Karen K. Akiens

Karen handled my mother's estate planning flawlessly before she passed to help ease a very difficult time. From the will to various trusts, Karen's expertise was invaluable to me and my family.

I worked with Karen as Co-counsel on a complicated probate case embroiled in litigation challenging the alleged Will and Personal Representative's apparent misconduct. She has very fine legal drafting and analytic skills.

Karen takes time to answer your questions completely, she offers advice but realizes the final decision is yours and is very through when planning/preparing estate documents. I have used Mrs. Akiens for @ 7 years.

I selected Karen back in 2008 to set up my Revocable Living Trust and have been more than pleased ever since. Her superior expertise, attention to detail, and continual follow-up far exceeded any expectations I had of the process. As my life situation changes...marriage, retirement, etc....Karen is always there to make sure my Trust is updated correctly. I never thought I needed a Trust until I met Karen and now I don't see how I could be financially secure without one.

I highly, highly recommend Karen for any probate, trust & estate needs. When my mom passed last November, I was astounded at the amount of paperwork and legalese required to settle her estate. Karen very quickly got us a probate date so we had the legal documents necessary to begin dealings with the banks, life insurance, annuities, etc. Karen quickly got us the tax identification numbers so we could open an estate account. There were a few times I had to call Karen from the bank because I was overcome with grief and unable to answer some of their questions. She dealt with the bankers and answered their questions when I was unable to. When it was time to sell the house, Karen reviewed the buyer/seller agreement and made a few edits that saved us money. When I discovered that Mom hadn't paid taxes in several years while in ill health, Karen told me not to panic and recommended a CPA who has since filed all the missing tax documents. Because Mom was taking care of all my dad's bills and financial needs as he is in a nursing home; Karen provided the necessary paperwork and tax forms so I could get two trusts set up to help pay for Dad's bills while awaiting Medicaid approval. Many times during all these processes necessary to handle a person's estate upon their passing, I would wonder how the heck people do this without an attorney? And I was blessed to have such a good one. She dealt with the different bank accounts for me and when there was an action I needed to take; she told me step by step exactly what to do. In addition taking care of all the legal issues regarding handling Mom's estate; Karen also advised me on how best to handle the inheritance money left from Mom's estate. I was probably what some lawyers may have considered a pest because I had zero legal knowledge and must have asked a thousand questions. Karen treated me with compassion and handled all the legal affairs as quickly as possible. I always felt she was looking out for my best interests and saved me spending unnecessary money. Karen was always quick to follow up so things didn't linger; she stayed on top of it. She made the worst time of my life a little less unbearable by handling the legal affairs so thoroughly, quickly and graciously. I was in awe of her knowledge. If you want a good, compassionate, knowledgeable lawyer, Karen is it!