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Help! My lawyer's laziness could have cost 10 grand !!

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vicbdn

Guest
What is the name of your state? Illinois

I sincerely hope someone can help me as I don't know what to do. My father died over one and a half years ago and his probate has been going on for a very long time. The lawyer my family hired either dislikes us extremely or is just plain lazy! He was recommended by a family member and up until now he has yet to almost do anything.

When we ask him how much he expects to be paid, he avoids the answer like the plague, and then he won't do any work either. He hasn't ASKED for money yet so I don't know why he doesnt want to work! Can anyone offer some insight as to what may be the problem? How long to probates take?!

The main problem now is that my father's estate has been in the system for a long time. He did not have medical insurance, and when we asked the hospital if they might reduce the hospital fees they agreed and reduced the price around 10,000 dollars. However I do not know if this is legal or not...as the lady would not give it writing the first time we asked. We plan to ask again but I think now it's too late. She admitted plainly to it though. The too late part is that we told our probate lawyer explicitly to contact the hospital to pay this fee, and he reassured us "Don't worry about it, I'll handle it," or something along those lines(this is before we realized that this lawyer is utterly worthless and a fool) but it turns out he NEVER contacted them! Now the hospital has instead turned our case over to a collect agency and they will not budge on the price. They are adamant on our family paying the full price. Please help! What should we do. :confused:

Edit: I've been thinking about reporting him to the Bar association...would this do anything? :( Also we have contacted him about this...and asked him to resolve the situation but he responded for us to wait till thanksgiving is over to contact him again -_-.
 
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badapple40

Senior Member
Yup, probably time to contact the bar association and to find a new lawyer. If he's prejudiced the case through his actions, since it appears to me that he has breached the appropriate standard of care, you might also have a malpractice suit against him.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
You are of course right to be concerned about this, but you are perhaps being a bit premature in wanting to file a complaint against him about it--it's much too soon for that. A complaint at this point would only annoy him to the point where he might not want to continue representing your family in this case.

What is the total value of the estate? You must realize that it takes time to get a complete overview of the true net value of the estate (what is left over after outstanding debts, taxes, etc. are paid).

It is still not too late for him to negotiate with the hospital or the collection agency about this debt, and that is why he was not overly concerned. A lot depends on whether the estate can afford to pay all or part of this debt. It is highly possible that he could negotiate to pay anywhere from $80,000 or less on this debt.

Your main concern right now should be to contact other probate attorneys in the area to find out what the normal reasonable rate is for executor fee in your state (law mentions it only as "reasonable compensation" which is a loophole for them to charge whatever they can get away with) and then politely ask him for a signed agreement/contract that shows what his total fee will be. If he won't give you that, then fire him (or pay him for the work he has already done) and get another probate attorney.

You also should look at the probate file documentation in the courthouse or get some type of specific explanation from HIM as to why probate has been so lengthy. He is probably the only person who can answer that since he is most familiar with the case.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 
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vicbdn

Guest
The hospital bill is actually going to be paid in 5 months or less as we took a refinance on one of the homes in the estate... The refinance company took out 150% of the debt from our loan and is holding it until we decide what to do about the debt. 150% of the fees that the collection agency wants to charge that is. So we are rushed for time because if not then the agency will just pay off the debt by the end of the 5 months. There isnt that much in the estate that would have taken him over a YEAR to figure out. There's some homes, and the debt from the hospital..thats about it.

Thanks for the info however. I really appreciate it...though I think this is a messed up situation so I'll have to think about it some more~

Thanks again and i'll gladly take any more info you would like to offer!
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Have you actually had the chance to speak with the attorney in person or by phone to get an explanation to why probate took so long? Have tax returns been done and submitted?

With real estate involved (was it sold)--that is an element that takes extra time, not to mention all of the many probate cases scheduled for your county in the court--it's possible that the docket had so many cases that probate could not have been expedited.
 

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