You grew up in New Mexico, and so that is where you still currently live. However, your parents eventually moved to Texas. Losing a parent is difficult in any situation, and choosing to serve as the executor of their estate will mean that you have a lot of obligations to fulfill in the upcoming months.
Once your parent has officially moved to Texas and they are no longer a resident of your home state, Texas probate laws will apply, and estate administration will need to occur in the Texas probate courts. If you find yourself in this stressful situation, hiring a Texas probate attorney will typically benefit you.
1. An attorney can save you from constant travel
Needing to go back and forth between states is a challenge, especially when you have a career to manage and children to care for on a day-to-day basis. Dropping everything to leave the state for every probate court hearing may not be a very realistic expectation.
When you have a Texas attorney representing you as the executor of the estate, you can largely minimize your personal presence in court. Sometimes, you may not ever need to physically show up at all. They can handle everything from helping you accept your duties to filing the necessary paperwork.
2. They can help you avoid probate mistakes
When you have to juggle estate administration with your own life, it is far easier than you might expect to make mistakes or forget deadlines. When you have an attorney assisting you with the state administration, they can educate you about your responsibilities and help ensure that you fulfill them while also complying with all applicable taxs laws.
From notifying creditors to filing certain paperwork with the courts, the lawyer representing you can facilitate many of the crucial steps involved in estate administration.
3. They can connect you with local support in Texas
One of the biggest challenges of out-of-state estate administration is that you won’t be physically present to secure someone’s property and may not have any connections to the local community. Lawyers can help you hire the right individuals or service providers to manage real property, clear out an apartment or otherwise handle physical tasks in Texas so that you don’t need to do that.
Having the right local support will help reduce how many times you need to enter the state and streamline the obligations you must fulfill if and when you do visit. Bringing in professional help instead of trying to handle estate administration on your own can be a very smart move, especially for someone not currently residing in Texas.