I Paid A Lawyer In Full But They Closed Shop Before Finishing My Late Husband’s Estate/probate

Location: Birmingham, AL

TLDR at the bottom. (I’m a grieving nervous wreck and babbled on more than needed. I apologize and sincerely appreciate your time and any input you may have to offer.

A few months ago I hired a law firm to handle my late husband’s estate. He lost both grandparents and his father, in 2019, each 3-months apart. We learned a lot about probate and how to avoid it as much as possible. We made our wills out where there should have been little to zero reason for a full probate. I feel like they may have filed it wrong but can’t be certain. The will was approved by the judge, however, I know that much from the paperwork.

We had gotten to the step where I was instructed to open an estate account for the estate funds to be deposited and any debts drafted from. The only thing he owned was 50% of a piece of land that we were trying to sell, with his brother, prior to his death. We will each get $30k. Of that, I think my payment takes priority, for example the attorney’s fees, property tax and I believe one other thing since I’m the administrator (I think). He named me as sole executor if that matters. So, I was told we couldn’t finish the sale until a judge said we could, but the new lawyer said it shouldn’t have gone the way it’s going and I should have been able to sell it on day 1 because of how the will was written. I really don’t know.

I went to my bank to apply for the estate account and returned the following week to sign the paperwork, when it was approved. I walked out to my vehicle and scanned the documents the paralegal requested and emailed them to her. Before I could get out of the parking lot, I received an auto-reply. I pulled over to read it and had a panic attack upon seeing the very short, cold paragraph I received.

“Due to circumstances beyond my control, Sawyer & Associates is ceasing operations in Alabama effective immediately. If you are a current client, please immediately seek other legal counsel. I'm sorry I do not have any more information for you.”

I was shaking too bad to drive so I sat there and pulled up my contract with them. I’m not knowledgeable on sneaky law wording but I know what I agreed to. In the first section it states that my payment was for the work necessary for probate (I can’t think of everything but it basically said start to finish). It also said, as I agreed to, that the money for the attorney only covered their work on the case and I would be responsible for some other fees, which I paid as they arose. In other places it spoke about hourly rates and rush filing, etc…. all topics that weren’t discussed in our initial meeting. Idk if this line matters but it stuck out to me.

“Both of the fees in Para. 5(a) and Para. 6(a) are still deemed earned on receipt and the FIRM will not place any funds into the FIRM's Trust
account. In other words, the payments in Paras. 5(a) and 6(a) are not retainers. That said, in accordance with the State Bar of AL, in the
event this Agreement is terminated by Client or FIRM, Client may be entitled to a refund of all or a portion of any payment made, minus
time and costs incurred by the FIRM (see Para. 5(b) above”

Speaking of our initial meeting, I gave the details of my situation and was quoted a price for them to complete the services. I was then told that if I paid that day it would be a third less. I agreed and gave him my card info. The contract came through my email the next morning and I signed it after reading the first page, which aligned with what I agreed to.

I received a final email, from a different person, saying I needed to hire another attorney ASAP and she needed their information to send my records over. I responded with the information and asked about what they planned on doing as far as the financial aspect went. I unexpectedly became a young widow and single mother to two grade school daughters, one of them being special needs. I spent every dime I had and maxed out every credit card and loan I had access to in order to hire another law firm before any court dates were missed. I never received a response from the firm. The new firm said they would gladly handle the process of trying to get, at least some of, my money back but I would have to pay a $3k retainer.

I know lawyers are the best in existence when it comes to writing contracts that can be spun in their favor should something occur. I have no fault in this but I’m sure it doesn’t matter. Am I just out of luck, again?

TLDR; In March of 2025, my 32-year old husband of 14-years died from a gas leak in our shed. His will was flawless and the attorney I hired, and paid in full, to do whatever needed done, so I could sell some land, has taken me through far more court steps than I was told would be necessary when we wrote our wills. Regardless, I was on the step where I opened the estate account. From the parking lot, I emailed the paralegal the account info and got an auto-reply saying they weren’t servicing cases in my state anymore and I needed to hire a new attorney immediately so I didn’t miss any court dates. I asked about the fees I already paid and got no response. Am I just out of luck? I spent more money than I had and I owe more than I can pay back, for the new lawyer.