Diligent Nebraska Lawyers
Our Diverse Estate Planning and Probate Experience
At Ballew Covalt, PC, LLO, we have vast experience handling both the estate planning and the estate and probate administration phases.
To control how and to whom your assets are distributed after your death, speak to an experienced estate planning attorney. In Nebraska, contact Ballew Covalt, PC, LLO.
Estate Planning
We draft and review all estate planning documents. In addition to wills, we prepare:
- Health care powers of attorney
- Living wills
- Trusts, including family trusts, marital trusts and revocable trusts
Living Wills
A living will is a document that indicates what level of medical care you want administered if you were to be unconscious when you need medical treatment. Having a living will ensures that your family will not have to agonize or speculate over the level of care you would have wanted.
Trusts
Having a will in place gives you control over the distribution of your assets. However, your estate will still have to go through the expensive and time-consuming probate process. One way to avoid probate is by setting up a trust.
Probate and Estate Administration
Under Nebraska law, there are alternatives to probate, which include revocable trusts and estate administration by affidavit for smaller estates.
In uncomplicated estates, cases are expected to be completed within a year. Probate can be informal, formal or a hybrid.
The probate process requires determining whether there is a will, determining total assets and claims, settling the estate, paying off debts and taxes, and making sure the assets are distributed in accordance with the will or applicable laws.
We will serve as administrator or executor if that is what the client wants. We are willing and capable of preparing federal estate tax returns and routinely handle estate inheritance tax issues.
Probate Litigation
We also handle will contests, in which the validity of a will is challenged, and disputes over the administration of an estate's assets.
To schedule a confidential consultation, contact our Lincoln office.
Ballew Covalt, PC, LLO
1045 Lincoln Mall
Suite 200
Lincoln, NE 68508-2966
P. O. Box 81229
Lincoln, NE 68501
Phone: 402-436-3030
Fax: 402-436-3031
E-mail