What should you do if you are mourning the loss of a loved one? And it comes to your attention that you were not in their will. What should be done then?
Don’t panic and calm yourself and take deep breaths as such incidents happen all the times around the world. Most commonly such will disputes arise among family members which involve a stepmother who inherits all the assets and children are left with nothing so in other cases vice versa. Such kind of news is filled with news of various famous people from sports stars, celebrities or business tycoons filing lawsuits to earn their rightful share of their assets.
While filing a lawsuit one should remember that litigation is costly and one should have a hefty sum in their account to get a good lawyer file a case. In will cases, most of the parties prefer that they hire will dispute lawyer on a contingency fee basis. Which means that the will dispute lawyers in Sydney gets 1/3rd of what the client wins and he doesn’t get paid if he loses so that’s why lawyers avoid such cases because there is a high risk of not getting paid. Best chances of getting a good lawyer are through referrals from family or friends. Just don’t meet an attorney and finalize it rather take your time to finalize after meeting a handful of them.
Secondly, you must control your nerves because it’s a roller coaster ride and many up’s and down’s will come as there will be many lies told by your opposition and many statements will be misunderstood and accusations will be made. In a deposition, the opposing lawyer will ask you below the belt questions and will try to use your statements against you to discredit your credibility and try to imply to the jury that you are greedy and don’t have any emotional relationship will deceased individual and most certainly have to testify in court.
Right after hiring an attorney you have to decide regarding the strategy to approach this case as you have a window of opportunity for a limited time and have to decide. Your attorney may advise you to go to court or to send a letter to opposition attorney for information.
After litigation has begun and at initial stages when lawyers have communicated with each other and fact-finding stage is over then your attorney may suggest you peruse with the case or may recommend you to go with settlement offer depending upon strengths and weaknesses of your case. If your case is not in your favour then you must go for a settlement or may go for trial if you believe that facts support your claim.