Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana
Is it legal for my lawyer to erase any past debt I owed her from a previous case, in order for me to sign a contract agreement to a new case, inwhich they would receive lots of money if we would win.
They actually knew we would win the case, but withheld that information from me, and had me sign a contingency fee. The case was to obtain my kids trust fund, so it wouldn't go to the estate. They received $100,000 dollars and told me I didn't have to pay back $10,000 from another case. I thought this was something they couldn't do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You can complain about the use of a contingent fee agreement to the Disciplinary Commission of the State of Indiana. There is nothing wrong about the use of a contingency simply becasue there is a favorable outcome...they should have given you the choice to pay hourly.
Since the money that was paid to those attorneys was apparently your children's instead of yours, you may also have personal liability to your kids for the loss, as you received a benefit (erasure of your debt) when you signed the agreement which you now allege shorted them. If there is a problem, the local probate court should appoint a guardian for the kids to investigate the claims against the attorney and against you.
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