Fla. Stat. § 733.6171 Compensation of Attorney For the Personal Representative

• Library: Florida Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Chapter 352 of the 2023 Legislative Session
• Year: 2023
• Citation: Fla. Stat. § 733.6171

1

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(d), attorneys for personal representatives are entitled to reasonable compensation payable from the estate assets without court order.

(2)

(a) The attorney, the personal representative, and persons bearing the impact of the compensation may agree to compensation determined in a different manner than provided in this section. Compensation may also be determined in a different manner than provided in this section if the manner is disclosed to the parties bearing the impact of the compensation and if no objection is made as provided for in the Florida Probate Rules.

(b) An attorney representing a personal representative in an estate administration who intends to charge a fee based upon the schedule set forth in subsection (3) shall make the following disclosures in writing to the personal representative:

1. There is not a mandatory statutory attorney fee for estate administration.

2. The attorney fee is not required to be based on the size of the estate, and the presumed reasonable fee provided in subsection (3) may not be appropriate in all estate administrations.

3. The fee is subject to negotiation between the personal representative and the attorney.

4. The selection of the attorney is made at the discretion of the personal representative, who is not required to select the attorney who prepared the will.

5. The personal representative shall be entitled to a summary of ordinary and extraordinary services rendered for the fees agreed upon at the conclusion of the representation. The summary shall be provided by counsel and shall consist of the total hours devoted to the representation or a detailed summary of the services performed during the representation.

(c) The attorney shall obtain the personal representative's timely signature acknowledging the disclosures.

(d) If the attorney does not make the disclosures required by this section, the attorney may not be paid for legal services without prior court approval of the fees or the written consent of all interested parties.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), compensation for ordinary services of attorneys in a formal estate administration is presumed to be reasonable if based on the compensable value of the estate, which is the inventory value of the probate estate assets and the income earned by the estate during the administration as provided in the following schedule:

(a) One thousand five hundred dollars for estates having a value of $40,000 or less.