lauren0309
New Member
My mom died in August and I had hired a lawyer to take care of her will. In her will, I am the named Executor and her only assets is her co-op apt. which she is leaving to her 5 grandchildren. I received a letter from my lawyer in January that the court wants me to post bond before I can get a letter testamentary and put her apt. up for sale. He said he would send me the bond application. I waited for one month and finally started making phone calls as to where the application is. I called every single day and I never got a return call. After a month and a half the application to post bond came in the mail. I promptly signed it and mailed it back the same day. It is now the last week in April and I have not received any communcation from my lawyer since I sent him the bond application on April 3. In order to sell my mom's co-op I needed to post this bond and need a Testamentary letter. I"ve been calling him again for the past 2 weeks to find out if he ever posted the bond since I havent yet received the Testentary Letter. He still has not returned my phone calls. Every day I am told he is not in. I have not spoken to him in 2 months because he never returns phone calls. I called probate court today and they told me the bond has never been posted. I hired this lawyer in August and this seems to be dragging on. I wish to dismiss this lawyer but don't know how to go about doing it. Do I call another lawyer and have him send a letter or I notify him myself? I also need my file and any paperwork he has done so the new lawyer can pick up where he left off. Also I have been paying $700 a month rent on my mom's co-op and since he has been dragging his feet it has been costing me $700 a month in rent. Can I try to get any of this money back? What happens to the atty. bill. Does he still get paid for services up until now and will this wind up costing us more in the long run or does this warrant him foregoing fees since he did not provide proper counsel.. His neglect of our case also impacted our financial situation whereby we were forced to pay rent on the apartment until probate clears.
