437 P.2d 488 | Or. | 1968
This is an appeal from an order allowing an objection to a final account with the result that certain attorneys fees were reduced.
The attorneys for the estate during probate had obtained an ex-parte order authorizing the payment of $3,439.78 to the attorneys as “fees in the above entitled estate.” The customary fee for the work done in connection with the probate of the estate would have been approximately $542.28. The assets of the estate were insufficient to pay the debts of the decedent.
A judgment creditor of the decedent objected to the final account insofar as it authorized the payment of attorney fees in excess of $542.28. The trial court, after a comprehensive hearing into the matter, allowed the $542.28 as the usual fee in such cases together with an additional $1,200 for services performed after the decedent’s death in connection with litigation which had been pending at the time of the decedent’s death. The remainder of the $3,439.78 was disallowed on the ground that fees earned during the lifetime of the decedent properly should have been segregated and filed as a claim against the estate. As a claim against the estate, such fees would be subject to the applicable statutory priorities that are invoked when the assets of an estate are insufficient to pay all
Affirmed.
