Estate and Trust Litigation

Schenck Price’s Estate and Trust Litigation team offers a full range of legal services pertaining to fiduciary and probate litigation. We represent both individual and corporate fiduciaries and beneficiaries in disputes regarding estates, trusts, powers of attorney and guardianships, including disagreements concerning the investment, management and distribution of assets.  Our focus is to work with clients to find creative, productive and cost-effective solutions to estate and trust disputes. We are always prepared to litigate aggressively when the situation, and the wishes of the client, dictate. Yet we recognize that litigation can often be expensive and time-intensive, so we make our clients aware of litigation alternatives, such as mediation.
 
The practice group distinctively combines strong litigation skills and deep tax knowledge.  It includes senior litigators with broad experience, who have long been leaders in the profession. Our team includes a former attorney with the Internal Revenue Service.

Various team members have held leadership positions in organizations including the Guardianship Association of New Jersey, Inc., the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Morris County Bar Association’s Trusts, Estates and Elder Law Committee. As frequent authors and lecturers, we stay informed about current developments and share our knowledge with other professionals. Several of our attorneys are on the roster of approved mediators, serve on Probate Early Settlement Panels and serve in court-appointed roles in probate litigation.

Members of our group also bring extensive knowledge of elder and special needs law and estate, gift, and charitable planning.

Services to Clients

We handle a wide range of matters, from disputes involving trusts, powers of attorneys, living wills and health care representatives. Our work includes:

• Will contests
• Trust disputes
• Will and trust reformations, including special needs trusts
• Accounting actions or disputes
• Contested estate administration
• Disputes among co-fiduciaries
• Breach of fiduciary duty claims
• Insolvent estates
• Elective share claims
• Disinherited spouse and omitted spouse claims
• Protection of beneficiary rights
• Court approval of special needs trusts