California Estate and Elder Law

I first contacted Scott Stewart of California Estate and Elder Law when my best friend, for whom I had POA, was dying and another friend had advised me to find an attorney specializing in elder law. Scott seemed really knowledgeable, and although my friend died before any action could be taken, when it came time to find an attorney to help with my friend’s very small but somewhat messy estate, I called Scott. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. Scott doesn’t handle the estate administration part of the practice. That goes to Brooke Jensen, who is perhaps the most unpleasant person it’s ever been my misfortune to do business with. Using my personal contacts, I had been having trouble finding an attorney who could handle probate, however, so I decided to sign with them, even though I didn’t like Brooke from the start. (Scott, by contrast, is very personable.) Knowing what I do now, I would never have retained them to handle my friend’s estate. First, they told me they charge a flat fee for probate–$10K–and told me as executor I’d also get $10K. I’ve since learned from four other estate attorneys that both are outrageous for an estate so small that it’s less than half of the threshold for full probate in California. (Meaning no court oversight. One well-regarded attorney told me she didn’t think I even needed an attorney and would coach me for a flat fee of $2500.) I didn’t know, though, so fearful of racking up more than that from an attorney who would charge hourly, I signed. (And boy, is Brooke good at stirring up fear and at shooting you down no matter what progress you make on the estate.) Anyway, the firm’s policy is to demand $5K of the fee up front, which I paid out of my own pocket, as I had no access yet to the funds from the estate. (The attorney I ultimately hired to replace these two said that should have been an alarm that something was wrong.) In all I had three contacts with Brooke, each as unpleasant as the others, so I decided I couldn’t work with her and needed to terminate the agreement. Mind you, we hadn’t even had our first actual meeting about the estate and how to move forward, so when Scott finally got back to me (two e-mails later), and he said their time be converted into an hourly bill before I got any refund, I said okay. I mean, who could have imagined that out of $5K, (which BTW, is what other, attorneys have told me is likely the top end of what their billing would be for the ENTIRE case), they kept $3,367.50 and refunded me a paltry $1,362.50. I was billed at ATTORNEY RATES for scanning and filing. They don’t seem to have an admin or paralegal to do things like that (and no receptionist to answer the phone), but apparently think it’s okay to bill me $375 an hour for clerical tasks. (Among other inflated charges, like billing for things she admitted she hadn’t done the last time I saw her–billing for the time that very day.) I shared my experience with my financial advisor, whose firm and provided the initial recommendation, and they asked me not to do anything while they tried to get me a refund using their personal connection to Scott. They got nowhere–didn’t even get a call back, though the person reached Brooke, who claimed the bill was high because the estate was so complicated. Maybe that would have made sense if they’d actually DONE anything, but they hadn’t. I finally sent Scott an e-mail detailing my displeasure and why, and predictably, I never heard back. (Did I mention they’re both dreadful about returning calls, answering e-mails etc.?) Anyway, I finally deposited the paltry refund check, and lo and behold–it was returned for insufficient funds. I mean, after using every underhanded trick in the book to inflate the bill against my initial payment, they BOUNCED the refund check?! Outcome of that still pending. But this should be a warning to run, don’t walk, away from this firm and find an ethical firm. This one ain’t it. I’m currently considering a bar complaint.