Although our law office has the willingness and the experience to see a hotly contested trust dispute all the way through a trial, many Saint Paul, Minnesota, residents who have the misfortune of having to deal with a messy trust fight, quite possibly with family members, may prefer for a lot of reasons to avoid a public court battle and instead, resolve what is often a deeply personal and emotional legal conflict quietly.
Others may have no problem taking their quarrel all the way through a trial in theory but may also be practically minded and recognize that, in their case, it might be the most efficient thing to put litigation to rest before it is time to make opening statements.
As a recent post on this blog discussed, reaching an agreement and ironing out the details of that agreement can thus be a good option for many Minnesotans caught in a trust dispute. However, in practice it can be difficult to put a tentative deal together and make sure that the resulting written settlement agreement will both protect a person’s rights and satisfy the court.
The attorneys our office have experience with handling estate settlement agreements at any stage of probate or trust litigation. We help our clients both decide whether it is in their best interest to try and resolve a probate or trust case before trial and determine what a reasonable settlement agreement would look like. After helping with negotiations, we also make sure that the settlement agreement is properly drafted so that our clients get what they bargained for.