ShadyBrother
Junior Member
I'm looking for some general information. My mother passed away on Sunday, November 20, 2016. She had a will that was written back in 1996. It named her two sisters as executors and everything to be split, 50/50 between my brother and I. She kept a copy of it in her safe, and before she died she told me to take it and hold on to it. On the Friday after her death my brother sent a text basically threatening me that I could either hand over the will, (that same day, to him) or he will be going to court the coming Monday to file for letters of administration. I didn't have the original will in my possession at the time. I had to find it.
Eventually I tracked down the original will and the lawyer who wrote it, mailed it to me on December 5th. Earlier that week I was served with a citation to appear in court, in mid-January. My brother had filed for letters of administration on Dec. 1, 2016.
I have two questions about the ethics of a eldercare/probate attorney and would like to know if there is any violations occurring. I did some research and found the form online that one would need to fill out in order to file for Letters of Administration. On that affidavit, there is a paragraph that states the person applying for Letters of Administration has done a diligent search for the will and has determined there is no will in existence . . Clearly my brother was lying when he signed that paper. I have the text message to prove so. My attorney told me that in his 40+ years of practice he has never seen anyone file for letters of admin, that quickly after the decedent passes. She died the Sunday before thanksgiving. Monday was spent preparing for the wake. We held services for her on Tuesday and Wednesday and that Thursday was thanksgiving. I would assume most attorneys don't work on Black Friday, nor the weekends. That would mean in four days he performed a thorough search? It seems highly unlikely.
One would believe an ethical attorney would be aware of this and would inform his or her client, that it may not look good in the eyes of the surrogates to file so soon. My attorney also informed me that the paperwork itself needed to file for letters of administration takes at least two weeks to complete. That would mean they started on it before my mom even died.
After I received the will on December 7th, 2016, my attorney filed it with the surrogate court . I also handed him a screen shot of my brother's text where he not only acknowledged the existence of the will but also made specific mention of who the executors are. Of course this put an end to any other motions that were filed by my brother. As I said earlier, my mom had appointed two of her sisters as executors. My aunts are using the same attorney to file the petition for probate that my brother used for letters of petition. Had the letters of administration happened, I absolutely would've objected to my brother being administrator. That isn't what my mom wanted, that is why she created a will.
In short, is the attorney being unethical by filing for my brother, the letters of administration without letting an adequate amount of time pass to perform a diligent search? Also, wouldn't there be a conflict of interest with him representing my aunts as the executors, right after he had already represented my brother when he filed for letters of administration ? (especially now that he knows my brother was lying to him about there being no will).
Eventually I tracked down the original will and the lawyer who wrote it, mailed it to me on December 5th. Earlier that week I was served with a citation to appear in court, in mid-January. My brother had filed for letters of administration on Dec. 1, 2016.
I have two questions about the ethics of a eldercare/probate attorney and would like to know if there is any violations occurring. I did some research and found the form online that one would need to fill out in order to file for Letters of Administration. On that affidavit, there is a paragraph that states the person applying for Letters of Administration has done a diligent search for the will and has determined there is no will in existence . . Clearly my brother was lying when he signed that paper. I have the text message to prove so. My attorney told me that in his 40+ years of practice he has never seen anyone file for letters of admin, that quickly after the decedent passes. She died the Sunday before thanksgiving. Monday was spent preparing for the wake. We held services for her on Tuesday and Wednesday and that Thursday was thanksgiving. I would assume most attorneys don't work on Black Friday, nor the weekends. That would mean in four days he performed a thorough search? It seems highly unlikely.
One would believe an ethical attorney would be aware of this and would inform his or her client, that it may not look good in the eyes of the surrogates to file so soon. My attorney also informed me that the paperwork itself needed to file for letters of administration takes at least two weeks to complete. That would mean they started on it before my mom even died.
After I received the will on December 7th, 2016, my attorney filed it with the surrogate court . I also handed him a screen shot of my brother's text where he not only acknowledged the existence of the will but also made specific mention of who the executors are. Of course this put an end to any other motions that were filed by my brother. As I said earlier, my mom had appointed two of her sisters as executors. My aunts are using the same attorney to file the petition for probate that my brother used for letters of petition. Had the letters of administration happened, I absolutely would've objected to my brother being administrator. That isn't what my mom wanted, that is why she created a will.
In short, is the attorney being unethical by filing for my brother, the letters of administration without letting an adequate amount of time pass to perform a diligent search? Also, wouldn't there be a conflict of interest with him representing my aunts as the executors, right after he had already represented my brother when he filed for letters of administration ? (especially now that he knows my brother was lying to him about there being no will).