Guardianship Lawyer Loses Attorney Fees Appeal: June 16, 2015 Washington Guardianship Case

Uncategorized • Sep 20, 2015

Who’s watching over those guardianship attorneys to make sure that they charge a reasonable fee under the Florida Guardianship Code and under the Florida Bar Rules? Well, the answer is usually the Delray Beach guardian or the probate court in Florida. After all, in Florida guardianships, a person who is the subject of the Palm Beach guardianship, the alleged incapacitated person, or the Ward, if a guardianship is found to be necessary, pays the court appointed attorney and the guardian and the guardian’s lawyers. So, we all need to be mindful of what the ward’s money is being spent on, and that it is spent reasonably. A lot of family members can find it frustrating that Florida guardianships, or even health care or attendant care in general, gets to be expensive as our parents age and as they may be hindered by dementia or Alzheimers requiring a lot of care, or caretakers or round the clock care. Here is a guardianship case where an attorney for the Ward had his attorneys feesreduced. If you are interested in how some courts analyze whether a guardianship lawyer’s fees are reasonable or not, consider reading this June 16, 2015 Washington appeal opinion.

Guardianship Lawyer Appointed After Guardianship Petition Filed

A guardianship petition was filed for Keiko alleging that she was incapacitated and suffering from dementia and paranoid behavior
The woman in this guardianship, Keiko, was 80 years old and had about $708,700 in assets
There was an allegation that she may have been financially exploited
A guardian ad litem was appointed to represent Keiko
Here in Florida guardianships, an elder law lawyer or guardianship lawyer is appointed right away to protect the interests of the person is the subject of the guardianship petition
So, in Palm Beach guardianships, if you file for guardianship of mom or dad, the probate court judge will immediately appoint a Palm Beach guardianship attorney to represent the interests of your mom or dad
In this case, a guardianship lawyer named Daniel was appointed to be the guardianship attorney for a woman named Keiko
Keiko was incapacitated
This case is about attorneys fees for a lawyer in a guardianship case from the state of Washington
This guardianship case involving attorneys fees is In the Matter of Guardianship of Keiko Decker, An Alleged Incapacitated Person, 353P.3d 669 (2015), Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2, whose legal opinion on this guardianship and attorneys fees matter was published or issued June 16, 2015
Here is a link to read the entire legal opinion on this guardianship case of reasonable attorneys fees: http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/D2%2045465-3-II%20%20Published%20Opinion.pdf
This case suggests that maybe a lawyer for a Ward or incapacitated person in a guardianship case should be limited
This guardianship case also suggests that guardianship courts can order lawyers todisgorge or return attorneys fees the guardianship lawyer has been paid
In Florida guardianship cases, the procedure for getting an attorney paid for services to the Ward or the guardian or the guardianship is typically to have a hearing on the reasonableness of attorneys fees in the guardianship court. Family members, or should I say, “interested persons” under the Florida Guardianship Code, can object and be heard.

When Are Guardianship Attorneys Fees Un-Reasonable?

Evidently, the incapacitated woman, Keiko, refused to meet with her lawyer Daniel and would not cooperate with him
That is VERY common in Palm Beach Gardens and Delray Beach guardianships, right?
Many times the incapacitated person may not understand what is going on or why there is an attorney calling or wishing to speak to them
The Ward in the Florida guardianship may be, after all, suffering from dementia and may have trouble analyzing or understanding the Palm Beach guardianship process
Evidently the probate court ordered that the Ward’s guardianship attorney should not spend more than 10 hours providing services WITHOUT guardianship court approval initially
Then, the guardianship lawyer for the woman with dementia was given authority from the guardianship court to spend another 40 hours on the matter of guardianship
The attorney for the Ward filed a power of attorney without , apparently, giving notice to the Guardian ad Litem
Guess who was named as the POA? The lawyer !
Here’s the short of it and you can read the entire guardianship controversy over attorneys fees by clicking on the link above in this Florida probate and guardianship commentary blog: the guardianship lawyer moved the guardianship court for approval of $118,000 in attorneys fees that had already been paid and for an additional $17,137.50 for more legal work
The guardianship court did not agree; and the lawyer lost his appeal