Probate Dispute Resolution Options

A Philadelphia probate dispute resolution options attorney can tell you that there are many different methods available to you to resolve a probate dispute. The traditional approach is based on litigation, but as any probate dispute resolution options lawyer in Philadelphia will tell you, this is often a last resort. In many cases, resolving a legal dispute related to a trust or an estate meant litigation. The parties might lack trust in the selected fiduciary, are not certain about the extent of their rights, or don't fully understand the trust or estate administration process. This means that the circumstances and communication is tense or hostile even before everyone began hiring attorneys.

You can try to resolve things on your own, but what happens if you can’t? If you try mediation and are not successful, you’ll end up back in court. When this happens, it’s on you to come up with a comprehensive plan for how you’ll present evidence and get a chance to share your side of the story. Since that person working on the estate can use estate funds to defend their actions, be prepared about this possible downside of pursuing legal action and facing an uphill battle to do so.

Unfortunately, however, litigation is a very expensive and inefficient process in certain situations. However, you should always hire a probate dispute resolution options attorney in Philadelphia to advise you about whether or not litigation is the most appropriate avenue to resolve the issues. Other methods of resolving a probate dispute are known as alternative dispute resolution. These have become popular in recent decades due to the rising cost of litigation and the overcrowded court dockets. Arbitration can use a different system outside the court that operates in a more efficient and sometimes effective manner. A third party will serve as the final decision maker who has specific training as an arbitrator. Arbitration typically costs less in terms of expenses than traditional litigation and can be concluded much more quickly, but it is still a very adversarial process and therefore not often chosen by people who have a trust or probate dispute. Mediation is another form of alternative dispute resolution that involves a neutral third party known as the mediator. The mediator sits with the opposing parties and their attorneys to help them come to an agreement about the most effective way to settle their dispute. Every party is responsible for gathering their own evidence and prospective experts and must be prepared to cooperate with the other party to come to a final conclusion if possible. Mediators have specific training and techniques that are designed to help them find common ground among opposing parties and give those parties an opportunity to talk out their differences and arrive at a conclusion. Although mediation has proven to be a wonderful process for helping parties to settle a dispute, it is not always successful and can have downsides. There is the possibility that you will spend time in mediation and fail to reach any agreement, ultimately ending up in litigation anyways.

This chance can be much higher in cases in which the mediation is court ordered, rather than agreed to by all the parties, since parties who are not willing to cooperate with another are unlikely to do so in mediation if they have not agreed to cooperate up to that point. Scheduling a consultation directly with an attorney who has years of experience helping to guide harmed beneficiaries and interested parties through this process can help to clarify which alternative dispute resolution techniques, if any, are recommended for you. You can always make an effort to use mediation and see what happens.