However, Some Guidance Provided For Remand Issues.
Estate of M.C., Case No. E056772 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Aug. 23, 2013) (unpublished) involved a situation where attorney for an estate guardian filed to recover attorney’s fees for fairly routine accounting services. The probate court denied the fee request under Probate Code section 2642(b) in entirety, reasoning that the request was filed after the running of the general CCP three-year statute of limitations applicable to liabilities based on a statute–given that the fee request was made well after three years from services were rendered.
The appellate court reversed the fee denial.
The narrow legal issue was whether the general CCP three-year statutory liability limitations period was applicable to a Probate Code section 2642 petition, based on the operation of Probate Code section 1000. The appellate court determined it was not, given that the time limits in Probate Code section 2640 had no restrictive constraints subject to any prejudice/laches defenses–defenses not even raised. Probate Code section 1000 was “trumped” by sections 2640/2642.
However, despite the reversal, the appellate court did provide some remand “guidance” points, namely, (1) fees had to be reasonable given that the liquid assets to the minor might be diminished by the fee request, (2) whether sums already paid under prior court orders encompassed fees being requested, and (3) whether costs requests, governed by Probate Code section 1002, should be paid by estate assets or should be paid by another party to the proceedings.