Stephen astor's mother, sadie, died in 1999 leav-ing $1.8 million of assets, half for Astor and his daughter and half for his late brother's two children. So far, he's received all of $25,000 in cash and the payment of $90,000 in tuition bills for three of his grandchildren. Yet his remaining share, all held in a trust, is just $500,000; it was whittled away by his share of $420,000 in legal and accounting fees and $490,000 in estate taxes. So now Astor, a 63-year-old retired allergist in Los Altos, Calif., is paying still another lawyer—to sue the Massachusetts lawyer and accountant who handled Sadie's estate. Astor's suit and a similar one brought by his niece and nephew have been combined and scheduled for trial in January. The lawsuits allege the family was charged "unreasonable, excessive and du-plicative fees," including $112,000 in a deferred trustee fee supposedly incurred before Sadie died but billed to the estate later (see table, p. 235). Boston malpractice lawyer Michael Stone, who represents the sued lawyer, Joel Cherwin of Wellesley, defends his client's fees as "fair and reasonable in light of the circumstances" and says he expects Cherwin to be vindicated. You don't want anything like this to happen to your hard-won assets. Here are some guidelines to help your family avoid an inheritance mess.
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