A Legal MinuteWill contests & capacity
Attorney Discretion in Urgent Situations
The short answer
Some situations get a closer look; the decision rests on the attorney's judgment and discretion. Some are understandable, like someone deteriorating quickly after a cancer diagnosis who wants affairs handled before pain medication and hospice. The speaker's firm is more conservative here and typically declines borderline situations, leaving people free to contact other firms.
From the full episode Common Probate Litigation Issues in Arizona (20:11).
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Transcript
That's typically something where we look into it a little bit deeper. There are scenarios where that's understandable, i.e., maybe somebody is deteriorating very quickly due to a cancer diagnosis or something. And so before they go on all their pain meds, they want to get their stuff taken care of, because they're getting ready to go on hospice.
So really, honestly, it's the attorney's judgment and determination, and my firm is more conservative in this area. So if we even get kind of a "Mmm, they're on the line," we will typically decline and just say, "I'm really sorry. It's just too late. If you want to try to call other firms, you absolutely can, but we are not comfortable taking care of that for you. It's just, unfortunately, the window has closed."
So that's how we handle that. It's really at the attorney's discretion.
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