Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys
224,789 verified estate planning attorneys across the United States. An estate planning attorney prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives to protect your family and pass on your assets.
Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award in Estate Planning. Member, Board of Trustees, Sutter Hospitals Foundation, 1989-2001—.
Phi Delta Phi; Order of Barristers; National Moot Court. Author: "Pocket Watch," A Nationally-Syndicated Newsletter for Estate Planning Attorneys.
Attorney Carlo LaMonica has devoted his entire legal career to helping individuals, families, and small business owners in Northeastern Pennsylvania w...
Mr. David Steinfeld is a lawyer practicing 215, business counseling, business law and 16 other areas of law.
Douglas MacMillan Borthwick is a lawyer practicing civil litigation, business litigation, personal injury and 7 other areas of law. Douglas received a...
Mark D. Munson is a lawyer practicing elder law, estate planning, taxation and 7 other areas of law.
Kevin Patrick Seaver is a lawyer practicing child abuse or neglect (51a) reports, custody, adoptions and 18 other areas of law. Kevin received a B.S. ...
Mr. Douglas L.
Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and Peace of Mind - Contact Seiter Law for a free consultation! About me: I am passionate about he...
The founder of the Law Offices of John Schmidt & Associates PLLC, John has a personal devotion to help struggling families. The happiness and welfare ...
Mr. George Leroy Powell is a lawyer practicing criminal law, dui/dwi, sex crimes and 109 other areas of law.
Emily A Foehr is a lawyer practicing estate planning for parents of handicapped children, estate planning for unmarried couples, estate planning for t...
Brian H. Nelson is a lawyer practicing wills and probate, trusts and estates, real estate and 6 other areas of law.
Mr. Evan Kyle Guthrie is a lawyer practicing marriage & prenuptials, trusts, power of attorney and 20 other areas of law.
Stephen P. Levesque is a lawyer practicing bankruptcy, estate planning, probate and 6 other areas of law.
Richard M. Morgan has been practicing law in Georgia since 1987.
Kirsten E. Bennett is a lawyer practicing criminal law, dui/dwi, personal injury and 19 other areas of law.
Mr. Bauer began the practice of law in 1985 and established the law firm of Bauer and Associates in 1992 in DeLand.
Focusing his practice largely on complex civil litigation, R. Greg Andrews is the managing member at Andrews Law.
National College for DUI Defense,Certificate (2010). National College of DUI Defense Summer Session taught at Harvard Law School (2010).
Law Clerk to the Honorable Thomas W. Cooper, Jr., Circuit Judge, 3rd Judicial Circuit, 2001-2002.
Education: Texas Wesleyan School of Law 2010- Dean's List- Vice Magister, Phi Delta Phi, 2008-2009- Academic Support Teaching Assistant, 2008-2009- Mo...
Mr. Jason Eric Neufeld is a lawyer practicing elder law, medicaid planning, special needs trusts and 3 other areas of law.
Brendan Sweeney serves as Counsel in the firm's Financial Services Litigation Group with a focus on representing financial institutions in all matters...
Mr. James Ralph Aulbaugh III is a lawyer practicing business litigation, commercial litigation, divorce and 10 other areas of law.
Mr. Vyzas received his start as a legal aide in the New York State Department of Law, Real Estate Financing Bureau, where he reviewed cooperative, con...
Named one of Georgia Trend Magazine's Legal Elite for 2016 in Tax, Estate, and Trust Law; Selected for Super Lawyers of Georgia (2013, 2014, 2015, 201...
James Earl Hensley, Jr. is a lawyer practicing personal injury, federal and state criminal and civil law, capital murder and 9 other areas of law. Jam...
Mr. Easa Ronny Mousa is a lawyer practicing trusts and estates, adoption, advocacy and 23 other areas of law.
Louis A. Russo is the founding member of Russo Law LLC, a New York and New Jersey business law firm focused on commercial contracts, business acquisit...
Mr Mark S. Bosco is a lawyer practicing banking law, general real estate practice, bankruptcy and 5 other areas of law.
Mr. Goldman has over 20 years of business experience.
Joseph Patrick Vendetti is a lawyer practicing workers compensation, personal injury, wills and estates and 2 other areas of law. Joseph received a de...
Tae Kelley Bronner is a lawyer practicing probate & trust, probate and trust litigation, real property and 3 other areas of law. Tae received a B.A. d...
