Michael's clerk/secretary was very kind, friendly, and understanding. The soonest appointment they…read morehad for a consultation was several days away, but she told me she would ask him if he would make time and call me that day.
He did call while I was on the phone with the other attorney's office, and I missed the call. I called Michael's office back, and both he and his secretary were still kind and willing.
Michael and his secretary/clerk were both warm, friendly, willing to listen and answer questions without interrupting. The other attorney's office I consulted (Patrick King in Carson City) had a helpful and willing clerk, but she interrupted and spoke over me a lot. The speed she discussed the issues with made it difficult to take notes, but Michael Millward was very understanding of waiting while I wrote down what he said to later share with my husband. He also spoke with me directly for the consultation instead of a clerk.
My mother-in-law passed away intestate (without a will) over the weekend and my sister-in-law's family didn't understand how probate works and were already going through our mother's belongings and throwing them away. They had no intention of filing for probate and didn't understand that it isn't optional and is legally required.
We all planned on needing to empty out the mobile home and possibly make repairs and renovations. We didn't know what creditors Mom had or what assets. We knew she had a lot of medical bills and a small car loan. We were looking at having to do a *massive* amount of work, and it was very stressful.
Since Mom's estate likely would have more liabilities than assets, Michael informed me that we don't have to do the probate process and don't have to administer the estate ourselves.
We can hand this over to the Carson City Public Administrator who handles estates for individuals with no will. Michael looked up the phone number after I asked for it. Phone number: 775-887-2260. Michael informed me that it might be the clerk's office that answers because it appears that they share a division or office space; if so, ask for the administrator.
Michael, said to tell the administrator that a family member died, the cremation is handled, and no one in the family is interested in administering the estate.
That's basically it.
There's probably paperwork to sign, but we don't have to do all the hard work we were planning on.
Again, we don't have to clean out her house, dump her belongings, pay her rent, sell her house, or pay her bills. We don't have to do anything beyond the cremation.
We *can* get photos and heirlooms, too, before handing it over.
Isn't that wonderful??
I received a free consultation. I told Michael that I would gladly pay him for his time for the extremely helpful advice, but he said it wasn't necessary. He also welcomed me to call back if I had any other questions.
Months ago we consulted a different estate/elder law attorney regarding my mother-in-law, Ernie Adler, and he was awful. He was disinterested, unhelpful, wasn't friendly, answered our questions to a minimum or not at all, couldn't answer some of them (said he didn't know), and charged $200 for the brief consultation (less than 30 minutes).
Michael Millward was the stark and complete opposite. We highly recommend him!
