The more one practices in a particular area, the more "little things" one encounters. Some of them hardly ever happen, but surprisingly, some are quite common. All these little things affect how the case proceeds, how much work the attorneys have to do, and how long the matter may take. Here are just a few "little things"....
1. Sometimes a person has a right to inherit, but before they receive their inheritance, they die. We call these persons "post-deceased". A post-deceased person does not lose their rights, their estate has whatever rights they would have had. In Surrogates Court, an "estate within an Estate" is quite common.
2. What if the post-deceased person didn't have a right to inherit, but had a right to be notified of a proceeding? Same result as above, their estate must be notified. Sometimes this can really delay things, as one Estate tries to get jurisdiction over another Estate. Very frustrating.
3. A person cannot serve as a fiduciary if they were ever convicted of a felony. I once found out my client was a felon after I had gotten him appointed. While I was deciding whether I was ethically obliged to report this (once I learned of it), the Court found out from someone else and revoked his appointment. I was called in and asked about it, so I had to testify about what I knew and when. Not pleasant, and fortunately no repercussions, but a lesson learned. Now I always ask. Even little old ladies, and once, an old lady admitted that she had done time in Alabama 40 years ago. I told her I was sorry, but I could not file a probate petition for her.
4. What if someone was a convicted felon but has a "waiver of civil disability" from a court? I once had this situation, where my client was opposing the person being appointed. In such a situation it is discretionary, and the Judge appointed this low life (my opinion). Now we will end up fighting during an accounting proceeding because this person has acted quite badly.
5. What if inheritance rights depend on establishing paternity? I've been involved in quite a few of these. There are statutes and developing caselaw on the the use of DNA in posthumous paternity cases. Complicated stuff but very interesting.
The thing about probate and estate administration is, after a person dies, the money and the stuff have to go SOMEWHERE. Figuring it all out, especially when people do not agree, takes an entire specialized court, a whole set of rules, and many lawyers who know about these things at various levels of expertise.
Most of the time things are clear, and the practice is essentially administrative. But other times, mind bending complexity comes into play. When it does, it's nice to know a lot of little things.
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