The vast majority of solo practitioners have never given any thought to what would happen to their practice if they died unexpectedly. When a partner of a multi-attorney firm passes away, there are other partners to deal with the needs of the deceased attorney’s clients. Typically, partnerships have written agreements that consider what happens if the partnership disbands or one of the partners passes away. Surprisingly enough, many attorney partnerships don’t have a written agreement, resulting in squabbling and eventually litigation.
But what happens to the practice of a solo practitioner upon his or her death? The answer can be found in R.1:20-19, which is titled “Appointment of Attorney Trustee to Protect Clients’ Interest.” In situations where an attorney has died and there was no partner, executor, administrator or other responsible party capable of conducting the deceased attorney’s affairs, the assignment judge is empowered by this rule to issue an order appointing an attorney-trustee, of the judge’s own choosing, to take over the practice. The way the rule is interpreted by the court is that only another attorney is capable of protecting the clients of the practice. The executor and beneficiaries of the deceased attorney’s estate have no say regarding the appointment of the attorney-trustee, despite the fact that the estate may be paying for the services of the trust-attorney. What’s even more surprising are the extraordinary powers given to the attorney-trustee. Prior to planning the estate of a solo practitioner, this rule should be carefully scrutinized and considered in order to protect the interests of the estate and its beneficiaries from the overreaching powers of this rule.
