Before you hire a probate attorney, you should recognize that the "statutory
probate fees" set out in Caifornia’s Probate Code are not mandatory fees, and
most attorneys will negotiate a lower fee.
California Probate Code Section 10810 provides that "for ordinary services
the attorney for the personal representative shall receive compensation based on
the value of the estate accounted for [...]
I received a call in late November 1996 from a prospective client who serves
as the "successor trustee" of a deceased friend’s living trust. The friend and
his wife had created a living trust several years ago, and transferred all their
assets into their trust, in order to avoid the costs and other perceived
drawbacks of formal probate in [...]
My Clients: In 1995, an elderly couple came to my law office
because they had discovered that they had been "conned" by a salesman for an
organization called the "Alliance for Mature Americans."
The "con" started with a phone call: a telemarketer called, asking if the
clients might be interested in a revocable living trust. (In California and most
states, [...]
In Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Schluter, 1997 WL 795701 (1997), the department admitted in a stipulation filed in Section 120.56(4)1 proceedings brought by Schluter that it had five policies that had not been adopted as rules. After hearing, the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) Administrative Law Judge [...]