Opinion ID: 1465973
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: B. Discovery of the Challenged Payment

Text: 16. On October 6, 2004, Respondent submitted his second annual accounting, which covered the period of April 15, 2003, to April 15, 2004. 17. The accounting reflects that Respondent paid himself $2,983.40 in conservator's fees: $2,500 by check 1013, which cleared the Estate Account on July 30, 2003, two days after its issuance and about one month before Judge Christian approved Respondent's compensation in her order of August 28, 2003, and $483.40 by check number 1016, which cleared on September 11, 2003. 18. In its review of the second accounting, the Office of the Register of Wills discovered that Respondent had made a partial payment of $2,500 to himself before the order approving the petition for fees was issued. On January 18, 2005, it called this fact to the Probate Court's attention and suggested that the Court might wish to hold a hearing on the matter of paying fees prior to court approval. But for that issue, it concluded, the accounting would otherwise be ready for a hearing on its approval. 19. On February 15, 2005, the Probate Court, per the Hon. A. Franklin Burgess, Jr., held a hearing to inquire into whether Respondent paid himself part of his compensation before he was authorized to do so. Judge Burgess rejected Respondent's contention that a Probate Court auditor had authorized the $2,500 payment in July, finding it particularly implausible because the fee petition was not even transmitted to the judge by the Register of Wills until August 28, 2003. He removed Respondent as conservator of the Thomas Estate and referred the matter of the unauthorized payment to the Office of Bar Counsel.