William Kenneth Sweeney

After dealing with an attorney who certainly could not perform in a somewhat high end probate case, I consulted and hired Mr. Sweeney. He stepped in, and I could not be happier with his performance. From beginning to end, he and his staff have been extremely timely, knowledgeable and responsive concerning every aspect of the case.

I was apprehensive about finding an attorney with extensive experience in ancillary probate. My mother lived in Texas but had property in California that needed to go through probate. After contacting his office, I felt that everything would go smoothly and it did. It was a great load off my mind that I could concentrate on the rest of the estate in Texas, knowing that Mr. Sweeney was handling the California part with ease. There was great communication between me and his wonderful paralegal Jennifer. She kept me apprised of all timelines and answered all my questions promptly and with great courtesy.

Mr. Sweeney was very helpful in navigating me through the California probate system. My father died there, and I live in another state, so i was anxious about the whole process to say the least. Bill was great in answering all my questions and getting things done for me in a timely manner.

I needed a probate attorney in CA to represent me for the probate of my Aunt's estate. My son found Mr. Sweeney on the internet. I felt comfortable with him from our first phone conversation. I hired him and he did an excellent job despite some prickly thorns!! I feel he was worth every penny since he kept me from having to split my time traveling between my home and the court hearings in CA. He attended all the hearings and Jennifer made sure I was kept up to date on all the information. I would highly recommend Mr. Sweeney (and Jennifer, paralegal)!!

Short Version: I would highly recommend hiring Mr. Sweeney for your Probate or Heggstad petition needs! He was amazing and super easy to work with! He had my Heggstad drafted and filed within 1 week from when I provided all the info to him. 60 days later, I hear that the Judge granted everything asked for in the petition. Long Version: In my case, my parents had left a Trust but no poorover will. I needed a lawyer to do a Heggstad petition for me. I found Mr. Sweeney from a google search I did on Heggstad petitions which led me to an article he had written on them. The article showed he was very familiar with the petitions and he knew of the more recent caselaw in which someone won their petition even though the assets were not specifically mentioned by name on the schedule of trust assets (this was similar to my situation). I called Mr. Sweeney for a free consultation.... yes FREE! The previous Law Firm I worked with for 4 MONTHS! (and fired $2k later) charged me $400 just for a 30 minute consultation. During my initial phone consultation with Mr. Sweeney, I immediately felt at ease. I explained the situation I was in, where my Mom had forgotten to title several bank accounts into the name of the trust, and not all of them were listed in the schedule A. I also briefly explained some of the wording in the trust to him. In my opinion, he is an expert in what it takes to get a Heggstad approved! After talking with him, I felt confident that if anyone could get my petition approved, it would be him. He asked that I mail a copy of the trust to him so that he could review it. After he reviewed it and we talked briefly, I mailed copies of my parents death certificates, and copies of the bank statements for the accounts we needed to petition. I also did a bank wire to him for the payment for the petition. He was up front about the cost, and the price never went up during the process... the cost of the petition stayed at what he originally quoted. After the petition was drafted, it was emailed to me by Jennifer (Mr. Sweeney's Paralegal) for my review and signature. I reviewed and signed the petition and emailed it back to her. Jennifer is GREAT by the way, often times she would be working on my petition on the weekend!. We had to trade several emails on the weekend and she was always quick to respond. I was EXTREMELY impressed with the efficiency of how they handled things. They are always available for you if you have any questions.... it felt like a very personal experience. My petition was literally drafted and submitted to the court within about 1 week from when I provided the trust and payment to Mr. Sweeney. AMAZING! The court date was set and approximately 60 days later. A day after the court date, Jennifer informed me that the judge granted everything that was asked for on the petition! Woohoo! What a stress relief! The previous lawyer I had "retained" for this was "working on it" for over 4 months!!! and they were still asking me to provide additional info with nothing drafted or submitted yet. I was $2k in the hole so far with that firm when my instinct told me to abandon ship! I am so happy I did. I cannot recommend Mr. Sweeney enough! He knows exactly what to do and how to do it. He won't waste your time or money! He is honest, and won't take your case unless he thinks he can win. Seriously, he was fantastic!