The contributing organizations to All About Estates are listed on the right hand side of the page. It is a diverse group of professionals with a wealth of knowledge and experience. All About Estates aims to provide you with a smorgasbord of ideas, trends, comments, and tidbits on interesting and diverse topics. Each weekday a different blogger from a different organization will write an entry.

de VRIES LITIGATION will be blogging on estate and trust litigation, probate issues and estate administration, as well as guardianship disputes. In addition to me, bloggers from de VRIES LITIGATION include Angelique Moss and Diane Vieira.

I am the first to admit that no one wants to be embroiled in litigation (except for litigators). So to start off my blogging, here are my top five tips to avoid estate litigation:

1.        Retain a lawyer or accountant who is familiar with estate planning (the law is ever changing);

2.        Update an estate plan every three to five years or when financial circumstances change;

3.        Appoint a neutral executor who is competent and has a thick skin. Being an executor is no picnic. Family members should be scrupulously vetted;

4.        Have the testator clearly communicate intentions and wishes while alive;

5.        The testator should sell the cottage before he/she dies or have the kids sign off. Cottages haunt executors and beneficiaries alike.

Thanks for subscribing. Enjoy the ride!!

Justin de Vries