Areas of Practice

After someone passes away, their property and debts become known as their “estate.” How someone’s estate has to be handled depends on how many assets they had and how those assets were owned. The smallest estates can sometimes be handled through an affidavit process, but estates that have a house or larger amounts of assets like cars and bank accounts usually have to go through “probate.” 

Probate is a court process that can be confusing for someone who doesn’t know all the rules, but for the attorneys at Christina I. Thompson Law Offices, probate is our “everyday” job. We’ve heard a number of folks state that they’ve tried to get an attorney to handle their loved one’s small estate and been turned away multiple times. We actually love to help people with small estates, and in most cases, we don’t require a retainer because we get paid out of the estate’s assets once they are sold. In most cases, all we need upfront is information and $75-100 to cover the required publication of notices.  

Our services for probate estate cases are usually done on a flat fee for small estates. For large estates (over $200,000 in gross value), the fee for the probate services is capped by statute at around 2% of the size of the estate. For all estates, any work spent on litigation, taxes, or real estate issues is charged hourly at our ordinary rates, and for most estates, this winds up being a minimal cost. 

While we can’t tell you exactly what the fee will be on any particular estate, we can tell you that we will do our best to make sure you understand our fees as we are working on your case.

A routine estate in Iowa typically takes around a year to complete. We’ve been able to complete some simple estates in as quickly as seven months. If you have a more complex estate, we can handle those, too.  

While one attorney will handle your case, we work collaboratively within the office to make sure that Phil’s 50 years of experience and Christina’s 10+ years of experience are available on all cases regardless of who the lead attorney is.

Taking care of your loved ones is an act of love. When you step up to act as a loved one’s guardian or conservator, you’re also taking on duties that the law has set for you. We have the experience you need to help you through the process of becoming the legal guardian or conservator, and we work with you through the annual reporting process as long as you want us to stay involved. We strive to keep our retainer fees reasonable to make this process affordable.  

For clients who keep us on board to help with their reporting, we handle the “memory” for you–we calendar your file to come out at the right time of the year, prepare an initial draft report for you, and work with you to make sure any necessary changes are made. Then we file the report for you.  

We typically do annual reports for a flat fee for guardianships; conservatorships may vary based on the complexity of the conservatorship. 

Sometimes the best solution for a loved one is for a professional to step in and serve as their conservator, trustee of a trust, or executor of their will after they die. Sometimes parties who own real estate have to go through a partition or other court case and need a “referee” to sell or divide land or other assets.  

Attorneys Christina Thompson and Riley Schoen are both willing and able to serve as any of these “fiduciary” roles. It can be hard to find an attorney who is willing to take on one of these roles, so if you need someone to step in–either because there’s no one else, the assets are too complex for the available family members to manage, the family is fighting, or for any other reason–we’re available to serve as a fiduciary.  

Other than parties seeking their own trustee or executor, we ask that inquiries for this kind of service come primarily through an attorney involved on the case or through a judge managing the case since another attorney is often the person best positioned to give us an accurate picture of the situation and make the proper applications for appointment of Christina or Riley. Any judge or attorney who thinks they have a case where Christina or Riley would be a good fit is welcome to email Christina at christinat@watsonpc.com. 

If a non-attorney is interested in hiring Christina or Riley as a trustee or executor for part of their own estate planning, their estate planning attorney can reach out to us or the individual can set up a consultation appointment with us.

When you think the trial court “got it wrong,” your remedy is to file an appeal. In an appeal, the Iowa Supreme Court or the Iowa Court of Appeals reviews whether the district court got the decision right or wrong regardless of if it was a divorce or custody case, probate matter, or litigation issue. Effective written advocacy and a careful review of the underlying trial can increase the odds of winning an appeal.  

We’ll be honest: appeals are rarely won. The decision most of the time is that the underlying court is “affirmed,” which means the appellate court agrees with the original judge or jury who made the decision.  If there are issues with the original trial, however, the only way to find out if you can get that decision overturned is to file an appeal.  

Small claims cases also have an appeal process first to the district court and then, on rare occasions, up to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals.
We offer flat rates for most appeals. If you would like to consult with Christina I. Thompson about an appeal for your recent district court or small claims decision, call our office to set up a consultation.

Many attorneys do an admirable job of winning trials and obtaining judgments for their clients but don’t have any idea what to do with that judgment afterwards. Winning a trial and getting a judgment is only the first step–the law then puts the burden on the victor to take the necessary steps to collect from the other side.

How much you can actually collect depends on many factors. Unfortunately, there are situations where a judgment is a hollow victory and no funds are ever collected, but having an experienced collection attorney can increase the odds that you’re able to actually collect some, if not all, of the judgment award you received from the court.  

Christina has been actively engaged in post-judgment collection for over a decade and knows the steps needed to maximize the chance of recovering funds from the other side after you win a judgment, like garnishments and judgment debtor exams. She’ll also be honest with you about whether a judgment is worth spending time and money to collect and will give you thoughtful, honest answers at each step of the post-judgment collection process.  
If you would like to meet with Christina to talk about your post-judgment collection needs, please call the office and set up a consultation.