Estate of Walker CA1/5

Filed 7/31/14 Estate of Walker CA1/5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FIVE

Estate of Alexander Greenhorn Walker, Deceased.

JEANNE DALTON, as Administrator, etc.,

Petitioner and Respondent, A141176 v. (San Mateo County JOHN A. DeRONDE, JR., Super. Ct. No. 123077)

Objector and Appellant. _______________________________________/

Attorney John A. DeRonde, Jr., initially represented Jeanne Dalton, the administrator of Alexander Greenhorn Walker’s estate. Several months later, attorney Marc Seidenfeld replaced DeRonde as Dalton’s attorney. The probate court awarded DeRonde $952.75 and Seidenfeld $14,747.25 in statutory attorney fees (Prob. Code, §§ 10810, 10814)1 and denied DeRonde’s motion for reconsideration. DeRonde appeals in propria persona, contending the court abused its discretion by

1 Unless noted, all further statutory references are to the Probate Code. 1

awarding him only $952.75.2 We disagree and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Dalton is the administrator of Walker’s estate. The estate had one asset: residential property with an appraised value of $551,506. DeRonde represented Dalton from February 2013 until July 2013. During that time, DeRonde prepared the initial pleadings and obtained a waiver of the bond and a reunification of inheritance from Dalton’s sister. DeRonde, however, took no further action to probate the estate. The delay prompted Dalton to hire Seidenfeld to represent her in July 2013. Seidenfeld had Dalton appointed as administrator of the estate and arranged for the repair and sale of the property for $635,000, “a good price, considerably more than initially expected, given its prior condition.” Seidenfeld also filed an inventory and appraisal (§ 8800) and a report of administrator and petition for settlement of the estate, request for waiver of accounting, and allowance of fees and for final distribution. Based on formula set out in section 10810, the statutory fees available to DeRonde and Seidenfeld were $15,700. DeRonde filed a charging lien requesting 50 percent “of the ordinary estate probate fee” (§ 10810) and extraordinary fees of $1,500 (§ 10811). He also sought apportionment (§ 10814). DeRonde claimed “the posture of this case when Mr. Seidenfeld entered the picture was that essentially it was over, and . . . all he had to do was file a First and Final Account” and seek attorney fees. Dalton submitted two declarations regarding DeRonde’s fee request. In her declaration, Dalton stated she paid DeRonde a $1,000 retainer and paid for various court costs with her own money. She also averred she wanted to use a realtor “of [her] own