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<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Doug raises a very good point that has bothered me for years, but I fear he and I are swimming upstream on this one.
<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><O:P> </O:P></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Nevertheless, if the conflict between a fiduciary’s personal interests and her fiduciary duties is manageable enough that she need not resign as fiduciary, then why should the attorney have to
limit his services to one role and not the other? As we all know, the same individual being fiduciary and beneficiary is extremely common, but it is always a potential minefield. Shouldn’t that one individual be able to rely on a single advisor to help her
navigate that minefield? How can we expect a layperson to make sense of the inevitably conflicting advice she’ll get from two different advisors?
<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><O:P> </O:P></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">As a bit of an aside, quite a few years ago an attorney was admonished for representing an individual who was PR and who filed a creditor claim against the estate, and the position taken by the
office of disciplinary counsel was alarmingly ignorant of the law – it reasoned that the attorney was representing two adverse clients, the individual and the estate, and under that analysis it missed this issue entirely. We all know that attorneys represent
fiduciaries, not estates and trusts. I don’t know whether wiser heads prevail now at the Bar, but I certainly don’t wan to be a test case.
<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><O:P> </O:P></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Back to Doug’s point, the prevailing view does seem to be that a fiduciary with a conflicting personal interest in the estate/trust needs two attorneys. It seems to me that the law
<I>should</I> be that one attorney can ethically represent a fiduciary/beneficiary at least until the individual’s conflict does not require her to resign. Even then it strikes me that the issue should not be an ethical one, but one of malpractice; ie did the
attorney give bad advice regarding continuing to serve as fiduciary under untenable circumstances.<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><O:P> </O:P></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<P class="MsoNormal"><B><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">________________________________________<O:P/></SPAN></B></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><B><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">THOMAS M. CULBERTSON
</SPAN></B><B><SPAN style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"> </SPAN></B><SPAN style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">I
</SPAN><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"> Lukins & Annis, PS<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">717 W. Sprague Ave, Suite 1600, Spokane, WA 99201<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">(509) 455-9555</SPAN><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">
</SPAN><SPAN style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"> I </SPAN><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"> fax (509) 363-2500</SPAN><SPAN style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"> I
</SPAN><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"> </SPAN><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><A href="mailto:tculbertson@lukins.com"><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;color:blue">tculbertson@lukins.com</SPAN></A></SPAN><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black">
<O:P/></SPAN></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black"><O:P> </O:P></SPAN></P>
</DIV>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><O:P> </O:P></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<P class="MsoNormal"><B><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext"> wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Doug Schafer<BR/>
<B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 19, 2015 4:20 PM<BR/>
<B>To:</B> WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv<BR/>
<B>Subject:</B> Re: [WSBAPT] Questions regarding wrongful death claims and probate<O:P/></SPAN></P>
</DIV>
</DIV>
<P class="MsoNormal"><O:P> </O:P></P>
<P class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">I have some doubts: Paul's fee agreement states, "My services ... are, by law, limited to representing you as personal representative of the estate. ... [I]f you got into a dispute with other beneficiaries
over distribution of assets, you might have to hire separate counsel for that matter." Since the PR's duty includes distributing estate assets among beneficiaries, why shouldn't the PR expect his attorney to represent him regarding any dispute relating to
that duty? Granted, a PR's lawyer could withdraw (abandon the client) whenever a dispute arises, or if the client is not heeding the lawyer's advice.<BR/>
<BR/>
That brings to mind a long-standing concern I have about lawyer-client conflicts. I often see it said that an individual client who has conflicting interests (e.g., beneficiary and fiduciary of a trust or estate, shareholder and director/officer of a closely
held corporation) must retain separate lawyers to advise him concerning each interest. I disagree. My view is that a lawyer serves essentially as a supplemental brain for the individual client -- it's as if the individual client hires and then possesses
the brain (legal knowledge) of a lawyer. If the individual client actually were a knowledgeable lawyer, he'd not be required to somehow bisect his brain so as to address each interest separately without regard to the other interest, but he would "juggle"
those interests based upon his legal knowledge. So in cases in which the law tolerates one individual acting with conflicting interests (e.g., PR and estate beneficiary), the law should permit him to be advised by a single lawyer concerning the juggling
of those competing interests.<BR/>
<BR/>
Doug Schafer, in Tacoma.<BR/>
P.S. please forgive the use on masculine pronouns, but it got cumbersome with repeated him/her's.<O:P/></P>
<DIV>
<P class="MsoNormal">On 8/19/2015 2:10 PM, Eric Nelsen wrote:<O:P/></P>
</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">That's great language Paul--thanks. Clear and succinct. I may use that myself.</SPAN><O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> Eric C. Nelsen</SPAN><O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </SPAN><O:P/></P>
<DIV>
<DIV style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<P class="MsoNormal"><B><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">
<A href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</A> [<A href="mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</A>]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Paul Neumiller<BR/>
<B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 19, 2015 10:39 AM<BR/>
<B>To:</B> 'WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv'<BR/>
<B>Subject:</B> Re: [WSBAPT] Questions regarding wrongful death claims and probate</SPAN><O:P/></P>
</DIV>
</DIV>
<P class="MsoNormal"> <O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Eric, thanks for the clarification. I use the following language in all of my fee agreements for probates:</SPAN><O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </SPAN><O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">“You are personally responsible for payment of all amounts due, for example, if the estate has insufficient funds for their payment. My services on behalf
of the estate are, by law, limited to representing you as personal representative for the estate. I do not represent you as an individual, or your interests as an individual beneficiary. I do not represent the estate itself, or any of the estate's beneficiaries.
So, for example, if you had a claim against the estate for services rendered to the decedent, or if you got into a dispute with other beneficiaries over distribution of assets, you might have to hire separate counsel for that matter. My job is to assist you
in your work as personal representative throughout the probate process, with a primary focus on assisting you in carrying out your fiduciary duties according to the law.”</SPAN><O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> </SPAN><O:P/></P>
<P class="MsoNormal"><SPAN style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">In other words, I gotta get paid.
</SPAN><O:P/></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P class="MsoNormal"><O:P> </O:P></P>
</DIV>
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