For those of you who have worked with an attorney and needed to various answers how long did it take your attorney to get back to you, a few days, weeks? What is reasonable?
G, coming back on this older thread to say I think I misinformed you about the right of the POA to be "paid". A new poster came into discussions and was speaking mostly about Millennial caregivers, wanted a thread specific to them, but in the midst of discussion came out that this OP was going to be paid for some caregiver duties. They said in PA. with an attorney drawing up papers, passing through probate court, this can be done, whether as accountant or caregiver. I then thought more about California law and your specific concern, and specifically googled "POA paid for estate management California". While the info was somewhat nebulous I did post the link in Discussions under PerfumeGarden's post. And it does say that with the approval of government there can be pay for duties. So learn as I go, looks like there CAN BE pay if passed through attorney, specifying costs per hour and for what, and get it somehow approved "officially" (no idea HOW). I hope by now you have heard from your attorney. And why any Elder Law Attorney in California would need time to research this when it seems integral to their basic duty to know what they are doing, I can't imagine. Sent you a private message about all this. Hope all is well.
Assuming that you're referring to estate planning questions, unless you're dealing with a very complicated estate, most attorneys (in my experience and for whom I've worked) could provide answers either on the spot, or would research them as soon as they got a chance.
Attorneys don't like to "drag out" client issues; they want to address them promptly, like that day or in a few days if they have a tight schedule.
The situations in which I've been involved that required research to be done to address a client need or issue were primarily in transactional law, such as: how to met setback requirements with inadequate space on the parcel in question, or whether or not old gas stations may have gasoline leakage issues (many do). The latter issue would require additional research and most likely a contractor to perform a subsurface analysis, as well as research and analysis of government documents and action on that particular parcel.
In addition, senior and junior partners often refer questionable issues to associates for research (at a lower hourly fee).
What kinds of issues are still outstanding? Multiple heirs, multiple parcels and/or assets, conflicting asset interests, etc.? How best to structure the EP for multiple heirs, including of different ages, how to create ancillary trusts (such as if one heir is a special needs person and requires that kind of trust), how to merge multiple trusts, etc.
Actually, an attorney skilled in these fields might need to refresh his/her experience and see how similar issues were handled. I recall situations in which older client files were used as guidance on a current client's special interests.
CRUT trusts often require more research and planning, depending on the situation.
I posted the original question below, GardenArtist. It involves, if I remember, questions about getting paid to act as POA for her Mom, who WANTS to pay her. Several of us mentioned the problems with getting paid outside of what the document itself states (I believe I recall a 1%). I think an attorney already answered this, but G. has other/more/different questions? I believe at some point she was considering consulting a second attorney so I don't know if this is the original one or a second attorney. Where it gets complicated is that there are other siblings who are not POA; worries me if G. pays herself for duties that are considered a part of being POA for estate that these other siblings would come back with an attorney claiming "enriching self" and etc. POAs can pay OTHERS, but not themselves out of the Estate (other than what is stated in the document itself) in most cases.
If you are following up on the above issues with this particular attorney~ you posted in above post that you had gone to see this attorney "two weeks ago" and your post was dated April 3. Are you saying you have had NO communication for about one month? Or are you saying the attorney has communicated, but cannot yet find answers to your questions for one month and is still "researching"? What was your agreement with the attorney about when he would contact you? Because if in a month the attorney cannot find answers to your easy questions I would be worrying not only about how long it is taking, but about the charges, unless they were already discussed in detail. I myself would be on the phone daily at this point asking when we can meet to have answers to my list of questions. One month seems long to me. For myself having dealt with my brother's estate when he was living (one attorney), his estate when he was gone (another) and our own Trust and Estate documents (yet another attorney) I have never waited more than a week, and have always know when the attorney would get back to me, and the attorney always DID get back to me in the time designated. I note looking back at your old posts that you specifically asked me a question about where I got some of my information (other than serving as Successor Trustee in California). I am sending you a link by private message that I found useful.
It depends on the number of questions and the amount of research the attorney might have to do. I would think the attorney should respond to you within a week to either provide the answer(s) or to let you know when to expect an answer.
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A new poster came into discussions and was speaking mostly about Millennial caregivers, wanted a thread specific to them, but in the midst of discussion came out that this OP was going to be paid for some caregiver duties. They said in PA. with an attorney drawing up papers, passing through probate court, this can be done, whether as accountant or caregiver.
I then thought more about California law and your specific concern, and specifically googled "POA paid for estate management California". While the info was somewhat nebulous I did post the link in Discussions under
PerfumeGarden's post. And it does say that with the approval of government there can be pay for duties.
So learn as I go, looks like there CAN BE pay if passed through attorney, specifying costs per hour and for what, and get it somehow approved "officially" (no idea HOW).
I hope by now you have heard from your attorney. And why any Elder Law Attorney in California would need time to research this when it seems integral to their basic duty to know what they are doing, I can't imagine.
Sent you a private message about all this.
Hope all is well.
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Attorneys don't like to "drag out" client issues; they want to address them promptly, like that day or in a few days if they have a tight schedule.
The situations in which I've been involved that required research to be done to address a client need or issue were primarily in transactional law, such as: how to met setback requirements with inadequate space on the parcel in question, or whether or not old gas stations may have gasoline leakage issues (many do). The latter issue would require additional research and most likely a contractor to perform a subsurface analysis, as well as research and analysis of government documents and action on that particular parcel.
In addition, senior and junior partners often refer questionable issues to associates for research (at a lower hourly fee).
What kinds of issues are still outstanding? Multiple heirs, multiple parcels and/or assets, conflicting asset interests, etc.? How best to structure the EP for multiple heirs, including of different ages, how to create ancillary trusts (such as if one heir is a special needs person and requires that kind of trust), how to merge multiple trusts, etc.
Actually, an attorney skilled in these fields might need to refresh his/her experience and see how similar issues were handled. I recall situations in which older client files were used as guidance on a current client's special interests.
CRUT trusts often require more research and planning, depending on the situation.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/how-do-you-find-a-good-elder-law-attorney-474060.htm?orderby=recent
If you are following up on the above issues with this particular attorney~ you posted in above post that you had gone to see this attorney "two weeks ago" and your post was dated April 3.
Are you saying you have had NO communication for about one month?
Or are you saying the attorney has communicated, but cannot yet find answers to your questions for one month and is still "researching"?
What was your agreement with the attorney about when he would contact you? Because if in a month the attorney cannot find answers to your easy questions I would be worrying not only about how long it is taking, but about the charges, unless they were already discussed in detail.
I myself would be on the phone daily at this point asking when we can meet to have answers to my list of questions.
One month seems long to me.
For myself having dealt with my brother's estate when he was living (one attorney), his estate when he was gone (another) and our own Trust and Estate documents (yet another attorney) I have never waited more than a week, and have always know when the attorney would get back to me, and the attorney always DID get back to me in the time designated.
I note looking back at your old posts that you specifically asked me a question about where I got some of my information (other than serving as Successor Trustee in California). I am sending you a link by private message that I found useful.