Lindseym07
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TN
Hi all, I am 22 years old and very new to all of this, but my father passed away intestate and I had a probate lawyer to assist with filing petitions/probate, etc. Initially, the lawyer was hired by my aunt because my father had named her the executor of the estate. It turns out his "will" was invalid, so the lawyer started dealing with me (the administrator of the estate) although my aunt was the one to sign the contract, and I never explicitly became the client. The initial retainer was $3,000, and the contract states that "Attorney has assured client that the initial retainer will more than likely cover the entire attorney fees and costs of the probate of the estate, barring any unusual problems in the probate, such as a need to defend or pursue any lawsuit in connection with said probate." Fees were never discussed with me for the past two years that the estate has been settled, and no "unusual problems" came up as far as I know (the attorney just took unusually long to transfer house titles to my name, do the estate tax return, etc.) The contract also states that " attorney shall make an accounting to client from time to time, at least quarterly, to keep client advised and informed as to how much time attorney has spent on matters..." I was never told that fees were starting to accumulate past the $3,000 and never sent an accounting of the charges until the end of this process where I am being charged an additional $2,700. He charges $175 an hour, and for each phone call that just lasts a couple of minutes, he charges .25 of an hour. His accounting of time spent on certain items also seems very excessive.
Despite many of these smaller points of contention (for example, charging lawyers hourly fees for things such as photocopying/clerical duties and time he claims he spent "researching laws of wills" to know whether the estate was in fact intestate although he claims he already has expertise in that area) I believe my strongest point of argument was the breaching of the two points made in the contract that the lawyer would make at least a quarterly accounting of charges, and he never let me know that the retainer had been exceeded. I am also wondering if I am even legally obligated to pay him given that I never signed the contract. I have read that a routine probate case can cost around $1,500 and I think he is grossly mis-overestimating the amount he is charging. I have already e-mailed him my concerns in a very polite manner, and he has refused to compromise. I offered to pay half of the additional $2,700 that he is charging as a measure of good faith, although even that seems excessive to me. Unfortunately I am a college student and was not anticipating this bill, and it would put a large financial strain on me. Do I have to pay this given that I didn't sign the contract? If not, would an arbitrator/mediator be my best option? Sorry for the long explanation and thanks for any input!!
Hi all, I am 22 years old and very new to all of this, but my father passed away intestate and I had a probate lawyer to assist with filing petitions/probate, etc. Initially, the lawyer was hired by my aunt because my father had named her the executor of the estate. It turns out his "will" was invalid, so the lawyer started dealing with me (the administrator of the estate) although my aunt was the one to sign the contract, and I never explicitly became the client. The initial retainer was $3,000, and the contract states that "Attorney has assured client that the initial retainer will more than likely cover the entire attorney fees and costs of the probate of the estate, barring any unusual problems in the probate, such as a need to defend or pursue any lawsuit in connection with said probate." Fees were never discussed with me for the past two years that the estate has been settled, and no "unusual problems" came up as far as I know (the attorney just took unusually long to transfer house titles to my name, do the estate tax return, etc.) The contract also states that " attorney shall make an accounting to client from time to time, at least quarterly, to keep client advised and informed as to how much time attorney has spent on matters..." I was never told that fees were starting to accumulate past the $3,000 and never sent an accounting of the charges until the end of this process where I am being charged an additional $2,700. He charges $175 an hour, and for each phone call that just lasts a couple of minutes, he charges .25 of an hour. His accounting of time spent on certain items also seems very excessive.
Despite many of these smaller points of contention (for example, charging lawyers hourly fees for things such as photocopying/clerical duties and time he claims he spent "researching laws of wills" to know whether the estate was in fact intestate although he claims he already has expertise in that area) I believe my strongest point of argument was the breaching of the two points made in the contract that the lawyer would make at least a quarterly accounting of charges, and he never let me know that the retainer had been exceeded. I am also wondering if I am even legally obligated to pay him given that I never signed the contract. I have read that a routine probate case can cost around $1,500 and I think he is grossly mis-overestimating the amount he is charging. I have already e-mailed him my concerns in a very polite manner, and he has refused to compromise. I offered to pay half of the additional $2,700 that he is charging as a measure of good faith, although even that seems excessive to me. Unfortunately I am a college student and was not anticipating this bill, and it would put a large financial strain on me. Do I have to pay this given that I didn't sign the contract? If not, would an arbitrator/mediator be my best option? Sorry for the long explanation and thanks for any input!!
