The clerk of superior court, in the discretion of the clerk of superior court, is authorized and empowered to allow counsel fees to an attorney serving as a personal representative, collector or public administrator (in addition to the commissions allowed the attorney as such representative, collector or public administrator) where such attorney in behalf of the estate the attorney represents renders professional services, as an attorney, which are beyond the ordinary routine of administration and of a type which would reasonably justify the retention of legal counsel by any such representative, collector or public administrator not licensed to practice law.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-23-4
Counsel fees allowable to attorneys serving as representatives
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 91 N.C. App. 640 - Matthews v. Watkins (1988)
Most recently applied in 242 N.C. App. 30 - In re Taylor (July 2015)
1957, c. 375; 1973, c. 1329, s. 3; 1977, c. 814, s. 3; 2011-344, s. 4.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: North Carolina General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain North Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.