THE NEED FOR LEGAL COUNSEL

“He who represents himself has a fool for a client.” This quote by Abraham Lincoln is as true today as when he first uttered these words over 150 years ago.  Lincoln was an attorney who had practiced law for over 20 years, so his words conveyed wisdom he had gleaned over the course of his career.  In this column I want to address the importance of recognizing what you may reasonably handle in court without representation and when it may be time to hire someone with the depth of knowledge and experience to ensure your best interests are served.

Let’s begin on a positive note. Today, many court systems have forms for the public’s use and the forms are usually available on-line through the Internet.  For instance, South Carolina has an on-line package for simple divorces and forms for landlord-tenant disputes.  We also have more than ninety probate forms for use in our probate courts.  These forms have been developed to be used by the public and lawyers as well and often they are simple, fill-in-the-blank forms. 

These court-sanctioned forms allow persons to handle their legal matters on their own and sometimes a person is fine going it alone.  For instance, a person may be just fine handling an informal probate administration for their deceased spouse or deceased parent on their own provided there are no disputes or disagreements among family members.  Other times though, the guiding hand of a trained attorney may make a lot more sense and could save the day.

To determine if you have the capacity to undertake these sorts of things ask yourself some simple questions. “Are you good at filling out forms for example at the DMV? Can you understand your own federal and state taxes? Do you have experience with FAFSA?”  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may be able to handle and understand the legalese required to undertake a simple informal probate administration on your own.  If you answered no, then you would be better off with the legal assistance of an attorney.

Even if you answered yes, you must still recognize that that the law and judiciary are far more complex today than in Lincoln’s day.  Unless you are retired or have a great deal of spare time, it can be difficult and time consuming to navigate through the forms and the legal maze that is part of our world today.  The sheer number of forms that must often be filed can be overwhelming.  Further complicating the matter is the fact that sometimes your legal rights are completely lost if these forms are not filed appropriately or in a timely manner.  We all probably know someone who lost legal rights or remuneration because they were unaware of a little thing known as “the statute of limitations.” 

It is also important to recognize that the legal actions that you may have to take may be contested.  Some “thing” which you may think should obviously be given you through legal deed or handed down to you via inheritance is often disputed by another in a legal wrangling in court.  Make no mistake, if you find yourself on one side of a courtroom battle without representation, while the opposing side (regardless of how ridiculous and incredulous their claims) has hired representation, you will very likely lose.  

You should also recognize that the complexity of our legal system today has made the practice of law just as complex.  Just as there are many different courts today that handle very different types of legal matters, attorneys have become in many ways like today’s doctors. They specialize, focus and differentiate the types of legal practice that they handle due in large measure to these complexities of the law.  So, just as you would not likely hire a proctologist to diagnose and treat your sinus problems, you should probably not hire a real estate attorney to help you in a probate case.  To put it another way, if you have a toothache you could hire a dentist. Or, you could go to toolbox and find a pair of pliers or a cordless drill.  In either case, you can probably get the tooth pulled, but at what cost in money, pain and suffering?

I would like to close this column with some words of wisdom that my husband and I have learned through a great deal of expense and heartache over many years of having fought, scrapped, and struggled to provide for our family.  Often my husband has tried to repair things around the house to save money. It has been his painful experience to learn that most often it will save a great deal of time and money to call an expert to do it right the first time.  When he undertook a task that he thought he could handle, he often discovered that after he started the project and ran into trouble that he had to call an expert.  When that happened, it usually cost a whole lot more to fix what he had started.  Sometimes we must defer to a professional; though it may be more costly, in the end we are far better off. 

We often fear that we cannot afford to hire an expert so we undertake to do a task that we simply do not have the knowledge, experience or training to accomplish.  As individuals, we must strive to understand whether we have the ability to do a thing ourselves or whether we must accept the knowledge that we must rely upon someone else to assist us. Let me end this column with a quote many a reader will know. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”  I need to remind my husband of this the next time he reaches for his toolbox. 

(The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is of a general nature. The information should not be construed as legal advice. If you have any questions about the subject matter of this article or related matters, you should consult with a professional advisor. Deirdre W. Edmonds previously served for twelve years as Horry County Probate Judge and is currently the owner of The Law Office of Deirdre W. Edmonds, PA, located at 1500 Highway 17 North, The Courtyard, Suite 213, Surfside Beach, SC  29575.  The Law Office of Deirdre W. Edmonds, PA focuses on estate planning, probate administration, probate and trust litigation, disability planning and elder law.  Contact Deirdre W. Edmonds via Telephone: (843) 232-0654; Website: www.dedmondslaw.com; and Email: dedmonds@dedmondslaw.com.)