Ryan Kenneth Hodges

My mother died without a will. I researched lawyers, particularly looking for one that only handled estate issues and one that offered free consultations. One of the consultations was with Ryan Hodges. He took time to explain the probate process to me in terms I could understand , explained the pros ...and cons of opening probate, and thoroughly answered all of my questions. I hired Mr. Hodges, and he was fantastic to work with. He handled his part of the probate promptly and thoroughly, and he walked me through the completion of each of my duties. He followed up regularly, quickly responded to my inquiries, and everything was taken care of in the exact manner he described to me in the initial consultation. I don’t live in the same part of the State where Mr. Hodges is located, but he was perfectly willing to largely handle matters by phone and email. I would highly recommended Mr. Hodges to anyone facing a probate issue.

I had a very difficult situation made much better when I used Ryan Hodges of Jackson White Attorneys at Law to help me get through it. When my mom passed she left me in charge of the trust and it had 2 houses in it to go equally to my sister and I. The difficulty of the situation was that my sister i...s legally dependent and I had already spent years working to get her into a situation so she is taken care of. I did not want anyone down the road to have to deal with anything that involved her so I was trying to buy out her half of the property. In the meantime I was also not able to get a payout from a life insurance policy of about $6,000. I originally went to another lawyer who assured me she had helped family with a family member that was legally incapacitated so she knew how to help. This other lawyer took a $3500 retainer, got busy and forgot about me. I stupidly gave her another chance. She asked for mountains of old paperwork related to my sister, which I sent and created a 2-page statement of trust document to obtain the insurance, despite the insurance and myself showing her they needed an affidavit of assets. They rejected the statement of trust and at that point I had to review what I was trying to accomplish. She asked for more documents and said she had used up the retainer. I then went to Ryan. After reviewing what I needed, he just requested the paperwork needed and within a day produced the affidavit that was sent to the insurance company and the funds were immediately released. We then moved onto the property. He helped take me through the steps to set up a special needs trust and followed up with an email of what to do. He took the time to review the situation, as it is not a straight-forward task, and went over how and why this is the proper way to go about getting this accomplished given my sister’s situation. I got the account created, had the property appraised, adjusted for mortgage and finances due and sent him a copy for review. He then proceeded to confirm the money transfer. Once done, he quickly followed up with the transfer of title. The second property was harder as I needed to take out a loan. I had a hard time finding a creditor to obtain the loan and was also waiting for interest rates to drop. Ryan patiently sent me emails to check in and see where I was at in the process. Once that was all completed, as with the first property Ryan quickly submitted the paperwork and the title was transferred. He also reviewed if there was anything else left on the trust so it could be finalized and closed. This is not something I had even thought to do, but appreciate having it done so there isn’t any confusion later on. Throughout the process Ryan was very communicative via email. He responded quickly and made things very clear. It was easy to send a quick question or clarification on any step along the way to know that I was doing things properly. He clearly understands what is needed and does not do extraneous things or waste time. His concise and timely manner was much appreciated. Between having to deal with a passing relative followed by several years of figuring out how to get a guardianship, close out a conservatorship, and apply for care for my sister; I was very burnt out. So attempting to deal with the houses and having a horrible experience with the first lawyer, I was very wary of starting over on that process. However, Ryan was the best person to help me get through and wrap up everything so that I could finally mentally rest knowing things were taken care of. He is knowledgeable, concise, does not take advantage of his clients, and makes things clear. I could not recommend a better lawyer.

I contacted Ryan Hodges of Jackson White when a family member passed away without having left a Will. To complicate matters, she was a hoarder and it was difficult if not impossible to find any documents in her house. In addition, surviving family members all live in distant states. I located Ryan v...ia the Jackson White website, which had straightforward and understandable materials describing the probate process in Arizona. I had also looked at online reviews of local probate attorneys. I arranged a call with Ryan. Prior to our call he asked a series of questions to gain an understanding of the situation, and he was able to describe the steps that needed to take place and a timeline for how the probate process would work. I immediately felt comfortable in working with Ryan and had a high level of confidence that things would go smoothly, which they did. Throughout the probate process, Ryan was responsive to questions and concerns, provided materials promptly, and guided me through the process. In addition to dealing with the various required court documents, he provided advice about issues that came up, provided very useful local contacts (realtor, CPA), “to-do” lists as needed, and updates on how we were doing as the probate progressed. The entire process went smoothly and probate was completed in a timely manner. Ryan helped our family get through what was a difficult time without any additional stress from the probate estate process.

I'm located in the UK, and I needed to find a lawyer in Arizona to handle the probate process for my late mothers estate in Tucson. I contacted several lawyers that I located online, some were vague about what their total fees would be, wanted money upfront, or didn't seem very enthusiastic. Ryan was... the first that I actually felt comfortable dealing with. He answered all my questions (and there were quite a few) promptly and courteously . And guided me through the whole process. Thank you Ryan.

Mr. Hodges was professionally irresponsible in handling the Estate. Mr. Hodges did little to fight for the Estate. The settlement outcome did not come close to meeting my expectations, mainly because of how Mr. Hodges dealt with matters of the Estate. Mr. Hodges misrepresented and overstated his c...apabilities and experience during my initial attorney interviews. I was looking for an attorney who was equipped and experienced to handle a contentious estate involving stolen assets that may include litigation. Mr. Hodges initially said that he was experienced in litigation and contentious estates. I explicitly asked when I interviewed Mr. Hodges if he is capable of handling this Estate. He responded affirmatively and stated that it appeared as if we had a strong case. After the opposing party changed counsel and it became clear that we were headed to litigation, Mr. Hodges changed his tune. He was not capable and prepared, as he stated himself in February 2020: "I do not feel that we have adequate resources to represent the Estate in the litigation matter. Our head probate litigator retired recently... "...As much as I would like you to spend a lot of money with our firm to go after this, I would recommend that you hire another firm for this portion of the estate administration." Mr. Hodges was never capable or experienced in handling this Estate. When Mr. Hodges told me during the initial interview that he is capable, he wasn't referring to his abilities but his now-retired colleague. Mr. Hodges willingly withheld this critical detail from the beginning. To this day, I do not know how, in good conscience, Mr. Hodges could even take this case in good faith. As soon as action was required, Mr. Hodges relented, and in doing so, hurt the Estate's claim and position. At this point, it was too late for me to hire another firm without opening myself to personal legal challenges from the opposing party/firm for not properly acting as a responsible PR/fiduciary to the Estate. Mr. Hodges backed us into a corner financially and damaged our negotiation power. While I don't need to get into the details here, we had ample evidence of stolen assets involving the opposing party. Mr. Hodges squandered opportunities. Unfortunately, this was not the only issue. Mr. Hodges was incredibly sloppy. All of his draft filings were riddled with errors (incorrect grammar, misspellings, improper syntax). I spent many hours editing his drafts and sending them back. Mr. Hodges improperly deposed the other side. Mr. Hodges did not administer the oath at the beginning of what was supposed to be a proper deposition of the opposing party. Mr. Hodges stated to the opposing party, 'I'm sure you will tell the truth, therefore I don't think we need to administer the oath.' The opposing party repeatedly lied during this 'deposition,' and we could do nothing about it. Mr. Hodges recorded the session. Mr. Hodges errors in his filings continued, and that cost the Estate more money. When I challenged him on some of these errors, he offered to 'half' his hourly rate when the billing came due. And when it came to billing, there were errors and overcharges on that front too. I regret choosing JacksonWhite and Mr. Hodges. Working with Mr. Hodges was frustrating and problematic. My family bears additional emotional scars as a result.