Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Washington

Re: my responsibility

Please accept my condolences on your loss and I'll try to give you some help here.

I take it that your husband was a lawyer, correct? His firm will deal with re-allocating his caseload to other lawyers there. Not your problem. His firm likely has errors and omissions insurance (malpractice)that will address any issues they see with the state of his practice. The Bar has a program as well that deals with returning misappropriated funds, if any, after a full investigation.

But even though you were married to him, sounds as though you were not a lawyer and thus not responsible for the way he conducted his practice, whether that was a problem or not.

Did he leave a will? Did he leave you a life insurance policy? Did his firm have a death benefit? Were there savings, a 401(k)?

You can do a probate whether or not he left a will, but any claims former clients may possibly have had are going to be the firm's problem.

The firm could theoretically sue your husband's estate, I suppose. But I'm not getting from your post that they are doing that. And that's the whole point of carrying malpractice insurance, so they can get their relief there, not by taking money from you that you don't have.

It is not possible to inherit debt, and joint bank accounts and life insurance proceeds are not, necissarily, probate assets. You are probably in better shape than you realize right now.

This is fairly theoretical advice because I simply do not have enough facts to be more specific.

You have two separate issues I can see here. You need to deal with the shock of losing your husband, and that's a process the law can't really help with, unfortunately. Your loss is really recent. Give yourself some time.

Your next issue is the fallout resulting from his death while practicing law when his firm is telling you there was a problem with the way he handled funds. This is not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

There are attorneys who deal with malpractice claims and I would be happy to give you a few names if you want to talk to one.

If his firm is giving you nightmares, don't be afraid to get your own lawyer so you can negotiate with them on their own level. Even just a formal consult might lessen your stress load.

Some days all you can do is breathe. This is rough, being left with four children to support. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself to use the support you have from your friends and family. Don't let the firm push you around without knowing exactly what your rights are, and the duties of your husband's estate.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell