Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

It is not clear whether this is a trust administration, not requiring probate, or an estate administration, requiring probate (or both). For probate, the lawyer is not permitted to ask for money upfront, but gets a statutory fee at the completion of administration of the estate. But, he certainly should have filed a Petition for Probate by now, if that's what he agreed to do. In a trust administration, the lawyer sends letters with statutory Notice and gives advice, but the Trustees often do most of the actual work of administration.

So the first step is to figure out exactly what you are dealing with. You should probably consult another lawyer (preferably one who is a certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate law- see CA State Bar website) to review all the relevant docs, including whatever has been done by the attorney thus far, and any fee agreements which were signed. As for the non-refundable clause, if he has not earned the money, he will probably be happy to return some of it in lieu of you filing a complaint against him with the State Bar. But it would not be reasonable to expect to get all the money back. If there have been multiple meetings and letters sent, the lawyer is entitled to be compensated for his time.

It was mentioned this is a probate case. I am a certified specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. For a FREE CONSULTATION to review your situation please call the office. Attorney Alice Salvo 818-887-3333. This is our specialty - we have answers!