How are legal fees determined on probate estates (where the deceased dies intestate)? Are the fees determined on probate and non-probate assets (real/personal property in the estate plus non-taxable life insurance proceeds). We are being told the life insurance proceeds are included in the calculation. The lawyer in question has done nothing in relation to the insurance proceeds.
-- Anonymous
A.
Legal fees in an estate proceeding should be negotiated with the lawyer who does the legal work for the estate before he/she starts work. Legal fees can be based on an hourly rate or a fixed sum, or a percentage of the probate estate. There is no hard and fast rule for figuring legal fees. They are not fixed by statute. Some attorneys ask for a fee equal to one executor's commission. In that case, life insurance would not be subject to executors' commissions because executors do not get commissions on life insurance. Likewise the lawyer's legal fees are not figured on life insurance, unless the lawyer does legal work in connection with the life insurance, such as litigation. Many people do not know that legal fees can be negotiated. The best way for the executor to protect himself is to ask lots of questions.
