possibility and thoughts on changing attnys mid case

[boomerkae]

My husband and I have concerns about the lack of communication from our attny. We sent an email over 3 weeks ago and have not had any answers. I sent the email to the firm principle, no response. Last week, he emailed me a request from the trustee, and signed "if you have questions, call me". Well, three phone calls and two messages later, no response. So today, i get an email from the paralegal telling me the attny asked her to email me b/c he hasn't heard back from me regarding the documents he requested two weeks ago, claiming he sent an email to me and the trustee wants the info by this Friday! WTH. Paralegall looks at the case file and tells me a list of documents that "it looks like' he wants, and none are what the only email i've received asks for!

My husband and I are disgusted with it all. Some of you may remember my previous quesitons regarding my attny having lunch with our trustee before 341 and arriving late. He never remembers anything about our case and just doesn't seem to care. I wish I had come here WAY before I gave them our money, and done the research - we've read online that others have the same communication issue. we are told one thing when we had a consultation, another at the signing of the papers, and yet another now. Tired of the changing stories and lack of communication.

So my questions-
I believe it is possible to switch attnys, but how difficult is it? Is it advisable or not?

I am contemplating calling the trustee's office directly to find out what is wanted. Advisable or not?

We filed in MD, then moved to VA. We had a CH13 in MD that the attny requested dismissal for, then we filed 7. Could we look at refiling in VA (using the MD rules, it's only been 3 months) or can we convert to 13 (to protect some assets I think we might head there) in VA?

Thanks in advance everyone for your input.

[HHM]

Honestly, no attorney would take the case at this point. You are practically done, supply the docs and ride it through. At this point, (post 341) the only reason to change attorneys is if things went really sideways which sounds like has not happened. You are practically 90% there.

[boomerkae]

Honestly, no attorney would take the case at this point. You are practically done, supply the docs and ride it through. At this point, (post 341) the only reason to change attorneys is if things went really sideways which sounds like has not happened. You are practically 90% there.

Even if we are unhappy and lost all confidence? I'm worried we will be in this for a LONG time and that we will constantly get sprung with requests two days before they are due. Is it advisable to call the trustee's office to find out what he wants?

[sunshinepa]

Provide the documents and hang in there. As HHM said, you are almost done, you've kept him this long. You should be discharged 7/12, what's another month?

Did your contract include anything after the 341? That may be where the problem lies, he's been paid, done his job. While not fair, your contract dictates how much he will help after the 341. I don't think I would contact the trustee directly but others with more expertise may have a better opinion on that one.

Good luck.

[AngelinaCat]

You are almost a carbon copy of our situation. Except that we actually made a 'Motion To Discharge the Attorney and Go Pro Se' and caused her to lose a day's work in order to appear in court. The Judge explained to us, pretty much what HHM has told you, that we our case was almost complete, and that he could grant the motion to dismiss the attorney, but that it would delay our discharge. Or, he could deny the motion and we just ride this case out--which is what he would recommend, but he would let us decide. We decided to 'ride it out'.

But like you, the lack of communication was maddening, and in fact caused us to make mistakes that cost us dearly. And like you, we did not find this forum until after all the mistakes had been made.

Good luck to you.

[boomerkae]

Provide the documents and hang in there. As HHM said, you are almost done, you've kept him this long. You should be discharged 7/12, what's another month?

Did your contract include anything after the 341? That may be where the problem lies, he's been paid, done his job. While not fair, your contract dictates how much he will help after the 341. I don't think I would contact the trustee directly but others with more expertise may have a better opinion on that one.

Good luck.

I doubt it will be another month. That's the issue! We are an asset case and the attny is telling us we have to have a will (that we don't control) put into probate because my husband is getting an inheritance from it. He can't/won't tell me why it has to be probated.

[boomerkae]

You are almost a carbon copy of our situation. Except that we actually made a 'Motion To Discharge the Attorney and Go Pro Se' and caused her to lose a day's work in order to appear in court. The Judge explained to us, pretty much what HHM has told you, that we our case was almost complete, and that he could grant the motion to dismiss the attorney, but that it would delay our discharge. Or, he could deny the motion and we just ride this case out--which is what he would recommend, but he would let us decide. We decided to 'ride it out'.

But like you, the lack of communication was maddening, and in fact caused us to make mistakes that cost us dearly. And like you, we did not find this forum until after all the mistakes had been made.

Good luck to you.

Thanks - yes, it does sound like our cases have had a lot in common. It is maddening and my husband doesn't have the best patience - he wants to call everyone involved and tell them all off. I think there are some mistakes in our case that had our attny sat down with us properly and reviewed our documents we wouldn't have them. We were told once that if the will wasn't probated, "no one knows, no issue" but then now it's a big deal and he's trying to get the will probated, well, by telling us to tell the executor to do it. The papers are being requested, but there aren't any and the earliest there might be is the end of the month. If we do talk to him, his story changes. My husband is convinced he's working for the trustee not us, but we don't have proof of that.

It's funny - everyone here says ride it out. My husband found someplace and posted the question and everyone is telling him to run and get a new attny.

[Pandora]

He can't/won't tell me why it has to be probated.

The will has to be in probate because its considered an asset to your husband / estate, unfortunately. Doesnt matter that you have no control over it or not; the courts see it as you had knowledge of projected inheritance, so they count it. Think Ch. 7 liquidation test applicable...

[boomerkae]

The will has to be in probate because its considered an asset to your husband / estate, unfortunately. Doesnt matter that you have no control over it or not; the courts see it as you had knowledge of projected inheritance, so they count it. Think Ch. 7 liquidation test applicable...

When we discussed this before filing, we took the estimated value of the property (we already had a valuation from a realtor), subtracted the amount of the lien (executor is paying the note), and divided by 20% (my husband's percentage of land inheritance). We were able to cover that in exemptions. What we don't understand is why the will has to be probated (they have a copy of the will) to determine the value of what we will inherit. The executor has a host of reasons why he doesn't want to probate yet.