Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

I am unaware of a time limit. It should be reasonable and the court has to approve the withdrawal.

If you think the attorney is not moving fast enough to withdraw you may want to consider a letter to the court requesting the attorney be removed as counsel of record.

If the Orphans' Court matter is still pending without having been resolved, the lawyer may not be permitted to withdraw until another lawyer is substituted in his place. So it may not just be that the lawyer is dragging his feet. If the matter is still pending, you should be lining up a lawyer to take over your representation. Consult with an estates lawyer in the county where this is pending.

THIS RESPONSE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, SINCE I DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED, AND I DO NOT HAVE A REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT WITH YOU.

* If the answers to your question confirm that you have a valid issue or worthwhile claim, your next step should almost always be to establish a dialog with a lawyer who can provide specific advice to you. Contact a lawyer in your county or township.

* Another reason for contacting a lawyer is that it is often impossible to give a good answer in the Internet Q&A format without having more information. The unique circumstances of your situation and things that you may not have thought to mention in your question may completely change the answer. If you want to be sure that you have a complete answer to your question and an understanding of what that answer means, establish a connection with a lawyer who practices in the area of your concern.

As the other attorneys noted, the current attorney would have to file a motion to withdraw from the case. In the alternative, if you get a new attorney, the new attorney files a substitution of counsel.

If you cannot afford or don't want the current attorney, then you should still ask him/her to file a motion to withdraw or you can file your own motion to have counsel removed.

If the estate is still pending, why do you want to get rid of the lawyer? A second lawyer may be reluctant to get involved, depending on your reasons for discharging the first one. Also, the first lawyer is entitled to be paid for work that he/she has done up to now and ion estate cases, the estate fees are usually set by the court. There is one fee for estate administration and each lawyer will have to be paid out of that fee for the work that he/she did.

If the first lawyer has some kind of problem and is just not responding to you, then I would get a new attorney, have the new attorney file a substitution of counsel and get your file from the old attorney. If the prior attorney does not respond to your new counsel then there is a more serious problem and you may have to file a complaint with the PA Disciplinary Board.