david1@aluxe.UUCP (nelson) (01/05/84)
My wife and I are currently handling her father's estate. We fired our attorney when he told us he was going to charge us 5% of the estate's net worth. This would have amounted to about $5000. We fired him when we realized the small amount of work involved in this particular estate. Most of the assets are cash except for a property worth about $8000. We already filed the inventory, are in the process of selling the property, will pay the inheritance tax, and will soon file the audit and then petition the court to dismiss the executrix (my wife) and close the estate. Of course we'll have distributed the assets before petitioning. We met with stiff resistance from our public servants at the court house in Cambria County, Pa. When asked for information they would say "talk to your attorney". We asked for general info, nothing specific about our case. We were given misinformation by the register of wills concerning what was involved in filing the estate's inventory, an area he should be well acquainted with. We have been able to get the info that we need from other sources though. 2 questions: Has anyone else had any experience in handling and closing an estate? Does anyone have any examples of how to word the petition to the court to close the estate and dismiss the executor(trix)?
mather@uicsl.UUCP (01/11/84)
#R:aluxe:-125600:uicsl:21400003:000:1368
uicsl!mather Jan 10 13:35:00 1984
My wife has been a real estate attorney for the past several years
and her advice was 're-hire your attorney'. Estates of the size you
mention are nothing to sneeze at and the probate laws (I'm speaking of
Illinois law) are rather complicated. Also, you are not paying the
attorney for 'the amount of work' he or she is doing. You are paying
for the expertise in that area of law. If YOU make a mistake somewhere
along the way, YOU could be in big trouble. An attorney is less likely
to make a mistake, and bears the responsibility of protecting their
client (that is why they pay malpractice insurance, too) in the event
of an error.
In Illinois (she is not an expert in PA), filing for dismissal of
the executrix in an estate that large is a complicated procedure.
Another point, if you fire an attorney that is charging on a percent
basis, you risk being sued by that attorney for accumulated fees on a
per hour basis ($50 - $100/hr. here).
Lastly, 5% is par for estate closing and probate work. Some firms
have a non-linear scale (like income tax) based on the size of the estate.
The resulting figure in this case will end up a little above or below 5%.
I think people get a simplistic view of law by watching
"The People's Court."
B.C.Mather ..uiucdcs!uicsl!mather
V.M.Mather, J.D.cwc@mhuxd.UUCP (Chip Christ) (01/16/84)
All this crap about estate laws being too complicated for the layman
and the attorney protecting us from grevious errors may or may not be
valid, depending on how tight a stranglehold the lawyers have on a
particular jurisdiction. A recent experience of mine proves it needn't
be so.
My father-in-law died this past spring. After the funeral, my mother-
in-law, my wife (an only child) and I went to see a lawyer recommended
by a friend. Although the estate was not trivial, the lawyer informed
us that in the state of Florida, because he willed all his possessions
to his spouse, and the only thing he owned by himself was their car,
the will did not even have to go through probate, but could be filed
directly with the (court/state?). Florida Motor Vehicle even
transferred ownership upon presentation of a death certificate.
All-in-all, it seemed civilized approach to an unpleasant task. Granted,
we didn't face wood-pile relatives crawling out from every crack for a
shot at the loot, but we've all heard horror stories in situations as
uncomplicated as this. This experience was a welcome surprise.
Chip
p.s. The lawyer (a woman) wouldn't even accept a fee for the advice
or filing the will, saying, "I really didn't do anything for you."
Well, she did; first, she modified my rather jaded opinion of
lawyers in general, and second, she provided my mother-in-law
someone to trust in subsequent legal matters of her own. This
would have been true even if she had taken a fee.