There is a myth that attorneys are prohibitively expensive and thus it is easier to figure out your legal situations on your own. However, many times having an attorney on your side can actually end up saving you significant amounts of money.

Here are two situations where we assisted clients in saving money.  As we all know, banks are sometimes difficult because they are monolithic and inflexible. However, there are also times when their slow-moving nature can work in your favor.

Example 1:  We recently had an estate where the deceased had quite a large amount of credit card debt owed to various banks.  After her death, we notified the banks she had passed and they should file claims in probate court. Each creditor was given the same time frame to file its claim, and if it did not, its claim would be barred. The bank owed the most failed to file a claim on time. As a result, now that the time has come to pay all the claims, the bank that failed to file a claim will not be paid. This saved our client tens of thousands of dollars.

Example 2: In another estate, a home is in foreclosure, and there is a good chance a balance will remain after the foreclosure. To protect the family from such a balance, we notified the bank holding the mortgage that it had 30 days to file a claim in probate court to preserve its interest. The bank did not file a claim for a year! Therefore, we denied the debt. This saved the family a lot of uncertainty and potentially money.

As these examples show, simply having someone on your side who knows the rules and the ropes can be a tremendous benefit to both your pocketbook and your peace of mind. If you’re in a situation where a lawyer could help with the uncertainty, do not hesitate to contact your trusted legal professional.