Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Re: Personal representative of estate

We need more information to be able to guess at what you might have to do. How may heirs are there, how large is the estate, what are the assets in the estate [a single home, stocks, cash of about how much, debts of about how much, etc], what has the lawyer done, what reason did he give to stop communication, what does the court registery of actions [on court's web site] show has been done, what do you think should have been done, etc.

If the lawyer is not handling the estate properly you can petition the court to have him replaced, but that normally is difficult to accomplish as you must have hard, clear facts to show he has mishandled it [including has done nothing on the estate for a long time]. You need to go down to the courthouse to review the file if you can not get it on the court's web site. Then you need to send an e-mail or certified letter to the attorney asking why certain thngs have not been done and when they will be done. You should ask that if he is an expert in estate law why he needs an attorney and is there not a conflict of interest in using his own son [as in any disagreement his son will defer to him as his father; also, if they are in the same firm, whatever money the son brings in in fees goes to the firm to be then divided by the partners so the father is getting part of what is paid to his son]; ask how much the son is going to and has charged.

If you can not get satisfactory responses to these questions, the you defintiley need to speak to your own attorney. I certainly can help you out initially [I charge $100 per hour since I am semi retired]; later you might want to use a more local attorney familiar with the probate jusge who will hear the case.

Good luck.

Re: Personal representative of estate

As a beneficiary you may retain your own attorney to monitor the matter.