Probate Court May Review Attorney’s Fees

In Faulkner v. Woodruff, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 3185 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2d Dist. Mar. 6, 2015) the court concluded that if an attorney for a personal representative of an estate charges excessive fees, the probate court has the jurisdiction to review the propriety of such fees, and the burden of proof is on the attorney to establish that such fees are reasonable.  The probate court may review attorney fees even if they are paid from nonprobate assets. 

In this case, a probate estate was opened with under $5,000 in personal property and a homestead residence.  The attorney for the executor charged $39,869 in attorney fees for work performed in the “uncontested proceeding.”  The executor of the estate filed a petition to review the attorney’s compensation as an interested person.  Although the probate court dismissed the petition, the appellate court came to a different conclusion, holding the executor has the same right to have the probate court review compensation paid to the estate’s attorney.

See Jeffrey Skatoff, Probate Court Has Jurisdiction to Review Attorney Fees, Burden of Proof on Attorney, Florida Probate Lawyers, March 8, 2015.