Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Ohio
Filing probate
My Mother pased away in May,2006. I met with her lawyer Monday this week. Her lawyer is in his 90's. He showed us two wills in her previous married name but said they were not valid because they were not up to date. I asked him for copies and we noticed the wills were not signed even though they were over 20 years old. Now he is filing probate for Administer of Estate. He says we have to pay up front for the filing.( $ 150.90 ) I wanted to know if this is common pratice. I thought all filings were billed to the estate?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Filing probate
I don't know whether it is common, but I usually ask for the filing fee from the client to get the process started, and then all money due to me is paid later from the estate.
The filing fee is not something charged by the attorney, it is charged by the court to open an estate. In my view, that means it should be paid by whomever wishes to have the probate completed (the client).
In my experience, usually the rest of the costs/fees are paid by the estate, and the client will be refunded the filing fee at the end.
Re: Filing probate
Be aware that if you are advancing the fees, you may have to file a claim against the estate to get reimbursed. Depends on the local probate court. I assume you are the Administrator of the Estate and not the attorney. If you could find a signed will, it would be valid no matter that it was in a previous name.
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