Probate & Estate Administration - Top Atlanta Law Firm

Careful estate and tax planning during a person’s life brings benefit and comfort to his or her family and beneficiaries when he or she dies.

When a person dies, we assist his or her family, beneficiaries, heirs or personal representative (also known as an executor) with probating the will, obtaining letters testamentary and administering the estate. As part of that administration, we can assist in transferring title to real estate, securities and other assets. We also work with trustees to administer trusts. As with the estate planning, we work to facilitate family harmony during the probate and administrative phase of the process.

Sometimes there is a probate controversy that involves family members or personal representatives; settlement agreements, court ordered mediation or arbitration can resolve such disputes. If there is a dispute involving a personal representative, we can assist in resolving that dispute. See Estate & Trust Disputes, and Will Contests. In disputes with the IRS, we pride ourselves on our effective advocacy for our clients.

We are experienced in postmortem tax planning. Due to our Tax Planning & Tax Return Preparation, Tax Audits, Appeals & Litigation service and expertise in Probate & Estate Administration, we are highly skilled in preparing estate tax returns, estate income tax returns, trust income tax returns and gift tax returns. We have two attorneys with a Master of Laws in Taxation and an Attorney/CPA with advanced degrees in accounting who once served as the head of the Atlanta tax practice in a multinational CPA firm.

Our attorneys, who are licensed in Georgia, Florida and Pennsylvania, have extensive experience in this area of practice. Jacquelyn “Jackie” Saylor is an officer of the Estate Planning and Probate Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. C. Murray Saylor, Jr., Linda Muir, Ed Rappaport, and Kasey Libby are members of the Estate Planning Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. Murray Saylor was the Chair of the Estate Planning Section of the American Academy of Attorney/CPAs. He is an attorney/CPA with an advanced degree in accounting who was head of a national CPA tax practice. Furthermore, both Murray and Jackie volunteer for the Probate Information Center (PIC) in Fulton and DeKalb Counties.

Jackie and Murray Saylor have written articles for The Mortmain, the official magazine of the Estate Planning and Probate Section. Jackie serves on the Editorial Board of The Mortmain. Jackie Saylor was co-editor and co-author of Women and the Law: A Guide to Women’s Legal Rights in Georgia; she wrote the chapters on “Power of Attorney,” “Living Wills” and “Durable Power of Attorney” and she co-wrote the chapters on “Wills, Trusts and Starting Your Own Business” with Murray Saylor. Murray Saylor has also written articles for the American Association of Attorney/CPA magazine and The Atlanta Lawyer.

Ed Rappaport has written an article for the Estate Planning Magazine about Estate Planning and he has written about planned giving for healthcare professionals in Financial Planning for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals. Ed also has given presentations about Estate Planning issues at the North American Law Summit on Tax and Legal Considerations for Professional Athletes and at a lecture to the Sports and Entertainment Section of State Bar of Georgia. Linda Muir has written an article in the Georgia Bar Journal, as well as multiple articles in Paisley Magazine about Estate Planning issues. James Killough has written an article about Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning and Probate Practice in The Brunswick News.

Jackie and Murray Saylor have given presentations on Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts and Income Tax Planning for the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association and the West Georgia Health Foundation Planned Giving Seminar for planned giving professionals. Additionally, Jackie and Murray have appeared on local television advising people on Estate Planning issues.

The attorneys at The Saylor Law Firm LLP have won numerous accolades for their work in this area of practice. Jackie and Murray Saylor have been given Georgia’s Top Rated Lawyers Award in Estate Planning by Martindale-Hubbell from 2012-2016. Jackie and Murray have also been given Georgia Trend’s Legal Elite, the Best Lawyers in Taxes, Estates & Trust Category. Both attorneys have won the Georgia Super Lawyers designation for Estate Planning & Probate. Additionally, Jackie has been honored as a Top 50 Women Lawyer in Georgia by Georgia Super Lawyers.