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Of all the conversations I have with clients about estate planning, the one about guardianship is the one that moves people most. Not because it is the most technically complex, it is not, but because it makes the stakes of planning feel immediate in a way that wills and trusts sometimes do not. When I ask a client, "If you and your spouse were both in a serious accident tonight, who would raise your children?" the room goes quiet. Most people have thought about this in passi

When a loved one passes away owning a home in the Rattlesnake neighborhood, the family left behind is often facing something more complicated than a typical Missoula estate. Many homes in Lower Rattlesnake and along the Rattlesnake Valley have been owned by the same family for thirty, forty, even fifty years. That kind of longevity brings a particular set of probate challenges that newer subdivisions in Missoula rarely produce, and families are often caught off guard by them.

A professional desk at Hathaway Law Group featuring a coffee mug, Shannon Hathaway's nameplate, and a probate process notepad, with Montana mountains visible in the background.

In almost every estate planning consultation I have with a new client, we spend meaningful time on wills and trusts. Those conversations are important, and they drive real decisions. But the documents that clients are most often missing when they walk through the door are not wills or trusts. They are powers of attorney. Most people assume that their spouse, their adult child, or a sibling would simply step in to handle things if they were seriously injured or became incapaci

What Missoula families need to know about wills, trusts, and probate in Montana. Learn from a local estate planning attorney at Hathaway Law Group.

What Missoula families need to know about wills, trusts, and probate in Montana. Learn from a local estate planning attorney at Hathaway Law Group.