We Are Being Taken Advantage Of By My Wife's Deceased Fathers Friend Who Is A Lawyer.

Location: Colorado

My wife father passed away recently and a friend of his offered to handle his estate as a favor to him. Never have any agreement for compensation with my father-in-law before he passed. He never was hired by us to do it. I say estate but it was hardly that. He had a small apartment that was sold that had very little equity in it and a small life insurance policy. Nothing was in probate and he didn't have outstanding debts. It is all very cut and dry and quick. The total amount that came out of the estate was around $27,000 and then his burial was paid for and that was about $13,000 which left about $16,000.

His will names my wife as the sole heir. My father-in-law was buried in Chicago where his family is from. His sister assisted with setting up all the final expenses out there. The lawyer friend did fly out there to sign some things but flew back the same day and didn't stay in the hotel. The cost of that plane ticket was covered by the sister who has been reimbursed.

Everything we can find about what to pay an executor says 2.2 to 3.8% of the estate value. Calculated on the full amount of $27,000 that's around $1,000 on the high end. We were going to offer him payment even though he was never hired, at $2,500, thinking we were being generous.

He texted my wife with a message that there was about $16,000 left and could he keep $6,000 for 'fees and expenses' and just send us $10,000. We feel like we're getting ripped off. We're pretty sure he just made some phone calls and signed a few papers.

This guy is a lawyer. How should we handle this?