April Ann Archer, by and Through Her Mother and Next Friend, Regina Leigh Archer v. the Estate of Mark Russell…

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court held that the attorney fees awarded in the Archer estate litigation qualify as “fees and charges of administration” under Ala. Code § 43‑2‑371(2) and therefore must be paid before the hospital claim and the first mortgage, reversing the trial court’s priority scheme. It also affirmed the trial court’s finding that assets held in the attorneys’ trust account are the minor beneficiary’s assets, and remanded for the lower court to issue an order consistent with these holdings.