Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Minnesota
Was this Attorney right in his actions?
We need to know if the lawyer was within his rights. After proper paperworks was done to get into a safety deposit box, the Lawyer opened it and took possession of the contents without leaving an inventory of those contents. The only witness to this was the will named administrator. Wouldn't a bank employee at least have to be present? Would he have to present an inventory immediately? Then days later he had all the accounts frozen, even a joint checking account and POD CD's, without notifing anyone except banks that held the accounts. Was that right? He tried to get all the financial information on the estate but was unable to because he didn't have the proper paperwork, but still billed the estate for trying. All these actions by this attorney were done without being formally hired (he only drew up the will for the deceased), and all before the will named adminstrator had been leagally appointed. There is a new lawyer handling things now, but we're wondering if things were handled unjustly at the beginning? It is our hopes the judge will view the attorney's bill as unfair.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Was this Attorney right in his actions?
There is no requirement I know of to provide the bank with an inventory of what is removed from a safe deposit box.
If there is going to be a formal probate proceeding, an inventory of all assets the estate has will have to be prepared, and this would include anything of value which had been found in the box.
I have some trouble tracking with your question. In order to remove things from the box, the person accessing it would have to be the court appointed personal representative of the estate. If that person was present, which you seem to indicate, there is a strong implication that the attorney was acting on his or her behalf. In order to get to that point, a fair amount of legal work would already have been done, including in all probability a hearing.
If the personal representative didn't like the attorney, he or she could have fired the lawyer way before they got as far as the safe deposit box.
I would say: Settle down. There's more to the story than the version you are presenting. Don't believe everything you hear.
If you want details as to exactly what is going on, go to the courthouse and ask to see the probate file. It is open to the public and might make interesting reading.
This response is for general information purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You are advised to consult the attorney of your choice concerning the details of your case.
Re: Was this Attorney right in his actions?
The first attorney may have to file a claim and that claim can be disallowed or disallowed in part by the personal representative. The court could then hear the matter if the attorney proceeds with his claim.
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