For many people, the thought of the fees associated with hiring an attorney can be a stressor. However, when deciding to pursue legal action in an estate, potential clients should be aware that there is legal precedent for reimbursement of attorney’s fees from the estate’s funds. These fees can be legal fees for the normal course of events in the distribution of an estate or even legal fees as a result of contesting/removing a current personal representative.
The Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) provides in §53-7-45 that “personal representatives [of an estate] are authorized to compromise, adjust, arbitrate, assign, sue or defend, abandon, or otherwise deal with or settle debts or claims in favor of or against the estate.” If the personal representative does not want to pursue a matter, they can assign the matter to a creditor or heir/beneficiary who can then pursue it on their behalf. If that person succeeds in her pursuit and thereby brings funds into the estate her attorney’s fees and expenses may be reimbursed from the estate.
The case Estes v. Collum provides an example of a different kind of situation which may warrant an award of attorney’s fees. In Estes, the estate administrator was wrongfully holding property apart from the estate that belonged to the estate. An heir of the estate brought a case against the administrator to recover said funds and prevailed. This “resulted into [sic] bringing into the estate a large fund which would not otherwise have been recovered for administration.” Therefore, the Court of Appeals found that the heir was entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees out of the funds which their actions brought into the estate. That is because “the object of paying attorney fees of administrators […] is to protect the estate,” so when an administration takes actions adverse to an estate, “the heir who brings the action against him is performing a duty of an administrator in protecting the estate […] and the right of action exists in him […] to the same extent as though he were the administrator.”
Although OCGA does not specifically provide for the reimbursement of attorney’s fees for an individual who brings a legal action against an estate’s representative, the Court of Appeals found in Estes v. Collum that, even if an individual brings a suit on behalf of the estate without the assignment of such suit by the estate’s representative, they are still acting for the benefit of the estate and should therefore be entitled to reimbursement of attorney’s fees.
If you would like to discuss administration of an estate, bringing a case against a personal representative, or recovering attorney’s fees for actions taken in an estate, please email me or call my Atlanta probate firm at (404) 445-7771.
