This fee varies depending on the Estate Planning Attorney near Spartanburg SC. A fixed rate offers predictability and peace of mind. This is often used for cases of routine and undisputed succession. Specialists charge more per hour than general practitioners, but are likely to be more efficient. If they have filed probate documentation a hundred times in the local court, they have probably figured out how to do it quickly and in a way that the court will accept it.
In other states, attorneys are simply paid by the hour plus unlimited fees. The lawyer's job will consist of overseeing the legal obligations of the estate, managing any interaction with the probate court, and defending the estate in any dispute. Many probate attorneys place ads in newspapers, often near obituaries or notices to creditors, in the hope of attracting customers. In most states, there's no established basis for how much an estate attorney can cost, nor is there a reliable average.
In most cases, probate attorneys will allow you to choose a payment method other than the method in which they keep a percentage of the value of the estate. The 7 states that allow probate attorneys to use this payment method each have their own statutory laws regarding the specific percentages that can be charged. Unless the estate is domiciled in those 7 states, you don't have to worry about the estate attorney charging you a certain percentage of the total value of the inheritance. Of course, at first, the lawyer may not know how often you will appear in court or how many hours you will work on the case, but if you can get a rough estimate, that can help you with any surprises in the future.
In most cases, attorneys charge an hourly rate, a fixed rate, or a percentage of the value of the estate. If you are billed this way, you don't have to worry about piling up the bill every time you want to ask the lawyer a question. If funds are available, but they may not be sufficient to cover the lawyer's expenses, the probate attorney may ask the executor to pay you an advance (an advance) to cover the costs of processing and other similar administrative details. An executor who doesn't hire an attorney could cost the estate money if they don't meet tax filing deadlines, don't properly notify creditors, or don't get assets properly valued.
The information provided on this site does not constitute legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no confidential attorney-client relationship is established or will be formed through the use of the site. If you are an executor, you can keep your estate's legal fees low by seeking an attorney only when necessary. If the estate is insolvent, some attorneys may work on a contingent basis or offer services with a limited scope. However, many lawyers prefer legal fees because they are often very high in relation to the amount of work they have to do.
The processing fees for probate cases can range from a couple hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars.
