Isabel Sayle
Partner, probate and guardianship
Isabel works with the people left to handle things: executors, trustees and grown children looking after a parent.
Isabel joined Thomas in 2012 and now leads the firm's probate and guardianship work. Many of her clients live in another city and are handling a parent's estate in Charleston for the first time; she keeps them informed by phone and video and goes to the probate court so they don't have to fly in for every step.
She also handles conservatorships and guardianships, the court-supervised arrangements a family needs when a parent can no longer manage on their own and never signed a power of attorney. She speaks Spanish with clients and their families.
Focus
- Probate and estate administration
- Trust administration
- Guardianship and conservatorship
Admissions and education
Bar admissions
South Carolina
2008
Georgia
2010
Courts
All South Carolina state courts
2008
All Georgia state courts
2010
Education
J.D., Charleston School of Law
2008
B.A., Spanish, Furman University
2005
Languages
English
Spanish
Fluent
Memberships
South Carolina Bar
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
How Isabel works
The first thing Isabel does for a new executor is write down the next three steps, with dates, and send them that afternoon. People who are grieving don't need a lecture on the probate code; they need to know what happens on Monday.
She keeps one running list for every estate: what is filed, what is waiting on the court, what is waiting on the family, and what has been spent. Anyone named in the will can ask for it.
For guardianship, she starts by asking whether court is needed at all. Sometimes a parent can still sign a power of attorney, and that is simpler, quicker and kinder.
Meet Isabel
A first meeting is an hour, in our office, by video or at home.