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This is my JOB. This is how I pay my mortgage, feed my family, etc….  Thus I like to be compensated for my work. Yes, I offer free consultations and occasionally I do pro-bono work (no fee). However, by and large I want to be compensated for my time.

I bring 18 years of specialized experience to the table to give my client’s their money’s worth!

The question then becomes what’s best for the client in a fee arrangement?  Hourly?  Flat fee? Contingency?  Some combination of these?

Obviously each case is different, each client is different, and each attorney is different.

We do a lot of our work on flat fees because most of our clients seem to like to know exactly what they are going to spend. We put it in writing!  A lot of clients like to know.

Others are comfortable with hourly rates. Of course with hourly rates the total can exceed a flat fee or it could be less. It just depends on the case. That is usually not known at the outset.

A lot of clients compare the hourly rates of different lawyers without factoring in the experience. If I charge $275 an hour and a brand new attorney charges $175 an hour is it really cheaper to hire the new attorney?  Probably not.  In most instances the new attorney has little clue what they are doing, research every issue, spend 4 times as much time, may miss subtle nuisances that are not clearly written into the law, and similar. Thus in most hourly rate situations the more experienced attorney is CHEAPER; often much cheaper!

Beyond that you need to consider the honesty of an attorney’s billings.  We bill in 1/10th of hour increments (6 minutes).  Some attorneys bill in 15 minute minimum increments; they leave a voice mail for you and charge you for 15 minutes. Yes, really.  No going in what your attorney’s billing practices are.  Clients rarely question our bills because they are accurate and, if anything, we try to under-bill our time. On a rare occasion we make a mistake but usually the client forgot and once we talk the issue is cleared up.

A lot of our work is probate work which is generally covered by the California probate code statutory fee schedule. It’s laid out as a percentage of the estate. You know up front what that schedule is and, again, you will sign a written fee agreement so there are no surprises.

The bottom line is you should talk to your attorney up front and know what the fee options are. Know what choices you have and then make the best choice for YOU.

Good luck.  -John

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Estate Taxes: It’s the biggest tax, potentially, but few people have to worry about it. The current exemption level is $5,120,000. However, the law is set to revert to $1,000,000 on January 1, 2013 so stay tuned for that!

Decedent’s Final Income Taxes: Typically the decedent’s final IRS form 1040 and California Franchise Tax Board form 540 are due April 15th just like anybody else.

Estate Fiduciary Return: The IRS form 1041 and FTB form 541 are typically due one year after death and run on a fiscal year.

Property Taxes: They are typically do in December. The key with property taxes is getting your parent-child exemption form filed if it’s a parent-child transfer. This has to be done before the property is sold or you could face a supplemental property tax bill long after the probate is over!

Work with professionals and get it done right!  -John

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There are three main compenents:

1) Attorney fees;

2) Personal Representative fees;

3) Costs.

ATTORNEY FEES:

California Probate code 10810 lays out ORDINARY attorney fees pretty well. I will take from that code section word for word:

10810. (a) Subject to the provisions of this part, for ordinary
services the attorney for the personal representative shall receive
compensation based on the value of the estate accounted for by the
personal representative, as follows:
(1) Four percent on the first one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000).
(2) Three percent on the next one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000).
(3) Two percent on the next eight hundred thousand dollars
($800,000).
(4) One percent on the next nine million dollars ($9,000,000).
(5) One-half of 1 percent on the next fifteen million dollars
($15,000,000).
(6) For all amounts above twenty-five million dollars
($25,000,000), a reasonable amount to be determined by the court.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the value of the estate
accounted for by the personal representative is the total amount of
the appraisal of property in the inventory, plus gains over the
appraisal value on sales, plus receipts, less losses from the
appraisal value on sales, without reference to encumbrances or other
obligations on estate property.

So, by reading this you can deduce that a $200,000 estate, for example, would incur a $7,000 attorney fee in California.

Notice this code section talks about “ordinary” attorney fees. Some attorneys charge EXTRAORDINARY attorney fees in some cases. Talk to your attorney up front to know if that’s likely. We only request such fees in a few select cases where our work is very extraordinary; otherwise we only request our ordinary fees. Some attorneys charge extraordinary fees in every case they can. Know this up front as it can be a big cost!  These fees can be incurred for litigation, selling assets, and other services that are not a part of every probate.

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE FEES:

The same as attorney fees. Notice in probate code section 10810 it says, “ordinary services the attorney for the personal representative shall receive….”

COSTS:

Here are some cost estimates for you to keep in mind:

Filing Fee $395;

Certified documents $25 each (2-5 per case);

Probate Referee 1/10 of 1% + travel costs for the referee;

Final Filing Fee $395;

Bond (optional) 1/2 of 1% per year;

Other misc costs/expenses: FedEx, excessive postage, Court Call, etc….

Know up front what your probate is going to cost your family!  Let’s chat. I’ll be happy to put it in WRITING.  -John

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- HIGHLY trustworthy family or friend;

- Private professional fiduciary (pfac-pro.org);

- Banks or corporate trustees;

- CPAs, attorneys or other professionals.

There are probably other options but these are the most common. Again, however, make sure you TRUST your trustee before selecting them to be trustee of your trust or executor of your will!

If you want to talk about the options and how they will apply to your estate please let me know.

-John

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Let us make it easy for you! Hire us to take care of your deed transfer needs.

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Why do I say ALL real estate holdings?  I say this because many people have a low value parcel of land in Palmdale, or a strip of land next to their parent’s house, or a timeshare. These all should be transferred to your trust to make things easier and cheaper for your loved ones.

Also transferring property held in other states is important. If you own property anywhere in the country make sure it gets transferred to your California trust. We can help facilitate that.  In some states we can do the deeds ourselves and others we hire a deed service.

Let us help you fund your trust!

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