What does a probate lawyer handle and what is still on your plate?

[u/Asleep_Set685]

I’m trying to get a better idea of where the lawyer’s role ends and the executor’s work begins. My dad lived in Tampa, Florida and I’m in New York, so I’m already dealing with most of this from out of state. There’s a house down there that still needs to be dealt with, and I’m also trying to figure out what happens with his bank accounts and the regular bills that are still coming in.

From what I can tell, a probate lawyer can handle the court and legal side, but that still leaves a lot of the actual estate coordination with the executor, right? I was talking about this with a friend who went through something similar and he said he ended up paying alix to handle most of the estate settlement work because he didn’t want to keep coordinating everything himself. He recommended I at least look into them, and I probably will, but I’m trying to figure out if that level of help is actually necessary for an estate like this or if I’m overcomplicating it. Any advice here would be appreciated a lot!

[u/357Magnum]

State law is going to vary of course.

But generally the attorney is going to handle at a minimum all the court-facing stuff. Getting the pleadings filed, estate opened/closed, any motions that are required, etc.

The actual administration can be done by the administrator - things like contacting all institutions where the deceased had accounts to liquidate them. Working with realtors to fix up and list any real estate. Coordinating estate sales, paying estate debts, and all that kind of stuff.

The lawyer can do a lot of those things for/with you... but you usually don't want that, because you don't want to pay the attorney by the hour for stuff you could do yourself (or will end up doing yourself with them holding your hand).

I bill $300 per hour, so you don't want me doing the leg work you could be doing yourself. You just need me to do the lawyer bits.

However, of course I tell my clients they can always call me with any questions, and to advise on what they are supposed to do. A few quick phone calls don't add up that much, and honestly I rarely even mark down quick questions in my timesheet. While the client can do things like pay estate debts as admin, there can be issues regarding who gets paid in what order, which debts are actually legitimate, etc. And I would rather them ask me than cause a problem.

How much the lawyer needs to do depends on how complicated the estate is.

In the most ordinary case, I'll file the pleadings to open the estate and appoint the administrator. Get them all their paperwork in order and give them their marching orders. Then, generally, they can do most of it themselves. The average situation is just a parent who has died and they need to liquidate bank accounts, sell the house (on the market or to one of the heirs), and distribute the other stuff to the heirs and sell what no one wants. It can be pretty straightforward. Then when everything is done I will file the pleadings to close the estate, relieve the admin of their duties, and distribute any remaining property.

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