Do you automatically lose your probate lawsuit in West Palm Beach if you cannot pay a lawyer?

Litigating a probate lawsuit in West Palm Beach costs money. Although  there are many ways to arrange fees, many require you to pay up front. So what happens if you cannot pay? Do you know what obligations your West Palm Beach probate attorney owes you when you cannot afford the bill? A recent case out of the Third District Court of Appeal sheds some light on this area.

Failure to Pay in West Palm Beach

• Attorneys are not required to work for free in West Palm Beach.
• If you cannot or choose not to pay your West Palm Beach probate attorney they canwithdraw from representation. 
• Do you know what that means?
• They will cease being your attorney.
• That being said there are still obligations when it comes to withdrawing, the attorney should not prejudice your case in doing so.
• In fact if your case is already in litigation they will have to motion the Court to withdraw.
• Do you know what needs to be in a motion to withdraw?
• Failure on the part of your attorney to properly withdraw may result in them getting in trouble with the probate court. 
• They could end up being sanctioned, reported to the bar or a professionalism committee.
• How and when can your West Palm Beach probate attorney withdraw from representing you?

Beckles v. Brit

• This all arose from an appeal where the attorney filed for an appeal and then later said that his clients lacked the resources to prosecute the appeal.
• In other words, the clients were not paying him.
• Rather than file a motion to withdraw or a motion to enlarge time for a response the attorney did nothing.
• In fact he defied a Court Order to file a brief because he was not getting paid!
• The Court asked him why he should not be sanctioned and reported to the bar for basically letting an appeal be dismissed.
• After a review they decided that reporting him to the bar may not be appropriate so they forwarded his information to a professionalism committee.
• Did a Palm Beach probate attorney cause your case to expire for similar reasons?
• Do you have a claim for malpractice in cases like this?

Want to learn more?

Check out the entire case by clicking here.