Question by : Unscrupulous “probate attorney” practices and fees question.?
Hello, I am trying to find out if it is within the legal law to be charged for “extraordinary services” and exactly what can be billed under this term.

I am the personal representative for my grandmothers estate. Her mobile home and assets totaled 51,000.00. The attorney stated that she was only getting the standard 3 %. However now that this is almost closed, I was billed a total for approximately 8000.00

About 5000.00 has been listed as “extraordinary services”. These services listed by detail in the final accounting include every single e-mail correspondence with myself as P.R., every phone call, and also e-mails read from the Realtor who sold the home etc.

There are no “extraordinary services” from what I can see, and have disputed these charges, and insisted to have the attorney send me proof of this.
The attorney sent The Florida Senate 2011 Florida Statutes Chapter 733 Probate Code to my e-mail for proof, however that was after a week of insistent requests for proof, which already made me skeptical.

733.6171 Compensation of attorney for personal representative…….. and I have read what explains can be charged for what is termed “extraordinary” and I cannot find anywhere that states that phone calls, meetings, general contact e-mails etc, are to be charged.

I am not trying to be disrespectful to the profession, but am I to just “take an attorneys WORD, at everything thrown my way?

The attorney appears to myself to be skirting every issue I bring up about this, I need some help, I don’t feel comfortable about simply signing papers that pay out an extra 5000.00 for mailing envelopes, phone calls pertaining to simple questions regarding work needed done for the roofing etc.

I am wrong? I keep getting the reply that “I do not understand the laws” in a condescending type of manner, when I asked repeatedly for “proof” of this in the statues , I am not finding this in 733.6171 and I think I am being duped.

Some expert advice is much appreciated, thank you.

Teddy

P.S. If you have something that supports my theory or suspision and you want to include this for me, in your reply ( statutes or what is legal etc) so that at least I have something that I can e-mail the attorney back, so they know I am looking into this, and they take me serious, please do so.

Best answer:

Answer by lucy
When I got to the 2nd paragraph about the 3% fee and before you stated Florida, knew exactly that is the state where this was done.

My mother in law when she died in Florida in 2004, and we live in Indiana, had to hire to handle her estate and she had considerable more than your mother. They based this 3% 1st on the value, then they will bill for all services done. But you have to remember that for every hour they do something, they bill their hourly rate, which most likely is around $ 200 or more per hour. Most lawyers, regardless in what state you live in, will bill in 10 minute increments. So even if you are on the phone for 3 minutes they will bill for 10 and is legal. But, the other thing that most people don’t realize is that when they make that phone call or talk to someone, they have to pick up the file and review it and that could be billed at 30 minutes to an hour. You have to remember that your mother is not the only client and they cant just go off the “top of their head” and remember everything that is going on, or otherwise they can be sued for malpractice if they don’t verify facts. The problem is that most likely you called them a lot on simple questions and since you had a lawyer believed it was their job to guide you through the process, which it is. But people forget that you are paying a lawyer for their time, which is their hourly rate.

After we closed out the estate to my mother in law and paid off the lawyer, we had forgotten one last detail. We had kept a open account with Bank of America that we used to pay expenses that occurred while trying to sell her condo and other expenses that had to be kept open till closed. So, by that time, there was about $ 3,000 left in the account and we wanted to split it between my husband and brother, but,,,,,since we failed to close it out, the same lawyers we had hired, told us it would cost $ 1,200 to reopen her estate, close out the account and then re-close out the estate again. So for $ 900 each, we chose to let it go.

Your only last option is to file a complaint with the Supreme Court in Florida against this lawyer.

http://library.findlaw.com/1998/Aug/1/127741.html

http://www.lawyer-complaint.org/lawyer-complaint/Florida.htm

After you file a complaint, then the lawyer MUST answer it. But most likely they will show that for every minute/hour of work they did, will be validated. If they fail to do so, they could lose their license to practice law.

My husband is a lawyer in Indiana for the last 40 years and we were surprised on the 3%, since in most states, they can only bill for their time. We were at the mercy of Florida lawyers, since my husband is not licensed in the state of Florida to practice, so had to hire to legally closed the estate. It sucks that with the small estate that was left to you, that you get billed just like someone else with considerable more.

good luck

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