Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Probate & what fees?

The fees are statutory, and can not be paid until the court approves. Filing fees and the like are not required to be advanced by the attorney. But, perhaps some attorneys will advance them and take reimbursement from the estate. You are right not to consent to paralegals. They can prepare documents pursuant to your instructions but may not and are not qualified to give legal advice.

Re: Probate & what fees?

No question different attorneys do it differently. Let me tell you how I do it. I perform probates throughout the state of California. Appearances are rarely needed, in a case like this, as we do everything CORRECT the first time and clearly nobody will be objecting. If an appearance is needed in Court we "appear" telephonically by CourtCall. For a case like this my firm will front all costs (estimate of $1,600 in total between filing fee, publication, probate referee, certifiec copies, etc....). For attorney fees you can negotiate any deal you can get. I would gladly take a case like this on an hourly basis. I charge $250/per. I would guesstimate a total of about 20 hours of my time. Thus for about $5,000 plust costs you will have the aid of an extremely experienced probate attorney doing everything right the first time so the proabte ends in 7 months! Again, I do cases throughout the state and we can talk today and email/fax/ or FedEx the initial documents within 24 hours! I am working in my Roseville office today so call me at 916-SEVEN74-0560 if you want to talk. Good luck! -John

Re: Probate & what fees?

Here's the real deal. There is a difference between attorney fees and costs. Attorney fees are paid from the estate at the end of probate. Costs are usually paid by the executor from estate assets. Some attorneys ask their clients to advance the costs and some advance the costs themselves. In any event, the costs are paid by the estate. Whoever advances the costs will be reimbursed by the estate. Hope that clears things up. If you need any assistance with this estate, contact my office. We are also in Orange County and handle many Orange County probates. My firm advances the costs until our client is appointed as executor and there are liquid assets to pay.

Re: Probate & what fees?

Please also remember only an attorney licensed in California can practice law in California. Anyone else practicing law is committing a crime, which is a misdemeanor.

All attorney's setup their fees differently, and unfortunately fees can differ drastically. Moreover, with some attorney's fees can be quoted as one number, and change due to "unforeseen circumstance" and be drastically higher in the end. I would suggest shopping around and finding someone you are comfortable with, and are willing to live with their fee structure.

JDH

Re: Probate & what fees?

As others have said, attorneys fees are negotiable. The probate code provides maximum fees - and if an attorney wants to charge more than that court approval is needed.

Costs are typically paid by the executor after he is appointed and able to get money from the estate.

As others have said probate usually doesnt require a personal appearance so that it is not necessary to hire a local attorney - although it does save a little time if the attorney and the executor are near each and dont have to mailed back and forth for signatures.