In Re Estate Of McCullough


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Docket Number: 2009-CP-01931-COA
Linked Case(s): 2009-CP01931-COA

Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 03-15-2011
Opinion Author: Ishee, J.
Holding: Affirmed.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Wills & estates - Attorney's fees - McKee factors
Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Irving, P.J., Griffis, P.J., Myers, Barnes, Roberts, Carlton and Maxwell, JJ.
Procedural History: Bench Trial
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WILLS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 11-03-2009
Appealed from: Hinds County Chancery Court
Judge: Patricia D. Wise
Disposition: Awarded Reasonable Attorney's Dees
Case Number: P-2004-07

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: In The Matter of The Estate of Thelma McCullough, Deceased: Patricia A. Catchings




PRO SE



 
  • Appellant #1 Brief

  • Appellee: The Estate of Thelma McCullough, Deceased, Geraldine Yates, Administratrix NO BRIEF FILED  

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    Topic: Wills & estates - Attorney's fees - McKee factors

    Summary of the Facts: Thelma McCullough died intestate in 2003. Geraldine Yates filed a petition to open the estate and was appointed administratrix of the McCullough estate. A judgment determining heirs was entered on February 8, 2005, but the chancery court, after finding statutory issues regarding the declaration of heirs, entered a second order setting aside the judgment determining the heirs. In 2006, the chancery court again heard the motion to determine heirs, and the court entered an order and opinion to determine heirs. The aggrieved heirs filed a petition and an “Amended Petition Requesting Reconsideration of Prior Order, Determination and Adjudication of Heirship in Petitioners or Alternatively, Contesting the Constitutionality of Statute.” The court denied the motion. Attorney Patricia Catchings, who provided legal services for the estate, presented the chancery court with a motion to pay fees and expenses of the estate, to accept the accounting, and to close the estate. Catchings provided the chancery court with time sheets detailing the attorney’s fees incurred during the course of the administration of the estate in the amount of $88,550. The chancellor ordered that Catchings was entitled to $36,660 in reasonable attorney’s fees for her work on the estate. The chancellor further ordered that Yates, as administratrix, was entitled to $11,000; and Tony Williams, who was caretaker for McCullough’s house and property, was entitled to $1,425 in fees. Catchings appeals.

    Summary of Opinion Analysis: Catchings argues that the chancellor incorrectly applied the McKee factors in determining a reasonable amount of attorney’s fees with regard to her work on the estate. The factors used in the court’s analysis were proper, even though the chancellor may have cited to the wrong authority. Further, because of the minimal amount of time expended and the simplistic nature of the estate, the chancellor was of the opinion that $250 an hour for approximately 354 hours (totaling to $88,550) in attorney’s fees was unreasonable. The chancellor concluded that, after examining Catchings’s time sheets and tasks completed on behalf of the estate, a total of $36,660 was a reasonable fee. While in most circumstances, $250 an hour for estate matters is not an unreasonable fee, the chancellor did not abuse her discretion.


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