Mike began practicing law in 2002 in Fort Wayne and the surrounding counties. Mike has focused his scope of legal practice to all issues involving fam...
Michael Scott Arlein is a lawyer practicing trusts and estates, financial services, estate planning and 4 other areas of law. Michael received a B.A. ...
While I am a lawyer and my career is a large part of my life, its only a small part of who I am. So let me start off by telling you a little bit about...
I am married and have three young children. My family is very much like the family described on the Why You? — Mid-Life page.
Marianna Schwartsman is a lawyer practicing wills and trusts, asset protection, probate and 18 other areas of law. Marianna received a B.A. degree fro...
For nearly 20 years Craig Thrift has represented clients in business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, franchising, real estate, leasing, corpor...
Attorney Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale has earned the distinguished AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell. This high achievement is earned by a se...
As a litigation attorney, Mr. Loew’s primary areas of practice include trust and estate litigation (including will and trust contests), fiduciary liti...
Gary Green practices at Sidkoff, Pincus & Green, P.C. Read Full Bio
Hebern W. Sanderson, Jr. is a lawyer practicing personal injury, workers compensation, social security disability and 3 other areas of law.
Michael J. Haller is a lawyer practicing social security disability, social security disability insurance, social security and 8 other areas of law.
Robert Thomas Noone is a lawyer practicing adoptions, state adoptions (dhhr or dhr), foster child adoption and 9 other areas of law. Robert received a...
Atty. Jerome W Perry is a lawyer practicing personal injury, products liability, wrongful death and 30 other areas of law.
After serving as a federal prosecutor in both: The United States Air Force, Judge Advocate General Corps for over 4 years; and as a Special Assistant ...
Jeffrey Matthew Bases is a lawyer practicing litigation, business law, personal injury and 4 other areas of law. Jeffrey received a B.A. degree from U...
Ms. Holly Berry Harris Norvell is a lawyer practicing estate planning, taxation, estate administration and 5 other areas of law.
Ara C. Khorozian is a lawyer practicing real estate contracts, real estate acquisitions, real estate investments and 18 other areas of law.
Christina Jimenez founded The Jimenez Law Firm in North Texas and her home region of Midland-Odessa with the goal of providing the best possible crimi...
Personal: - Married to Laura Hollis Holleman of Memphis, Tennessee (1983) - Three Children: Sarah Gant Holleman, University of Mississippi; Leslie Dea...
Attorney Greg Nussbickel is an honors law graduate who served as legal extern to the Florida Supreme Court. He began his career in 2002 with a nationa...
Calvin Kourosh Azadi practices at Azadi Law Read Full Bio
I am the CEO and Co-Founder of Shankar Ninan & Co., a law firm that provides comprehensive legal services to small and medium-sized businesses in New ...
Liane K. Wakayama is a lawyer practicing probate / trust litigation, civil litigation, business disputes and 5 other areas of law.
Mr. Michael Brett Abramson is a lawyer practicing business law, corporate law, real estate and 3 other areas of law.
Peter Michael Spingola is a lawyer practicing litigation, civil litigation, trial practice and 42 other areas of law. Peter received a B.A. degree fro...
Jerrold Harris Stocks is a lawyer practicing civil trial practice, insurance defense, estates and 8 other areas of law. Jerrold received a B.A. degree...
What is Estates?
Estates is the branch of law that governs the rights, obligations, and disputes that arise within its subject matter. In the United States, estates sits at the intersection of statutes enacted by Congress, the regulations issued by federal agencies, the laws passed by all fifty state legislatures, and the body of judge-made decisions known as the common law. Because every state writes its own version of the rules, the way estates works in one jurisdiction can look noticeably different from how it works in another, and that is one of the main reasons attorneys in this area focus their practice geographically — to stay fluent in the local statutes, court rules, and judicial preferences that shape outcomes.
At a practical level, Estates attorneys spend their time on three categories of work. The first is advice and prevention: counselling clients on how to structure transactions, draft documents, and conduct business so that legal risk is minimised before a dispute ever begins. The second is transactional execution: producing the contracts, filings, notices, and registrations that the law actually requires to make a decision legally binding. The third is contested representation: defending or pursuing a client's interests when a dispute escalates to negotiation, regulatory enforcement, arbitration, or litigation in court.
