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Law firm not pulling weight

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R

Rachelley

Guest
What is the name of your state? Indiana, but the probate case is is in North Carolina

My father was killed June 3, 2000 as a resident of North Carolina. I live in Indiana and am the administrator. I hired a lawyer out of North Carolina in early September 2000. The estate is worth appx. $5,000 with very few debtors or creditors. I feel I am getting the run-around with this law firm and that they are not working on this estate. They always have excuses when I call to check on the status and they never call me. What are my legal rights against this law firm? Am I being unreasonable to expect progress at this point?
 


Dandy Don

Senior Member
My condolences on your loss.

Yes, you are right to be suspicious after so long a time has passed.

First thing you should do is to contact the county courthouse probate court in North Carolina to ask if the estate has officially closed. If it has, you can view the file (or order copies of it by mail, or ask a friend or family member to go to the courthouse to view the probate file) so you can get an idea of how the financial affairs of the estate were handled.

I'm assuming that you are an heir. No monies can be distributed until the funeral expense, possibly federal and or state taxes, and any other miscellaneous estate expenses (court filing fees, etc.) are paid. Did you hire the attorney to be the executor/administrator or just for advice/counsel? Which person, the attorney or you, is going to claim the 5% executor fee (5% of receipts and expenditures)?

I'd be willing to bet almost anything that the attorney has charged the estate a large fee (more than legally allowable) to eat up most of the $5,000 so that not much would be left over for the heir.

After you get some idea of how the estate was handled and whether or not it is still open, you will be better informed about how to proceed next.

If I were you, I would send the attorney a certified letter asking for details about the status of the case and whether you can expect to receive anything from it. Mention that if you don't get a response by such and such a date, that you will be filing an official complaint with the North Carolina State Bar (website www.hg.org, look at the FAQ section, then click on "GRIEVANCE" to get an idea of that process), 208 Fayetteville St Mall, Raleigh, NC 27601, phone 919-828-4620.

The threat to file a grievance will definitely get his attention and I think would prompt him to quickly respond to your request for information, unless he is trying to hide something.

There is absolutely no justifiable excuse for his at least not taking the time to respond to your request for information!

Under normal circumstances, you would think there would be anywhere from at least $500 to $4,000 left over.

SINCERELY,

DANDY DON
 
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