I cannot recommend Frank Williams in Pequannock more highly: Frank is incredibly thorough, knowledgable, available, diligent, and honest. Frank has navigated my husband's father's estate issues, created our will, and graciously brokered our extremely messy real estate purchase.
Let me begin by saying that we had spent almost a year working with another set of lawyers on my father-in-law's estate, and this lawyer set, a father and son, told us that my father-in-law's estate was the messiest they had ever seen during their combined 65 years' worth of experiencing practicing law. We hemorrhaged money, and nothing was resolved. I finally looked for another lawyer, and Frank came highly recommended. To be clear, the previous set of lawyers had not untangled anything, they had simply sapped money from the estate. Enter Frank. Frank took our two boxes worth of labyrinthian paperwork and turned it into a decipherable path. When I say we presented Frank with a mess, it's like saying that World War II was a bit of a problem; it's a grave understatement. Frank did note that this estate issue was the worst he had ever seen, too, (so we now have heard this from three lawyers), but it was almost like Frank enjoyed the challenge--he sifted through all we handed him, and, what's more, he was available. The previous set of lawyers rarely contacted us let alone answered our phone calls, but Frank picks up his phone. I swear he has my husband in his contacts.
After the estate fiasco, my husband and I realized we had to have our own affairs in order. We had been to a lawyer eight years back who was paid for by my husband's company, and it was apparent that whatever agreed upon fee the company and he had negotiated was not something the lawyer preferred. He so obviously didn't care. As a result, we left his office with a ton of questions and really no idea how, or desire to, proceed. But then, after working alongside Frank on my father-in-law's estate for so long, my husband and I asked if he creates wills. He does. Frank is one of those people who you want to invite to out for coffee and listen to talk about whatever it is they're passionate about because their nitty gritty knowledge is just so fascinating. Frank explained everything in a way that made complete sense--and what was especially helpful was how he knows the law thoroughly (e.g. we learned that any money willed to anyone other than a direct descendant is taxed heavily--even someone like a daughter-in-law who would pass it onto the grandchildren who are direct descendants). We felt this huge relief after finishing our will. I didn't even realize that I was deeply concerned about what would happen if we died until the will was complete. It was hard coming up with some of the information (e.g. a backup person to take the kids if the first in line has something happen to them), but it was totally worth the effort and money.
The last thing I will say is that Frank is deeply caring. To clarify, I don't mean "caring" in the way one would describe a kindergarten teacher who oozes sweetness, because Frank isn't warm and fuzzy, but Frank's actions denote his character, and that is more substantial than any amount of frail words. Frank, who clearly knows our family quite well at this point in our law-filled journey, took on our contentious real estate deal. It would probably be unwise to go into specifics here, but suffice to say, he helped put things into perspective, gave great advice, and helped us finish the process when we thought all was lost (you know, roughly 100 times because it was all just that bad).
Bottom line: I highly recommend Frank. My husband and I are in our young 30s and have three young children, and I would never have guessed that we would need so much legal advice, yet here we are. I am so glad someone once answered my desperate Facebook plea and recommended Frank Williams.
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