I Think I Need A Lawyer ???
Q: After 10 years of successfully avoiding the rest of my family (they're in Massachusetts, I'm in Texas) one of my sisters tracked me down to tell me my dad had recently died.(No need for sympathy; this guy was a class A turkey--a child abuser and adulterer who abandoned his family, and now denies paternity of my younger sister and me)From our phone conversation, it looks like my other brothers and sisters (and some other folks too, who want his occult working tools -- crystal balls, books, spells, etc--he used to tell fortunes & etc for money) are swarming in on the remains . . . I've been away from these crazy, dysfunctional people for the past 20 years, and hope to keep things that way. I expect oldest sister to do some rather unpleasant stuff; I guess if I don't speak up now in the next proceedings (I know nothing about legal stuff) I might regret it sometime down the road. So my question is this . . . what kind of lawyer do I look for? A GP or one that specializes in wills? And do I need to go to Massachusetts myself, or can I hire a Texas lawyer to do this for me? I guess I'll end up talking with a local lawyer regardless, but would like to know what light y'all can shed on this situation for me . . . and issues I should be aware of.
A: -Most state bar associations have a referral service. However, I tried this and got mixed results. The lawyer was competent, but it took her months to do a fairly simple probation matter. I think that because I was a "referral" my case was put at the bottom of the pile and was ignored, she even admitted that she'd forgotten about me several times. The fact that I was several states away and unable to check up on her except by phone didn't help. (However, she billed me fairly, she quoted me a price at the beginning and stuck to it.) If I had to do it again (although I can only hope that I never have