Hi Ernie,
Yes we did. The law firm was out of Mason City and by coincidence, the senior partner by name was recommended by both a local manufacturer friend I knew from my high school days and also by a Sioux City lawyer friend I have known from my time at the University of Iowa. Given the complexity of the estate and stakes, the reputation of the law firm meant a great deal to us and so too did the independent recommendations coming from two relatively prosperous friends.
I wish I could give you the final amount, but I can't. What I can say is that there is a state of Iowa limit on what percent a lawyer is permitted to charge on dividing an estate (....I think it might be 2%) without the lawyer having to then provide additional justification to the Iowa bar for why his legal costs exceeded this amount. Our lawyer (of the same recommended law firm) did not go over the legal limit, but I think he was close.
In the end, one sibling divided up the multi parcel farm into two equal parts w/an amount of extra money going to the part that was appraised at a lower value. The sibling then pushed the two equal parts offer across the table and asked the other sibling to choose (Think of it as; I will cut the loaf of bread in half. You can then decide which half you want.). Once the two siblings agreed on the division, it was left to the lawyer to draw up on the contracts to make the deal final and legally correct.
I think both parties were satisfied with the final result, although the lawyer's invoiced sticker price did cause a bit of indigestion for what was really an amicable division of assets. That said, I don't think we would have done anything different. Given the stakes, the two different families, and the ages of the siblings, I think both needed a clearly separated and legally binding division of assets. You pay the best lawyer you can find to make sure what is agreed upon at the estate settlement will remain so when the time comes for the two siblings to pass on to their heirs what is theirs and only theirs...if that makes sense?
Last observation: In my opinion, I think estate squabbles between two siblings who grew up in the same house with the same parents are probably a great deal easier to reconcile than are the same squabbles between first cousins. Postponing a division of a farm estate into the next generation seems to invite a great deal more future family problems than they might be worth.
