
Recovered the bulk of a $1.1 million estate for a wife and children who had been disinherited, obtaining not only probate assets but retirement accounts as well
Recovered $1.8 million in trust funds from major law firm that had failed to establish special needs trust for minor who had obtained a favorable medical malpractice verdict
Preserved most of an estate for the named beneficiaries in a will contest involving two dozen relatives
Defended the sole beneficiary, trustee and widower in a proceeding brought by a disinherited son to contest the will and trust
Obtained a one-third share of estate through settlement on behalf of grandchildren omitted in their grandfather’s will
Obtained appointment of trustee for real estate trust against competing claim of other beneficial owner when original trustee deceased
Negotiated favorable settlement on behalf of executor regarding beneficiary’s objections to executor’s accounting

OUR ATTORNEYS:

Lawrence J. Cohen

R. Alan Fryer