Fee Arrangements: Probate & Trust

Alternative Fee Arrangements for Probate and Trust Cases

Like most law firms, we prefer to be provided with an advancement of legal fees prior to commencing work. However, even if you do not have immediate funds to hire us to represent you as a Personal Representative, trustee or beneficiary, we may still be able to help you immediately and then be paid later when funds become available. Besides accepting all major credit cards, as well as checks, cash and money orders, we also offer flexible payment plans, as explained below.

Personal Representative. If you were named as the Personal Representative (also called "Executor") in someone's Will, you probably want to have an experienced law firm help you through the probate process and advise you regarding your various responsibilities. We can usually get you appointed and assist you with preliminary administration of the estate prior to being paid. Arizona law (and the law in most other states) encourages you to retain professionals such as lawyers and accountants to help you, and for that reason the law provides that such professionals have priority for payment before any other creditor of the estate (and prior to distributing the estate to the heirs).

Beneficiary of Probated Estate. If you expect to receive an inheritance from an estate being probated in Arizona, we may be able to begin representing you with a smaller advancement of fees. If you expect to receive an inheritance, we may agree to be paid when you receive a distribution from the estate. This can be a big help if someone else is named as the Personal Representative, and you believe that person is misusing or stealing estate assets or not treating you fairly. In a case like that, we can sometimes have the court remove the Personal Representative and at the same time order that person to pay your legal fees. If the court finds that the Personal Representative breached his or her fiduciary duties, the court is likely to award double damages as well.

Trustee. If you are named as a trustee, you most probably need legal and accounting help in fulfilling your responsibilities. As a trust, you are a fiduciary and are held to a very high standard. You need an experienced attorney to review the trust documents and guide you as you fulfill your duties. This is especially true if you are named both as a trustee and a beneficiary.

Beneficiary of Trust. You may be a named beneficiary in a trust, and you think you need an attorney to represent you. (Perhaps the trustee is not providing you with an accounting of the trust, or is misusing trust assets.) That is always a very unfair situation. The person abusing his or her fiduciary duty as trustee controls the money (and thus can easily hire an attorney), while you are left to represent yourself with your own funds. In such a case, we may be able to represent you on condition that we will be paid when you receive a distribution from the trust. Depending on the facts, we may decide to bring an action against the trustee and seek an award of your attorney fees (on the grounds that you would not have had to hire an attorney if the trustee had done what she was supposed to in the beginning).

If you have any questions about how you can have us help you with your particular trust or probate trust situation, please contact us at (602) 639-4618.