Q: Can a court appointed referee charge me 10,000 per month evermonth the house is on market?
I am in the process of moving in to my second home, and am selling my home. It's been a tough ordeal as I have family issues. Short story: I was forced into sailing my house and splitting proceeds with my brother. The court assigned us a court referee for partition.
On the initial contract it said he was only suppose to make max $275 per hour of work, and a max of $10,000. I just got an updated statement of fees it took 4 months to sell. And now their charging me a fee of $44,000. At this point the referee will net more money than me and my brother on the sale. Is this right. Can it be 10k a month.does anybody have any experience with this. I am really upset. I go in front of a judge next week. Looking for answers
A:
The answer to your question will depend entirely on what the Court's partition order says. If the court has ordered a partition, and limited the fees as you suggest, then the referee's fees cannot exceed the court order. But, if the court order states a certain fee to be paid to the referee for his/her services, but leaves out the allowance for costs or commissions, the referee may be within his/her rights to bill the amount you recite.
If you are represented by counsel, and you should be, then have the order compared with the billing to determine if the referee is off base. If you are not represented by counsel, consult with an attorney in the LA area to review the order, the partition, and whether the fees charged are within the court's ruling.
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