State laws awarding attorney fees, or providing for a fixed fee or percentage, or mandating court approval for a proposed fee are too varied to include herein. The following federal civil rights statutes provide for attorney fees to be paid: 1 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title II (Public Accommodations) 2 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title III (Public Facilities) 3 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII (Equal Employment Opportunities) 4 Fair Housing Act 5 Fair Labor Standards Act 6 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 7 Equal Credit Opportunity Act 8 Voting Rights Act of 1965 9 Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 10 Age Discrimination Act of 1975 11 Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act 12 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 13 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 14 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 15 Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Awards Act of 1976
At one time, the American Bar Association (ABA) favored a statutory scheme to standardize minimum fees or “recommended fee schedules” to circumvent fee-cutting competition and preserve the integrity of the legal profession. However, in 1975, the U.S. Supreme Court held that minimum fee schedules violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
This page discusses five common ways to seek attorneys fees against a spouse in a prejudgment divorce, post judgment or in a parentage case.
Family Code 271 is a sanction based statute whose focus is to punish a spouse or parent that engages in conduct that frustrates California's policy to resolve family law cases reasonably and amicably.
Family Code 3652 is an interesting code section that permits a prevailing party in a support modification hearing to seek attorneys fees and court costs against the non-prevailing party.
Family Code 6344 allows the court to order attorney fees in favor of the winner and against the loser in a domestic violence restraining order proceeding. This code section has two parts.
The next page about fee requests is linked below. It discusses opposing fee requests.
Apart from the filing fee, most people fear probate costs due to the lumpsum attorney fees anticipated. However, this should not worry you much about assets in probate since there still exist many lawyers who can provide ordinary services that are affordable.
The extraordinary California probate fees for lawyers vary by situation. Plus, the court has the power to set the additional fee amounts, so they are generally difficult to estimate (especially for complex matters). For estates larger than twenty-five million dollars, the court holds the mandate to determine the cost of probate.
Sandra M. McCarthy, founder of A People’s Choice, has worked exclusively in the legal field since 1976. She served as the 2004-2005 President of CALDA (California Association of Legal Document Assistants). She obtained a Paralegal Certificate from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
A brief digression here: “fees” are different from “costs.” “Fees” are the monies paid to an attorney for prosecuting or defending the case. “Costs” are monies that are paid out of pocket during the litigation for other services, usually outside vendors. These typically include Court filing fees, fees for service of process, ...
If it appears that the allegations of the petition are not true, the person’s reasonable attorney’s fee “shall” be awarded against the petitioner, or allowed out of the estate, in the discretion of the court.
California Probate Code 8872 (c): A personal representative of the estate can petition the court to compel a person into court, or to answer written interrogatories, concerning allegations that the person has wrongfully taken property from an estate. (See Probate Code 8870.)
If awarded, the fees go against whatever compensation the personal representative is entitled to for their role as personal representative. If the personal representative’s compensation is not large enough to satisfy the award, the personal representative will be personally liable for the difference.
Judges can, and often do, award lower amounts than what was actually paid or incurred. Judges have the luxury of examining what fees were incurred after the outcome is known – something the attorneys and parties cannot know for certain as they strategize and litigate the case.
Though generally not recoverable, the law provides that the responsibility for attorney’s fees may be shifted from one party to another if authorized by statute or provided for in a contract. In the probate courts, there are several such statutes. The clever attorney should know ...
Filing fees range from less than $60 to several hundred dollars.
If a probate referee is required, the probate referee fees will also be a cost of the estate, and will range from $75 to $10,000, depending on the value of the assets appraised. The total cost of a California probate depends on the size of the estate, the type of assets, and the complexity of the administration.
Ordinary services include marshalling the estate assets, paying claims, locating beneficiaries and heirs of the estate, and preparing the accounting.
A personal representative in California is entitled to compensation for ordinary services provided to the estate. California Probate Code § 10800 . These fees are also called statutory fees, because they are provided by statute. The California probate Code also allows for additional fees to be paid for extraordinary services.