Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Juicy Fees

As Erie County’s court-appointed public administrator, Acea Mosey oversees the settlement of estates, hundreds of them, for people who die without relatives or heirs.

And she gets paid handsomely to do it.

Exactly how much is hard to determine, but her caseload is big enough to generate more than $600,000 in potential commissions over the course of about three years.

Mosey, a former Erie County Water Authority commissioner active in Democratic Party politics, says her true compensation is closer to $180,000 a year and not all of that money goes to her.

“There’s a lot of bad with the good,” Mosey said of the estates and the profit or loss they generate.

Unlike the public administrator in Niagara County, who steered estate work to his wife and brother, Mosey, who was appointed by Surrogate Court Judge Barbara Howe, is not accused of doing anything improper.

The state court system allows and even encourages Erie County’s practice of awarding its estate work to a single, private practice lawyer working strictly on commission.

Full Article and Source:
Court appointee defends juicy fees

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

No matter how you slice it, Erie County's court-appointd public administrator, Acea Mosey, is making a killing.

Anonymous said...

I truly believe there is little chance that an elder's estate will be distributed as designated.

Trusts involve even greater risk and are touted as the answer......NOT!

Time for reform!

Anonymous said...

Juicy? Outrageous! What a sick greedy racket.

Acea Mosey is hauling her cash by the truckloads. All of this via a connected job, pay to play?

I wonder if Mosey reported all of her income to the IRS - any bets?

What's that old saying:

It's not WHAT you know; it's WHO you know!

LoriView said...

Commissions should be capped, both for public guardians and appointed fiduciaries.

Anonymous said...

This is a racket and those who are hauling in the cash are laughing all the way to the bank. We the little people are here to fund and serve the annointed ones with court approval.

Anonymous said...

Acea Mosey shouldn't be so proud.

Yes, reform is long overdue!