The clients who hire Estates lawyers range from individuals navigating a single life event to multinational corporations with complex regulatory exposure. What unifies them is the need for an experienced lawyer who knows the relevant code sections, has appeared in the relevant courts, and can translate the strategic options into language a client can act on. AttorneyQnA currently lists 224,789 verified estates attorneys across the United States, each with a public profile showing their bar admissions, years in practice, and the kinds of matters they have handled — with the deepest concentration of practitioners in Alabama.
When do you need an Estates attorney?
Most people contact an estates lawyer for one of two reasons: something is about to happen that they want done correctly the first time, or something has gone wrong and they need it fixed before it gets worse. The earlier you involve counsel, the more options you usually have, and the lower the cost of getting to a resolution tends to be. The scenarios below are the ones we see most often on AttorneyQnA from prospective clients searching for estates representation.
Once your signature is on a contract, settlement, lease, or release, your bargaining leverage drops sharply. A short pre-signature review by an estates lawyer is the cheapest insurance you can buy.
Cease-and-desist letters, regulatory notices, and demand letters all start clocks. Missing the response window can convert a manageable problem into a default judgment or formal enforcement action.
Statutes of limitations, filing windows, and appeal periods are jurisdictional — courts cannot extend them as a favour. If you can identify a date that matters, you need a lawyer before that date arrives.
The moment opposing counsel appears, the conversation moves out of normal English and into procedural language. Continuing unrepresented usually means losing ground you cannot recover later.
Forming an entity, choosing a venue, structuring a deal, or selecting a remedy each has long-term consequences. A consultation at the planning stage is far cheaper than redoing it after the fact.
Multi-state matters bring conflict-of-laws questions that change which statutes apply and which court has authority. An attorney licensed in the right jurisdiction is not optional.
If any of the situations above describes where you are right now, the next step is a focused consultation. Use the Ask a Lawyer tool for short written questions, or browse the 224,789 estates attorneys listed above to book a paid consultation directly.
How to choose an Estates attorney
The single biggest factor in choosing an estates lawyer is fit with your specific matter. A lawyer with twenty years of estates experience but no exposure to your particular sub-issue can easily be a worse choice than a five-year associate who has handled the same problem repeatedly. We recommend running every prospective lawyer through the same five-step checklist before signing an engagement letter.
- Bar admission in the correct jurisdiction. Confirm the lawyer is admitted in the state — and where relevant, the federal district — where your matter sits. The lawyer's profile on AttorneyQnA shows every bar admission on file, and the underlying state bar's "lawyer lookup" tool will confirm active standing in under a minute.
- Direct experience with your fact pattern. Ask plainly: "How many matters like mine have you handled in the last three years, and how did they resolve?" An honest answer reveals more than years-in-practice alone.
- A written fee agreement. Whether hourly, flat fee, contingent, or hybrid, the engagement letter should specify what is included, what triggers additional charges, and how disputes are handled. Avoid lawyers who resist writing the terms down.
- Communication cadence. Decide upfront how often you expect updates, who your day-to-day contact will be, and what response time is reasonable. The number-one complaint filed with state bar grievance committees is not malpractice — it is non-communication.
- Conflict check + reputation pulse. Make sure the lawyer has run a formal conflict check, then spend ten minutes reading independent reviews and any public disciplinary history. The state bar's website is authoritative for the second; the lawyer's AttorneyQnA profile collects the first.
Once you have a shortlist, schedule consultations with two or three. Lawyers vary widely in temperament, and the right strategic match for your case is sometimes the second or third lawyer you meet — not the first.
How much does an Estates lawyer cost?
Legal fees in the United States are not regulated by a uniform schedule, so what you pay an estates lawyer depends on the billing model the lawyer offers, the complexity of your matter, and the local market. There are four billing structures used in this practice area; most engagements use one, but hybrid arrangements are increasingly common.
1. Hourly billing
The default model for most non-contingent matters. Rates for estates attorneys in the U.S. typically range from $150–$250/hour in smaller markets to $400–$700/hour in major metropolitan areas, with senior partners at large firms commanding $900/hour and above. Hourly billing is fairest when the scope of work is genuinely unpredictable, but it creates an incentive structure that the client has to monitor.
