Estate Planning

Attorneys at Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer, LLP help clients in all areas of estate planning administration including preparing wills and trusts to drafting powers of attorney for financial management and healthcare directives. Attorneys at Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer prepare real property deeds and other transfer documentation so all appropriate assets are properly funded into the trust and counsel clients on end-of-life and guardianship issues.

Probate, Trust & Fiduciary Litigation

Even the most thoroughly written will or trust can be the subject of disagreements over a range of issues. Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer LLP represents beneficiaries and trustees in contested will or trust matters. The attorneys at Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer also represent beneficiaries seeking to recover assets they believe were wrongfully taken before or after a decedent’s death.

Another area of dispute is in connection with compelling fiduciaries to render an accounting of estate/trust assets if there are signs of irregularities or misappropriation of funds.

The firm also prosecutes elder abuse actions and has successfully obtained temporary restraining orders in cases of physical, financial and emotional abuse.

Probate & Trust Administration

When an individual dies without creating a will (intestate) or dies with a will (testate), the estate must go through a formal probate process where the decedent’s estate is administered through the courts. The firm walks its clients through all steps of probate estate administration–from the initial appointment to addressing creditors’ claims, to distribution and winding-up a decedent’s estate. Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer LLP walks its clients through all steps… READ MORE

Conservatorship Administration & Litigation

Often, when an individual is no longer capable of maintaining himself or herself or capable of managing finances, family members will petition the court to appoint a conservator to help administer the individual’s (conservatee’s) person and/or estate. Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer LLP helps clients initiate conservatorship proceedings as well as litigate disputes that may arise during the course of the conservatorship. These disputes can include contested conservatorships, disputed accountings, breach of fiduciary duties, removal of a conservator, contested termination of a conservatorship, fraud, elder abuse and other matters.

Guardian Administration & Litigation

Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer, LLP represents clients who seek guardianship over a minor and those individuals who oppose a guardianship petition. The attorneys at Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer represent clients in all court proceedings with years of experience invaluable to clients during this often difficult and emotional time.

Power of Attorney Litigation

Typically, when individuals create an estate plan (will or trust), they also designate a person to act as a attorney-in-fact (agent) for financial management and health care decision making.  The attorney-in-fact may be given immediate authority to act on the principal’s behalf or a “springing” power that affords them the ability to make decisions for the principal upon the principal’s incapacity.

The firm handles preparing and defending accountings of the acts and transactions of an attorney-in-fact.

On the flip side, there are times that the designated agent abuses his or her power. The agent can siphon money from the estate or sign over estate assets into his or her name. Ruttenberg Cutler Broomer LLP represents interested parties who believe the agent is not responsibly managing the estate assets and has breached their fiduciary duty to the principal.