Makenna Christenson Chambers

I hired Tresp Law in May 2024 to draft two estate plans for my husband and me, as well as my parents. Tresp completed the first estate plan for my husband and I in Sept 2024. Then they began working on my parents’ trust in October. Because my parents are not native English speakers, they needed me ...to help facilitate the process with our lawyer Makenna Chambers at Tresp Law. When I had first reached out to Tresp before engaging their services, I had asked if this would be an issue and if we would require a translator at any point. They said that as long as I was able to help communicate their wishes and the beneficiary distribution was straightforward, then translation would not be necessary. In the original fee agreement, there was also no mention of translation required to execute the trust documents for my parents. My parents and I went to the Tresp office on Oct 7 for the intake meeting so that they could begin the process of drafting the documents. Again, there was no mention of translation required to finalize the drafts. After being unresponsive for weeks -- requiring multiple phone and email follow-ups on my end, Makenna finally emailed on Oct. 24 to state that translation would be required to ensure no future challenges to the estate. After I responded to Makenna’s email with further questions about the translation, she then offered a refund of the fee we paid so that we could seek new counsel. When I asked what amount could be refunded, she replied that it would be the full $3600 and confirmed on Nov. 13 that Tresp’s Accounting Dept would be preparing a check. On Nov. 14. Makenna reneged on that offer. On Nov. 19 I spoke with Brian Tresp, a partner in the firm, and he reiterated that they would no longer provide us with a refund and that Makenna had given us incorrect information. This is extremely unprofessional and unethical conduct. If translation of documents was required from the beginning, they should have communicated that so that we could build it into our fee considerations when considering legal counsel. They then offered us a refund so we could seek new counsel, and later reneged on that offer. I feel that they are trying to take advantage of elderly senior citizens who are also not native English speakers, which is extremely disappointing.