? Lawyer Fees

[Miczic]

What is the name of your state?Pennsylvannia...I went to a lawyer to probate my Dads will. He has alot of money tied up in cds...mutal funds and so on about $80,000. He also left the house to all 4 children.Its worth about $250,000 WE ARE NOT SELLING IT!..When I went to the lawyer I asked him his fee..he never gave me one and I did not sign nothing. And also told him we are not selling it. Today I get a letter saying Our fee will be 5% of the probate estate regardless of all various funds. The only probate asset is of the real estate. Can someone tell me in ENGLISH what does that mean..He has not returned my calls. Thanks Barb

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state?Pennsylvannia...I went to a lawyer to probate my Dads will. He has alot of money tied up in cds...mutal funds and so on about $80,000. He also left the house to all 4 children.Its worth about $250,000 WE ARE NOT SELLING IT!..When I went to the lawyer I asked him his fee..he never gave me one and I did not sign nothing. And also told him we are not selling it. Today I get a letter saying Our fee will be 5% of the probate estate regardless of all various funds. The only probate asset is of the real estate. Can someone tell me in ENGLISH what does that mean..He has not returned my calls. Thanks Barb

Oui, madame. Oh, I'm sorry, you said English. Okay....

http://evans-legal.com/dan/estfees.html

If you read that, you will see that attorneys' fees in your commonwealth in succession cases are 5% of the assets of the estate. Actually, that is a little LESS than the suggested amounts:

One judge in Pennsylvania has published an opinion to which the judge attached a schedule of the percentages that the judge used for his own guidance in auditing the accounts of estates, and several other judges have since written opinions indicating that they use this schedule as well. So, while this schedule (reproduced below) represents at best the opinion of a few judges in a few estates, it still provide some guidance in determining the reasonableness of administration costs in other estates.

(see the article for a table that is formatted better):


Exhibit A
Johnson Estate, 4 Fid.Rep.2d 6, 8 (O.C. Del. Co. 1983)
COMMISSIONS Per Col. Per Total
$ 00.01 to $ 100,000.00 5% 5,000.00 5,000.00
$ 100,000.01to $ 200,000.00 4% 4,000.00 9,000.00
$ 200,000.01 to $ 1,000,000.00 3% 24,000.00 33,000.00
$ 1,000,000.01 to $ 2,000,000.00 2% 20,000.00 53,000.00

 

[Jclaw24]

Senior Judge

Hello Senior,

I believe the question attempted was, "will the house be sold to pay the attorney cost."

As a student, I'm not sure. But interested in your input as well.

 

[seniorjudge]

Hello Senior,

I believe the question attempted was, "will the house be sold to pay the attorney cost."

As a student, I'm not sure. But interested in your input as well.

If that was the question, then my answer is I do not know Barb's finances so I can't tell her where she will get the money to pay the lawyer.

 

[Dandy Don]

My interpretation of what he is saying is that since the house is not being sold he is not sure whether it should be included as part of the estate value to be used to determine this man's fee--5% of $250,000 being $12,500.00. He needs to get a second opinion or fee quote about this from another probate attorney, but I doubt he can get out of this--the house WILL always be included as part of estate value.

Since they got the money from the mutual funds and other sources which apparently passed outside of probate, they can probably afford to pay the bill but I do understand ttheir reasonaning for wanting to save money and get a more reasonable fee quote--which is why he should perhaps try to negotiate the total amount down from $12,500.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])