Court Opinion

ID: 9757674
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:53:17.327094+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:42.543347
License: Public Domain

Opinion by
Mr. Justice Bell,
concurring in part
and dissenting in part:
I concur in part and dissent in part.
Wagner’s first contention is that he never employed the executors or authorized them to engage in the will contest or to employ counsel. In this I believe he is absolutely correct. The executors admit that they were never expressly employed by Wagner in any capacity; Mr. Kivko testified that when he asked Wagner if he wanted the executors to represent him “Wagner just blew his top off”; and the auditor found, based on ample testimony, that “Wagner refused to hire the executors or to sign any kind of an agreement to retain them or anyone else”. Even in this Court, the *240executors complained that Wagner gave them no assistance and constantly impeded their efforts. It is therefore difficult to understand how the majority find that Wagner’s failure to employ his own attorney or to vigorously object to what the executors were doing in behalf of the estate implied acquiescence on his part and hence employment. This conclusion seems to me to be a non sequitur; and in the light of the evidence, unsustainable.
The general rule that an executor is not required to defend a will and has no. authority to employ counsel at the expense of the estate in a will contest is clearly and ably stated, together with its exceptions, in the majority opinion. I would approve the action of these executors and their employment of counsel by adding another exception to the aforesaid general rule, viz.: An executor is authorized to defend a will and to employ counsel in a will contest at the expense of the estate, if none of the beneficiaries of the will attempt to defend the will.
Wagner’s second contention is that the fees and commissions charged were excessive. Mrs. Bennett’s estate, as shown by the Inventory and Appraisement, totaled $75,459.00, composed as follows: Cash ($8405.71); Household Furnishings ($8624.78); Jewelry and Clothing ($8555.50); Stocks ($54,900.). These stocks were: 1800 shares, Crucible Steel Company, $46,150.; 1200 shares, Curtiss-Wright, $6750.; 20 shares, Citizens Electric Company, $2000. Decedent’s debts totaled only $365.90 and. her funeral expenses, $861.73.
Obviously the estate was a very simple one and was exceptionally easy to administer and distribute. As further illustrating its simplicity, the total Debits, Income Account, were $832.84 and the total Credits, Income Account, None. In order to pay executors’ commissions, counsel fees and taxes, the Curtiss-Wright *241stock was sold at a gain of $450.,. the Citizens Electric Company stock was sold at a gain of $20., and 600 shares of Crucible Steel Company stock were sold at a very large loss of $7562.50 — over 33%. The executors eventually distributed to Wagner, the sole legatee: (1) Jewelry, wearing apparel and household goods, in kind, at their inventory value and (2) 700 shares of Crucible Steel Company stock at its inventory value; and as appears improperly in the account, $1000. cash to Wagner representing payments on account of distribution over a period of a year. The total inventory value for distribution amounted to $37,030.28, but the assets had a market value of less than $30,000. (if Wagner could sell the jewelry, clothing and household furnishings at their inventory value).
The executors, in what was described as Appraisement and Net Income, claimed deductions and executors’ commissions of $8200. In their First and Final Account the executors rendered a combined charge for their services as executors and counsel of $9300., and in addition claimed additional counsel fees qua counsel. While the executors qua executors or qua lawyers did a large amount of work in the will contest, this is only one of the factors to be considered in determining compensation for either an attorney or an executor: Gardner’s Estate, 323 Pa. 229, 238, 185 A. 804; Quigley’s Estate, 329 Pa. 281, 295, 198 A. 85; Harrison’s Estate, 217 Pa. 207, 66 A. 354; Huffman Estate (No. 3), 349 Pa. 59, 64, 36 A. 2d 640; Robbins v. Weinstein, 143 Pa. Superior Ct. 307, 314, 17 A. 2d 629. Two of the other factors to be taken into consideration are the shill with which the estate was administered and the will defended, and the amount involved. It has been the experience of every lawyer that the amount involved often necessitates a much smaller fee than the work would have otherwise justified. The compensation or commissions and fees claimed by these executors, qua execu*242tors, and by three counsel, two of whom were these executors, amounted to $19,300. — over 25% of the gross estate and approximately 40% of the net estate. This is too much; and the award thereof, being a clear abuse of discretion, constituted palpable error necessitating a reversal or modification of the decree.