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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">Fun scenario.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">I represent the Estate of Harry. Harry's Estate is the sole beneficiary of the estate of Harry's late brother Dave.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">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").<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">To me, Estate Counsel clearly violated RPC 1.7 when he signed and filed a claim against Dave's Estate on behalf of Charlie.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">Here are my questions for discussion.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="color:#002060;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
Am I correct in saying that Estate Counsel violated RPC 1.7?<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="color:#002060;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
If I am correct and, in light of the conflict, is the creditor's claim still valid?<o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoListParagraph" style="color:#002060;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
Is there any way that Charlie can cure any invalidity in the creditor's claim?<o:p></o:p></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">Any suggestions for how to proceed?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#002060">Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="color:#002060">Mark B. Anderson<br>
</span></b><span style="color:#002060">ANDERSON LAW FIRM PLLC<br>
821 Dock Street, Suite 209, PMB 4-12<br>
Tacoma, Washington 98402<br>
+1 253-327-1750<br>
+1 253-327-1751 (fax)<br>
<a href="mailto:marka@mbaesq.com"><span style="color:#002060">marka@mbaesq.com</span></a><br>
<a href="http://www.mbaesq.com/"><span style="color:#002060">www.mbaesq.com</span></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:#002060">CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE<br>
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:#002060">This transmission is confidential and is intended solely for the use of the individual named recipient. It may be protected by the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine,
or other confidentiality protection. If you are not the intended recipient, or the person responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, be advised that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received
this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender via e-mail or by telephone at (253) 327-1750 that you have received the message in error, and then delete it. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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