Probate fees and the penalties for not knowing what you are doing!

I am off to court to deal with problems between brother and sister over an accounting for their father's estate.   Inexperienced counsel helped brother and the accounting is a mess.  He wound up paying over $100,000 in penalties for not getting the tax return done in time, he was advised to claim multiple fees for things other people did (such as the final tax return) and this has essentially taken what was a fragile relationship between them and shattered it. 

Don't let this happen to you.  If you have anything more than a very simple estate get experienced help.  Yes it costs but it sure costs less than IRS penalties and the fees for arguing in court over how much is a reasonable fee for doing this work.

Bruce