Probate Fees
This note brings up the interesting differences between states in their handling of probate fees for attorneys. According to the authors, "[p]robate lawyer fees [in California] are set by state law and are based on a percentage of the gross value of the decedent's estate." That isn't how it works in Illinois -- there is no statutory fee schedule here, and attorneys either bill a fixed fee for working on an estate, or bill by the hour. (I do the latter, since it's almost impossible to guess what issues will crop up in the administration of an estate.) Maybe there are some arguments I'm missing, but a fee schedule doesn't strike me as all that fair -- I've had some small estates that took a lot of time and trouble to administer, and some big estates that were fairly easy to handle.
