Walking into probate court for the first time can be a daunting experience. And not just for non-lawyers. Many lawyers who have spent their careers practicing in other areas can find the rules and procedures of probate confusing–that’s if they find the rules at all. 

I have spent nearly my entire ten-year career in this area so I sometimes forget how difficult it can be to come into a complex area of the law unprepared for what awaits.  But I had a bit of a reminder recently–a wake-up call of sorts.  I went to Bankruptcy Court.  It wasn’t my first time there, but it had been a while (five years or so).  Bankruptcy court is a lot like probate court in the sense that both require an understanding of a unique procedure and special rules that do not apply in general civil practice. 
As I sat in bankruptcy court waiting for the judge to take the bench, I heard the other lawyers around me speaking in code sections and terms that were entirely foreign to me.  Luckily I was in bankruptcy court for a minor reason–to set aside the automatic bankruptcy stay for a civil case my firm was handling where the defendant filed for bankruptcy protection.  I managed to obtain the relief I was seeking, but I realized that coming into this court, with its arcane rules and procedures is like going into probate court for the first time and not knowing that area of law.  Simply put, experience matters.
For example, in trust cases we often file multiple pleadings at the same time to protect our client’s interests. Such as filing a creditor’s claim in an estate, a petition to transfer property (called an “850 petition” in probe lingo) and a petition to contest a trust or will all at the same time in the same case.  These can be confusing filings when compared to a single complaint that is filed in a typical civil lawsuit.  But confusion is checked with experience, and it makes the difference between being protected and being vulnerable.  
I am going to leave Bankruptcy Court to the bankruptcy lawyers–they seem to have things well in control. And I will continue plying my trade in the confusing world of trusts and wills where my experience has taken me. 

Walking into probate court for the first time can be a daunting experience. And not just for non-lawyers. Many lawyers who have spent their careers practicing in other areas can find the rules and procedures of probate confusing–that’s if they find the rules at all. 

I have spent nearly my entire ten-year career in this area so I sometimes forget how difficult it can be to come into a complex area of the law unprepared for what awaits.  But I had a bit of a reminder recently–a wake-up call of sorts.  I went to Bankruptcy Court.  It wasn’t my first time there, but it had been a while (five years or so).  Bankruptcy court is a lot like probate court in the sense that both require an understanding of a unique procedure and special rules that do not apply in general civil practice. 

As I sat in bankruptcy court waiting for the judge to take the bench, I heard the other lawyers around me speaking in code sections and terms that were entirely foreign to me.  Luckily I was in bankruptcy court for a minor reason–to set aside the automatic bankruptcy stay for a civil case my firm was handling where the defendant filed for bankruptcy protection.  I managed to obtain the relief I was seeking, but I realized that coming into this court, with its arcane rules and procedures is like going into probate court for the first time and not knowing that area of law.  Simply put, experience matters.

For example, in trust cases we often file multiple pleadings at the same time to protect our client’s interests. Such as filing a creditor’s claim in an estate, a petition to transfer property (called an “850 petition” in probe lingo) and a petition to contest a trust or will all at the same time in the same case.  These can be confusing filings when compared to a single complaint that is filed in a typical civil lawsuit.  But confusion is checked with experience, and it makes the difference between being protected and being vulnerable.  

I am going to leave Bankruptcy Court to the bankruptcy lawyers–they seem to have things well in control. And I will continue plying my trade in the confusing world of trusts and wills where my experience has taken me.