Legacy Legal Inc

It truly pains me to write this, but it must be done. My brother in law passed away on March 6, 2011. In his passing he had said that Rich A. Gaines J.D. conduct his estate if he were to pass. This was terrific for us as [redacted]r was so loved by the family that we were at a loss as to what to do.
They grabbed the reins and began the process. They explained to us that there was insurance for the estate process and we could get it if we liked but that since [redacted]rs brother [redacted] was established as executor HE recommended against it. That small recommendation was most likely the biggest mistake of all.
Our family did all of the preparation for the sale of his home, all the running around and paperwork that we later found out was what we were paying Mr. Gaines for. All said and done the total out the door for the family to split was approximately $140,000 and his Mercedes.
What transpired over the next year and a half was pure hell. The executor, [redacted]r’s brother over that time was removing money from the secured account that Mr. Gaines had set up. Sometimes $1,000 to $3,000 every single day. After several months of calling Mr. Gaines and his secretary we knew something was not right and also knew that my brother in-law was heavily using drugs. We called Mr. Gaines for updates that our money was secure and was CONSTANTLY reassured that everything was fine. His mother knew there was a problem and called several times and always the same answer. Everything was fine don’t worry we have everything under control and if anything suspicious happens we can put a hold on the account.
Coming close to the date that we were to finalize everything in the court we pressuring my brother in-law to hand over that bank documents so we would be assured that everything is in order. Shortly after that meeting [redacted] attempted to end his life. We found the bank documents and were shocked to see how the money flowed out of the account like a river.
We contacted Mr. Gaines AGAIN and told him to put a freeze on the account before all of the money was drained but Mr. Gaines wanted to make sure he was paid his $10,000 from the estate first. We did a fast sale on the Mercedes and drove up to his office and paid off Mr. Gaines and Legacy Legal, Inc. in person. He finally had the account frozen but not before the last $10,000 was removed from the account just days after we all told him to freeze the account. Was it a coincident that there was $10,000 left? I don’t know.
So what next? Well when it was all done there was pennies left in the account, yes literally $20. All of it. Everything that was supposed to be split with the family was gone. All the work, gone. All the while Mr. Gaines told us not to worry that they had total control over it and nothing was happening.
Here is the last insult. It is required that everyone step in front of a judge and say that everything is completed and all paperwork is signed. We showed up at the courthouse and on the tense ride up the elevator we told Mr. Gaines that we would like to speak with the judge to say what had happened. He was apologetic and told everyone that he would take care of it. He would go up in front of the judge after everyone was introduced and let the judge know we had a statement to say. To all of our amazement after he does the introduction and other legal “stuff” he steps away from the judge. We ask him when we will we talk to the judge and he says “you can’t, it is over”. We are floored! We ask him what he has done and to this day burned into all of our memories is his words. Pointing at our deadbeat brother in-law he says “he is my client you are not”. My mother in-law, and my wife burst into tears. I ask him why he has done this to our family, and ask him why he took $10,000 from my wife and I for his services and he does this to us. He just turns and walks away.
What should you take out of this? Well first off no matter how much money estate insurance is BUY IT! Second of all NEVER trust an attorney to tell you everything will be OK. Last but not least if you need estate planning of any kind if you go to Rich A. Gaines J.D. or Legacy Legal, Inc. I hope it is money that you will not have a problem losing.
We still miss you every single day [redacted]. We love you.