[WSBAPT] Conflicted Estate Counsel v Creditor's Claim

[Mark Anderson]

Fun scenario.
I represent the Estate of Harry.  Harry's Estate is the sole beneficiary of the estate of Harry's late brother Dave.
After Dave died, an attorney was approached by new client Charlie to file a petition to open an intestate probate for decedent Dave.  In the petition, the attorney identified Charlie as a creditor of Dave's Estate and sought to have Charlie appointed as the Personal Representative.  The Court granted the petition and appointed Charlie as the Personal Representative.  The stage is set: we now have Charlie as the Personal Representative and the attorney as counsel for the Estate ("Estate Counsel").
Before expiration of the four month creditor claims period, Estate Counsel (and not Charlie himself) filed a substantial creditor's claim in Dave's Estate on behalf of Charlie - Estate Counsel signed the pleading as "Attorney for Claimant."  When I say that Estate Counsel signed and filed a "substantial" claim, I mean that it was so big that it would subsume all assets of Dave's Estate, which was worth about $300,000.  Charlie did not sign the claim.
To me, Estate Counsel clearly violated RPC 1.7 when he signed and filed a claim against Dave's Estate on behalf of Charlie.
The four month creditor claims period has long since passed.  The creditor's claim that Estate Counsel signed and filed on Charlie's behalf has not yet been approved or adjudicated by the Court.  I will be challenging the claim on several bases.
Here are my questions for discussion.

  *   Am I correct in saying that Estate Counsel violated RPC 1.7?
  *   If I am correct and, in light of the conflict, is the creditor's claim still valid?
  *   Is there any way that Charlie can cure any invalidity in the creditor's claim?
Any suggestions for how to proceed?
Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.
Mark B. Anderson
ANDERSON LAW FIRM PLLC
821 Dock Street, Suite 209, PMB 4-12
Tacoma, Washington 98402
+1 253-327-1750
+1 253-327-1751 (fax)
marka at mbaesq.com<mailto:marka at mbaesq.com>
www.mbaesq.com<http://www.mbaesq.com/>
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