I often try to answer questions of a general nature about wills, estates, and trusts, but I will not give legal advice by e-mail to people who are not clients.
So, if you should send me an e-mail, please do NOT disclose any personal, private, or confidential information, because I am NOT your lawyer and I am NOT required to keep your information confidential. You should therefore restrict yourself to information that is already public (such as who has died, and the terms of a will that has been probated) and you should NOT tell me anything that you would not want other family members to know.
(I do not intend to tell anyone what you tell me, but I may be obligated to tell an existing client if what you tell me is relevant or adverse to my client's interests. So, for example, if you tell me that you have assets that belonged to your deceased father and that your brother does not know about, and I am already representing your brother, I may be ethically required to tell your brother what you have disclosed to me.)
And, before e-mailing me, please:
I am already fairly busy, and don't really do much litigation, so I will probably not be interested in representing you if you have a dispute (or a potential dispute) with an executor or trustee, or other family members about the distribution of an estate, unless the amount of money at issue is significant and the legal issues are interesting to me.
If you have a dispute (or potential dispute) about the distribution of an estate in Philadelphia, you may wish to contact the Lawyer Referral Service of the Philadelphia Bar Association, which has the following information on its web page (http://www.philabar.org/public/lrs/lrs.asp):
The Philadelphia Bar Association's Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) has been giving Philadelphians guidance for their legal problems for over fifty years. LRIS staff attorneys handle more than 60,000 telephone inquiries each year. Our staff attorneys direct callers to appropriate agencies or legal aid organizations for help and, where appropriate, refer callers to attorneys in private practice to represent them in legal matters. More than 400 attorneys receive referrals through LRIS.A caller who is referred to an attorney through LRIS will be matched with the attorney according to area of practice. The LRIS panel attorney will charge the client a reduced fee of $25.00 for the first half-hour consultation and the fee arrangement after that is negotiated between the client and the attorney.
If you want a referral from the LRIS you may call 215-238-6333 or e-mail your request to lris@philabar.org.