Florida probate lawyers are bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct that are set by the Florida Bar. What happens if your Florida estate attorney is not answering your phone calls or acting unethically? Check out this recent case where a lawyer took loans from a client and it resulted in estate litigation.
Florida Probate Litigation
- Florida will contest lawyers know that estate litigation can get heated but that the rules matter.
- Failure to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct can lead not only to probate court sanctions but suspension from the Florida Bar.
- Where can you find out what duties your Florida estate lawyer owes you?
- Check out a free copy of the Rules of Professional Conduct, click here.
- So what happens when a probate attorney Florida violates the rules?
- Check out this case from another jurisdiction.
In re Torres
- This was a very sad story about how a probate attorney can abuse the trust their clients have in them.
- The attorney here took an unsecured loan from an elderly man that the Court called“unsophisticated”.
- Can it get worse?
- It does, because that unsecured loan (one with no collateral) was equal to seventy percent of the probate client’s life savings!
- The lawyer had only paid back a fraction of the money by the time the man died.
- Could it be worse?
- The Court described the terms of the loan as “sparse and unfair!”
- Needless to say the Court found the man had violated that State’s rules governing their bar.
- How much was the loan for? $89,250!
- How much did he pay back?
- Only about 20,000 bucks and do not forget a lot of that was interest not principle.
- The poor woman had to hire another lawyer to collect from her probate lawyer!
- That is not how Florida probate litigators should treat their clients.
- How would the Florida bar treat this case?
- That is hard to say.
- But this guy was only suspended for ninety days!
- Do you think that is fair?
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