Probate Fees Piling Up? You May Want to Pursue Expert Witness Fees.

Are you in the process of challenging administration of a   Palm Beach trust? Are the expert accountant fees starting to pile up at over $250/hour? You may want to petition the court to award those costs against the losing party. Check out what the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Palm Beach had to say about the matter.

Experts

• When it comes to litigating a Palm Beach trust document retaining experts can get expensive.
• How do you plan to show the jury that the trustee made unwise investment decisions?
• What if the accounting is off, whose word will the jury take yours or the trustee?
• Does your answer change when you find out they have an expert accountant to testify for them?
• Do you know who pays for all that? The trust funds probably.
• Maybe you should consider hiring your own expert accountant but keep in mind a C.P.A. charges $250/hour and has to review all of the accounting documents, hour by hour!
• So can you get these expenses sent to the opposing side?

Expert and Attorney Fees

• The default rule is that each side will bear the costs of their own attorney and expert fees.
• There are two ways to get awarded fees, through statute or through agreement with the other side.
• Who would agree, in the course of litigation, to something like that?
• Usually this happens in a contract or written document like a trust charter or will in Delray Beach.
• Does your trust document have something called a “prevailing party clause?” Does it mention anything about expert fees?

Sisca v. Sisca

• The Fourth District Court of Appeals regularly hears cases on review from in and around Palm Beach.
• The Court handed down its decision yesterday, April 22, 2015 in the case of Sisca v. Sisca.
• Although this was a divorce case, the couple (former couple) retained expert accountants and ended up with expenses of about $35 thousand. The court ultimately found that the husband could transfer these expenses to the wife under the law.
• Palm Beach Probate litigators know that proper legal services is not just getting you the relief you want but also getting you the smallest bill possible. This often means pursuing fees from the other side.

Want to learn even more?  Check out a free copy of the case by clicking here.