Attorney's fees

Generally, attorney's fees in probate estates are billed on an hourly basis. This is particularly true for guardianship estates, since the legal efforts required in each is unique. Some guardian estates are active - changing budgetary issues that must be presented to the court - while others are fairly inactive. For this reason, hourly billing is the normal form of billing guardianship estates.

All fees in guardianship estates are subject to the review and approval of the Probate Judge assigned the matter. Though hourly rates for attorneys fees in guardian estates vary from firm to firm, our firm pegs its hourly rate for probate work at the rate then being allowed by Probate Judges in Cook County for the work of court appointed guardians ad litem. Our experience tells us this rate is usually in the lower half of the range of fees generally charged in probate matters. As of January, 2010, that rate is $275.00 per hour.

Fees in decedent's estates are also usually charged on an hourly basis. Our firm hourly billing rate for decedent's estate work is also $275.00 as of January, 2010. However, because decedent's estates are less susceptible to surprises than guardianship estates, we offer each client the opportunity to agree in advance upon a fixed fee for our services. There are many benefits to a fixed fee arrangement, including:

1. The elimination of any disappointment by the client, at the end of the assignment, with regard to the fee. Since the fee is fixed and agreed upon up front, there can be no surprises at the end.
2. Hourly billed fees tend to discourage communication between the client and the attorney. Often the client does not call the attorney with a question or comment for fear of "starting the meter." With a fixed fee arrangement, one impediment to communications between attorney and client is removed.
3. Fixed fees encourage efficiency on the part of the attorney handling the matter. It has been said that hourly billed fees reward the inefficient attorney.
4. The elimination of the need for the attorney to track all of his or her hours. Keeping track of billable time is something all attorneys hate doing.

Unlike many firms, Reda | Ciprian | Magnone LLC is happy to accept decedent's estates under either a fixed fee or hourly fee arrangement.