QUESTION
Can we sue our lawyer for malpractice if she gave bad advice to our dad for what he needed to do with his assests, resulting in Medicaid taking it all
Asked on Jul 07th, 2014 on Legal Malpractice - Colorado
More details to this question:
My father-in-law used a family practice lawyer in Colorado, who told him that all he needed to do was to put his children in his will and his wife would not get any of the assets, since she was in a nursing home and was on Medicaid and Medicare. He didn't want all of the assets to be handed over to Medicaid and specifically wanted to insure that his children got the house and the money. After he died, she let us know that she just found out that all of the assets automatically go to the spouse, in the state of Colorado. We sold the house and were told that Medicaid had cut off my mother-in-law. When she died a year later on the same day as my father-in-law, the assets were freed up. The checks were distributed and on the day it cleared for us, the lawyer called to say that she just found a letter at the probate office that had been there since March of this year, saying that Medicaid wanted most of the estate. Now we have to put the money back in the estate.
1 ANSWER
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To pursue a legal malpractice claim, you must have a legal expert review the representation provided by the lawyer and determine that negligent representation was given. In your case, an estate lawyer should look at the legal file of the family lawyer to identify any problems with the work she provided to your father-in-law in the preparation and execution of his will. From your description of the facts, it certainly appears a review is warranted.
You can approach the situation in two ways - hire a legal malpractice attorney who will then obtain a legal expert to review the file or you can pay for a few hours of time with an estate lawyer and obtain the expert opinion directly.
Please keep in mind that in Colorado there is a two year statute of limitations for professional malpractice. You must file your legal malpractice lawsuit within two years of the legal malpractice or lose your right to do so. Other time limitations may apply.
Answered on Jul 10th, 2014 at 7:43 AM