2. Flat fee
Increasingly used for well-defined transactions — incorporations, will drafting, single-issue filings, uncontested matters. A flat fee tells you exactly what the deliverable will cost, and the lawyer absorbs the risk of unexpected complexity. Ask whether the flat fee includes filing fees, third-party costs, and any post-filing follow-up.
3. Contingency
Where it is permitted by the rules of professional conduct — most often in plaintiff-side estates work involving monetary recovery — the lawyer is paid a percentage of the proceeds, typically 33% before suit is filed and 40% after. The client pays nothing if there is no recovery. Contingency fees align the lawyer's economics with yours, but the percentage compounds across time, so very strong cases sometimes do better on hourly billing.
4. Retainer / subscription
A monthly fee that buys a defined block of access or hours. This is common for businesses with ongoing estates needs — contract review, employee questions, regulatory check-ins. A subscription smooths out spending and gives the lawyer a reason to know your operation in depth.
Whichever model you choose, ask for an itemised written estimate before the engagement begins, and ask explicitly what is not covered. Surprise expenses are the most common source of attorney-client friction.
Frequently asked questions about estates
How quickly can an estates lawyer review my matter?
Most lawyers can schedule an initial consultation within 1–3 business days. Urgent matters — pending deadlines, time-sensitive notices, court-ordered hearings — should be flagged in your first message; many lawyers reserve emergency consultation slots for that reason. If you need a written answer faster, the Ask a Lawyer tool typically returns answers in under 24 hours.
Do I need a estates lawyer in my exact city, or anywhere in my state?
Bar admission is the controlling rule: any attorney licensed in your state can represent you in that state's courts and agencies, regardless of which city they're based in. Practical proximity still matters for in-person meetings, local court familiarity, and access to the local bench and bar. For state-level filings and remote-friendly matters, an attorney elsewhere in the same state often works fine.
Will an initial consultation cost me anything?
Many estates attorneys offer a free 15- to 30-minute initial consultation; others charge a flat consultation fee that may be credited against the engagement if you hire them. The lawyer's profile lists the consultation policy. Free does not always mean better — a fee-based consultation is sometimes the sign of a lawyer who treats their time, and yours, seriously.
What documents should I bring to the first meeting?
Bring every contract, notice, letter, filing, or written communication connected to the matter; a written timeline of events with dates; the names and contact details of every other party involved; and any deadlines or hearing dates you are already aware of. Even an incomplete file is more useful than a verbal summary alone.
Can I change lawyers if I am not happy with mine?
Yes. Clients can discharge their lawyer at any time, for any reason, by written notice. Your case file belongs to you and must be transferred to your new counsel. Any unpaid fees through the date of discharge remain owed; any unearned advance must be refunded. If you are mid-litigation, the court typically must approve the substitution, but approval is routine.
How long does an typical estates matter take?
It depends almost entirely on whether the matter is transactional or contested. A transactional matter — a contract, a filing, a single-step transaction — can resolve in days to weeks. A contested matter — anything involving disputed facts, court intervention, or regulatory action — typically takes months at minimum, and complex cases can run multiple years. Your lawyer should give you a realistic outside estimate at intake.
Are estates lawyer fees tax-deductible?
It depends on the nature of the matter and current tax law. Fees connected to producing or collecting taxable income, managing investment property, or operating a business are often deductible; fees for personal matters generally are not. Because rules change, confirm deductibility with a tax professional for the year in which the fees are paid.
What is the difference between estates and the related practice areas?
Estates overlaps with several adjacent areas — see the related-practice-area grid below for direct links. Choosing the right lawyer often means picking the one whose primary focus matches the heart of your problem, even if multiple labels could technically apply. When you are unsure, list your situation in your own words to two lawyers from neighbouring areas and ask which one of them is the better fit; honest lawyers will tell you.
Find estates attorneys by state
Each state link below opens the estates roster for that jurisdiction, with the local statute of limitations, court-system overview, and verified attorneys.
Estates Law Firms
Main Law Firm
Winter Park
Walton Law Firm
San Marcos
Bruner Law Firm
Fort Walton Beach
J&Y Law Firm
Los Angeles
West Law Firm
Charleston
John T. Floyd Law Firm
Houston
Estates by State
All states →Find estates attorneys in every US state. Each state link opens a hub with verified attorneys, the state filing deadline, and a free attorney match.