Probate Paralegal
What does a Probate Paralegal / Probate LDA do?
Paperwork – a lot of paperwork. We are not attorneys and we don’t give legal advice, but we can prepare paperwork and get records for you. When working for someone who represents themselves we are acting as Legal Document Assistants, and we do not give legal advise. When working for attorneys, we are acting as paralegals, and we prepare papers for clients under the direction of the attorneys. We also have registered process servers who serve paperwork on other parties for you, and we have licensed private investigators and other professionals who can meet appraisers and real estate agents at the property. We have an entire team that can help you through the probate process.
How much do you charge?
We charge much less than an attorney, but we cannot answer the question without much more information because many of our clients completely avoid probate or use the simple probate procedures for small estates. However, we can let you know that our prices start at $350 and are generally no more than $1,500.
Figuring out if you have to go to probate court depends on many issues, such as the type of property involved, the value of the estate, and who is claiming the property.
One of the ways to decide if you can use a simplified procedure to avoid probate is to figure out whether any of the assets have named beneficiaries. That means that the decedent, when alive, named one or more people as beneficiaries or co-owners to receive the asset when they died. Some common examples are:
- Life insurance proceeds,
- Retirement accounts and pensions
- Annuities
- Bank checking and savings accounts
- Property held in a living trust
- Real property, such as a house, held jointly with someone else.
Where are you?
We are in the beautiful Haberfelde Building at 1412 17th Street, Ste. 350 in Bakersfield, California, but we help with probate cases throughout California.
How do we get started?
Give us a call to set an appointment. When you come in, bring all documents you have related to the estate including any will, death certificate, deed, or other document.