Attorney's attitude

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
I recently became the representative for my uncle's estate.He was just beginning the process on becoming representative for my Grandmothers estate in which she left everything to him and he passed away.Since he was not finished with her estate I am not in the process of taking over the reigns of her estate as representative so we can get this thing finished.Years ago my uncle set up a checking account with both our names on it so I could write checks in case anything happened to him and he told me that I was to pay all his bills,cremation costs and anything that was needed to take care of getting "things" done and then to split what was left between the kids.My deal is that at first the lawyer we retained told me that was my money and I could do whatever I wanted to do with it but to be careful on what i spent it on.Which I was planning on and have only spent it on what my uncle told me to.Then I get a call form the lawyers assistant telling me that they found a sentence in my uncles will which basically makes that money an asset of his estate and that I should try to spend as little of it as possible.I got the feeling that this lawyer spent countless hours looking for sOMething to enable him to get his cut of this money which if that's the law then I have no problem with.The thing is that the house which belonged to my Grandmother which goes into my Uncle's estate has termites and leaking roof damage.I brought this up with the lawyer and his attitude is that I should get the roof fixed to stop leaking and put the termite problem on the back burner.My deal is that the house is an asset and the furniture in the house is also an asset so shouldn't they also be taken care of?I get the feeling that he does not want any money spent taking care of the termite problem because that will cut into the cash that he has his eye on.Should I just tell the guy I am going to get the house tented and take care of the problem plus get the leaking roof fixed with the money in my and my uncle's account and he needs to suck it up and back me up or should I fire him?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

"...checking account with both our names on it..." is ambiguous. Were you a joint owner of the account and, if so, does it include right of survivorship? One surefire way of finding out is to go to the bank and ask to re-title the account solely in your name or transfer the funds into a new account solely in your name.

Your response to the call should have been to ask how that sentence would make the account part of the probate estate.

What are your compensation arrangements with the attorney? Have you agreed to allow the attorney the amount specified in the Florida statutes? Or have you made another fee arrangement?

OK the article states if at the time of my death any assets identified by my social security number are jointly titled with any other person ,including but not limited to checking ,savings and loan,credit union etc etc,the title to such assets has been established by me for my convenience and security during my lifetime and is not intended by me to effect a distribution of those assets to the joint owner at my death except in accordance with this will.If the surviving joint owner does not deliver such assets to my personal rep upon request my personal rep may consider the assets to be a partial distribution of the assets the beneficiary is otherwise entitled to receive,or my personal rep may take such other action as may be in the best interest of my estate.

Sounds like to me as being the rep that the funds which I turn over to myself from myself best serve the interests of the estate protecting the assets ie. the house and wood furniture in the house.


As far as the account the ownership type was a joint tenancy which I just read creates a right of survivorship.So does what the will reads negate the agreement I signed into at the bank on this account?

We have agreed on the specified amounts via what he said was described in the state statutes which me being a noob at this could have been true or untrue.

As far as the account the ownership type was a joint tenancy which I just read creates a right of survivorship.So does what the will reads negate the agreement I signed into at the bank on this account?

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Unless there is some Florida case law that indicates otherwise (which I doubt), I would have to agree with the attorney. The legal presumption is that creating a joint ownership account with right of survivorship indicates intent to have ownership pass to the surviving joint owners when one owner passes away. However, in states with which I am familiar, that is a rebuttable presumption if an intent to provide the other joint owner(s) with only convenience rights can be shown by evidence. Usually, that is on the difficult side. But, in this case, your uncle's will seems to spell out his intent in creatng the joint ownership.

While I am sure that your intentions are the best, you need to be a bit careful here until grandmother's estate is closed. What you are talking about here (now) is using money belonging to uncle's estate to benefit grandmother's estate. In the end, it may make no difference, but if there is a disgruntled beneficiary to uncle's estate who wants to make trouble...

The problem with the statutory attorney compensation is that it is one size fits all. It doesn't take into account how complex the estate is or how much of the work the personal representative performs. Maybe you can discuss it with the attorney: "Look, when I retained you, I did not think that the funds in this account would be considered part of the probate estate. Let's come to an agreement...."

733.6171 Compensation of attorney for the personal representative.--

(1) Attorneys for personal representatives shall be entitled to reasonable compensation payable from the estate assets without court order.

(2) The attorney, the personal representative, and persons bearing the impact of the compensation may agree to compensation determined in a different manner than provided in this section. Compensation may also be determined in a different manner than provided in this section if the manner is disclosed to the parties bearing the impact of the compensation and if no objection is made as provided for in the Florida Probate Rules.

(3) Compensation for ordinary services of attorneys in formal estate administration is presumed to be reasonable if based on the compensable value of the estate, which is the inventory value of the probate estate assets and the income earned by the estate during the administration as provided in the following schedule:

(a) One thousand five hundred dollars for estates having a value of $40,000 or less.

(b) An additional $750 for estates having a value of more than $40,000 and not exceeding $70,000.

(c) An additional $750 for estates having a value of more than $70,000 and not exceeding $100,000.

(d) For estates having a value in excess of $100,000, at the rate of 3 percent on the next $900,000.

(e) At the rate of 2.5 percent for all above $1 million and not exceeding $3 million.

(f) At the rate of 2 percent for all above $3 million and not exceeding $5 million.

(g) At the rate of 1.5 percent for all above $5 million and not exceeding $10 million.

(h) At the rate of 1 percent for all above $10 million.

(4) In addition to fees for ordinary services, the attorney for the personal representative shall be allowed further reasonable compensation for any extraordinary service....

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Very quickly as I am late for work.Actually my Grandmother's estate is actually a trust with which my Uncle was the trustee.According to her will everything in the trust was to pass on to him but he died before getting started on the process.I don't know if that makes any difference in this case or not.Anyways hypothetically since the lawyer seems not interested in what happens to the house would it be possible for me to have the lawyer write up an agreement stating that he is not concerned with the condition of said house and it's deterioration and that I shall pay him from my compensation as my uncle
's estate representative an additional 3 percent (which is his compensation from my uncles estate)from the cost of having the home tented?That would take care of getting the house maintained and also getting him is dough he wants.By the way there are 4 beneficiaries (me brother,sister and cousin)and all want the house to not fall apart.Thanks for your information anteater it is all interesting and informative.

To clarify a few things: A trust and a will are two different documents. A trust is administered by a trustee and, unless some big problems occur, the courts are not involved in trust administration. The trust covers the distribution of assets that are titled to the trust. A will is administered by a personal representative after the will is entered into probate and the court appoints the personal representative.

I really think that you should ask the attorney for an appointment so that you can sit down, understand the attorney's thinking, and get on the same page.