Palm Beach County — The Pankauski Law Firm PLLC, a West Palm Beach probate law firm, was successful at a charging lien trial on Monday, May 12th, 2014 in the Palm Beach probate court. The trial , or evidentiary hearing, was held in the Main Courthouse, in West Palm Beach, before the sitting probate judge. John Pankauski, the senior trial attorney and a probate litigator at the firm, gave testimony. The firm was successful in perfecting a valid charging lien regarding fees owed. For those involved in a charging lien case, you may want to consider the important bullet points below.
What Probate Beneficiaries Need to Know About Charging Liens
- A Florida charging lien is a very specific type of lien
- You don’t get a charging lien just by filing a notice of a charging lien
- There is , generally, a 4 part test to determine if you have a valid charging lien
- There is an important case from the Florida Supreme Court which is cited as the controlling authority on charging liens
- You don’t get a charging lien on attorneys fees and costs just because money is owed
- There are also unique rules based upon whether the case is a contingency or an hourly case
- A charging lien may arise in equity or pursuant to a legal services contract
- A charging lien hearing is a trial: full , evidentiary hearing
- Call witnesses, introduce evidence
- Have the legal services contract, invoices and other communications introduced into evidence
- Obtain a determination or declaration by the probate court that you have a VALID charging lien and that you have PERFECTED the charging lien
- There are recent cases from Florida’s appellate courts which speak to a charging lien hearing