When You Don't Need a Lawyer: How to Decide What Can Handle Yourself and Can't - Probate, Legal Fees, Limited-Scope Help, Red Flags

Do you need a lawyer to settle this estate? Almost everyone who answers that question is selling the answer.Law firms say yes. Forms companies say no. Books on the subject put the answer in the title. This book has no stake in it, and it starts from a different place: settling an estate is not one job but thirty or forty separate tasks. A few of them need legal judgment. Most are court procedure or paperwork that a careful executor can do as well as anyone.The real question is which parts of the job need a lawyer, and how to buy exactly those.Some states have already decided for you. In Florida, most personal representatives must be represented by a lawyer. In Texas, most probate proceedings require one. Other states publish forms and guides written for people doing it themselves. The first chapter that matters tells you how to find out which kind of state you are in, with one phone call.What is inside: - A three-question triage that settles, in an afternoon, how much of an estate needs outside help- The executor's whole job, task by task, with three answers for each: do it yourself, buy only the part you need, or hand it over, and the facts that move a task from one to another- How probate lawyers actually charge, hourly, flat fee or a percentage set by law, with California's and Florida's fee schedules worked through on real numbers- Limited-scope help: how to hire a lawyer for one consultation, one document or one decision, and the written scope that makes it work- The free help courts give executors, from self-help centres to clerks, and exactly where it stops- Document preparers and the new licensed paraprofessionals, what they may and may not do, and how to check them- Fifteen red flags that mean you need a lawyer for that part of the job, now- How to hire well, read an engagement letter, keep the bill down, and what to do when it goes wrong- Decision worksheets, a red-flag checklist, a lawyer interview sheet and a fee comparison, built to be photocopiedEvery rule, fee schedule and threshold traces to the statute, court rule or agency that sets it, named with the date it was checked. Where a rule varies by state, the book says so and uses labelled examples rather than pretending one rule applies everywhere.Who this is for: the person who has just been named executor, has a lawyer's quote in hand or is about to get one, and wants to know what they would actually be paying for.Who this is not for: anyone looking for legal advice, or for a book that tells them they don't need a lawyer. This one shows you how to tell, including the situations where the answer is unambiguously yes.Start with the triage. Then decide each part of the job on its own merits.