Top Farmingdale, NY Honorary Trust Lawyers Near You

Farmingdale Honorary Trust Information

Are You Considering Creating an Honorary Trust?

If you have a beloved pet you want to ensure is properly cared for after your death or you want to detail maintenance of cemetery plots, talk with a Farmingdale attorney who can set up an honorary trust for you. Through such trusts you can arrange for the care and maintenance of special places, rituals, or animal companions after you are gone.

How an Honorary Trust Works

With an honorary trust, you appoint a trustee to use the corpus of the trust for a designated purpose, such as the care and feeding of a pet or the care of a cemetery plot. Honorary trusts are not legal in every state, and where they are legal, the state law imposes rigid requirements and limitations. For example, in some states, an honorary trust can only be used to provide for pets and cemetery plots. Other states may allow the trust settler to create the trust to ensure rituals are followed, such as a mass being given according to specifications.

Top Questions to Ask When Hiring an Attorney

• How many years have you been practicing law? How long have you practiced law in the local area?
• How many cases similar to mine have you handled in the past?
• What is the likely outcome for my case?

In legal practice, experience matters. An experienced attorney will likely have handled issues similar to yours many, many times. Therefore, after listening to your situation, the attorney should have a reasonable idea of the time line for a case like yours and the likely resolution.

What to Expect from an Initial Consultation

• Seek to determine whether the attorney can represent you. There is no one-size-fits-all legal solution and it may turn out your needs are better served by an attorney in a different specialization.
• It's important to find a legal ally who is both competent in the law and someone you can trust to protect your interests.
• Discuss how the practice's billing works and discuss possible additional charges or fees that may arise during or after the resolution of your case.

An attorney consultation should provide you with enough information so that you can make an informed decision on whether to proceed with legal help.

How much does it cost to hire an attorney?

In general, how much an attorney costs will often depend on these four factors: billing method and pricing structure, type of legal work performed, law firm prestige, and attorney experience. Depending on the legal issue you are facing, an attorney may bill you by the hour, settle on a flat fee, or enter into a contingency fee agreement. The type of legal work you need help with will also play a role in cost incurred.

Common legal terms explained

Pro se - This Latin term refers to representing yourself in court instead of hiring professional legal counsel. Pro se representation can occur in either criminal or civil cases.

Statute - Refers to a law created by a legislative body. For example, the laws enacted by Congress are statutes.

Subject matter jurisdiction - Requirement that a particular court have authority to hear the claim based on the specific type of issue brought to the court. For example, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court only has subject matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy filings, therefore it does not have the authority to render binding judgment over other types of cases, such as divorce.

Lead Counsel Rated Attorneys

Lead Counsel's objective process independently verifies attorney records, conferring with state bars across the country and conducting annual reviews to confirm that the attorney practices in the legal categories as indicated, possesses a valid bar license, and is eligible to practice in the specific jurisdiction.