Q: My sister died and before her estate could be probated to her son, my nephew, he died.
I am filing to be Executor and received a huge bill from criminal attorney (hired in error by my nephew to help with probate). Most charges are after my nephew's death and no contract. Doesn't the lawyer's obligation terminate upon client's death?
In Texas.
Thank you
A: You are required to have an attorney to probate the will and to become the executor. Your probate attorney should be able to easily help you with this. The probate attorney will probably advise you to send the criminal attorney a "permissive creditor notice." Then, even if the criminal law attorney responds correctly to the permissive notice, you will likely reject the claim. The claim may have defects (as you stated). In the meantime, I wouldn't talk with the criminal attorney. It's best to let your probate attorney try to eliminate the creditor claim (which we're pretty good at!).
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