singer@uwovax.uwo.ca (02/07/90)
I have learned a bit about dealing with estates and lawyers in Ontario which
might be of interest to others who might someday have to deal with both. There
is no fixed percentage fee that lawyers are permitted to extract; an unethical
one may imply or assert say, 5%--which apparently is the fee allowed an
executor of the estate. The latter is the fee provided for doing all of the
detail work, the funeral arrangements, gathering information on assets,
handling the estate income tax, distributing the funds, etc. Often an executor
will seek a small law firm rather than a large one under the assumption he will
be charged less; the opposite may be true, for some small firms build up their
income by doing what lawyers call "double dipping"--charging a substantial fee
for minor paperwork and then also claiming an executor's fee. If you decide to
have a lawyer apply for probate (something you can EASILY do yourself), insist
upon knowing fees in advance IN WRITING. If you believe you are being
exploited, you may ask for the Master (of assessments) at Surrogate Court to
examine the lawyer's claims and determine the bill. A large law firm may charge
less because they do not depend upon estate work, but this may not always be
the case. It is worth checking out in advance. But DO check out the lawyer's
repuation in advance--several days spent sniffing the air may save you a lot of
incompetence and gross overcharges. Finally, most of what a lawyer may CLAIM he
will do is often the work that an accountant DOES DO. You may be better off
filing probate yourself and hiring a solid accounting firm to do work that
lawyers sometimes mess up, delay, and overcharge for.
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Ben Singer Department of Sociology
University of Western Ontario
Singer@uwo.ca London, Ontario
Singer@uwovax.bitnet N6A 5C2
(519) 660-0671 (home)
(519) 679-2111 Ext 5137