THE ESTATE LAWYERS

FIXED FEES

We offer fixed fees for all of our work, including Estate Administration and Will and estate disputes. We can do this because all of our Will and estate lawyers have represented clients in all types of Will and estate litigation matters before.

We know what work is required and so we are prepared to fix a fee with you to complete certain work and we will stick to it – no exceptions, giving you peace of mind that you will know what your legal costs are going to be.

None of our clients ever receive a bill for our fees which they are not expecting. We are completely transparent with our costs. We don’t agree with lawyers charging by the hour because that rewards inefficiency because the lawyer’s bill is more the longer he or she takes to do the job.

You shouldn’t pay a lawyer to be inefficient. You should only pay the lawyer for the completion of the agreed job, not how long it takes them to do it and that is why The Estate Lawyers are so passionate about fixed fees for legal work.

FLEXIBILE & EFFICIENT ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

We understand that some clients want to be heavily involved in the estate administration process while others prefer for their solicitor to take care of as much work as possible.

At The Estate Lawyers, we offer flexible arrangements whereby you can instruct us to do as much (or as little) work as you would like. For example, we can assist you to obtain a Grant of Probate or to defend the estate from litigation while you take care of smaller items of work, such as notifying the banks and other relevant entities. Our specialist team of lawyers are experts in administering estates and will work with you to efficiently administer your loved one's estate.

GOOGLE REVIEWS

We would encourage you to read our reviews to see what our clients think of us and the services we provide. All reviews are genuine.

EXPERIENCED COURT & TRIAL LAWYERS

Our Will and estate lawyers have significant Court and Trial experience in all areas of Will disputes any other types of Deceased estate litigation. We proudly stand by our firm’s Will and estate Trial record which we believe is unsurpassed by any other Will or estate law firm in Queensland.

As strange as it may sound, not many estate lawyers have Trial experience. This is because our legal system is designed to resolve Will and estate disputes by consent at settlement conferences long before Trial.

Our lawyers will refuse to settle for anything other than the best results for our clients in all Deceased estate and trust litigation. If that means we need to proceed to a Trial to get that result, we would welcome that opportunity. Therefore if your case warrants heading to Trial, we will be pleased to take you there and win for you.

If you would like to read about some of our Court and Trial successes, below are links to published Judgments in which we acted for one of the parties.

• Estate of Manly – a claim by the Deceased’s widow for further provision from his estate
• Estate of Donovan – an argument surrounding the proper payment of the Deceased’s superannuation
• Estate of Dalton – to protect the interests of a disabled beneficiary from a claim by his uncle
• Estate of Colston – a dispute surrounding the removal of an Executor and trustee and the proper administration of a trust
• Estate of Cook - a dispute around the Deceased’s capacity to make their Will
• Estate of Schuhmacher – litigation surrounding the construction and meaning of a trust deed and whether monies in the Deceased’s bank account were estate funds;
• Estate of Petty – where directions where sought from the Court as to the meaning of a Deceased person’s ambiguous Will which the Deceased made at home.
• Estate of Pike – where a declaration was sought that a person who was convicted of the manslaughter of his mother could not benefit under her Will.
• Estate of Gore - A claim by the Deceased’s de facto for further provision from his estate and an argument about the Deceased’s personal items
• Estate of Buss - A claim by the Deceased’s ex wife for further provision from his estate
• Estate of Kahler – An Application whether a handwritten note was a Will and if the note is a Will, to determine the meaning of the Will.

QLD SPECIALIST WILL & ESTATE LAWYERS

We do not accept instructions in any area of law unless the instructions relate to a Will or Estate Plan, a Deceased Estate Administration, or a Will or other form of estate or Power of Attorney dispute in Queensland.

Therefore all of our Will and estate lawyers are trained, experienced and focus on providing the best advice in these practice areas. If you choose to instruct us you therefore know you are getting the best possible advice about your Will and estate issue.

YOU CHOSE HOW YOU WISH TO BE REPRESENTED

We want to provide you with advice in the way which is most convenient for you. We know any legal matter will be extremely stressful for you. We want to represent you in a way which eases your stress levels.

Therefore whilst The Estate Lawyers has an office in Brisbane and a visited office on the Gold Coast, we also represent many clients from around Australia and the world in their Queensland based Will and estate matters. If you would prefer to meet face to face, we will arrange that. If you would prefer to only deal with us on the phone or through skype, we can also arrange for this.

If you would prefer we call you after hours, we will set times for that to happen. At The Estate Lawyers, we believe our job is to set and then exceed your expectations about what your lawyer should do for you.

DEFERRED FEE & CAPPED FEES

We represent selected clients in Deceased Estate Administration matters and Will and estate disputes on the basis that we do not require any fees paid to us until you receive money from the estate.

The Estate Lawyers has never represented any client in a Will or estate dispute where the amount of our fees exceeded the award received from the estate.

To give you certainty about this, if we agree to represent you in your Will or estate dispute on a deferred fee basis, we will cap our fees at the amount of money you receive from the estate so you will not be out of pocket. We would be happy to discuss this further with you.

DUAL REPRESENTATION

You will always have two lawyers who know about your case at any time. Therefore if you ever have any urgent questions, you can be assured that your question can be responded to immediately. There is no extra charge for this service as our fees are fixed. We believe the dual representation is critical to ensure the service levels you should expect from your Will and estate lawyer.