A standing protocol for choosing the listing agent — without a pet Realtor

The problem this solves: when the listing agent misses a court timeline, underprices an estate home, or goes quiet on an out-of-state personal representative, the client doesn't blame the agent first — they remember who made the introduction. A casual referral puts your relationship behind someone else's execution. A documented selection puts a process there instead.

The protocol

You send the property and the constraints. We source two to three candidates with verifiable probate and trust-sale experience in that market, evaluate each on the published Agent Match Scorecard — recent comparable estate sales, pricing outcomes in context, itemized fees and services, team structure, communication, references — and deliver the written comparison for the administration's file. Your client, or the record, gets a defensible selection; nobody is obligated to hire anyone we present.

What goes in the file

The criteria used, the candidates considered, the same-scorecard comparison, the fee terms disclosed in writing, and the reasoning for the selection. The full pattern: how a trustee should document hiring a listing agent.

Accountability after the introduction

We don't hand your client a name and wish them luck. The hire goes on a scorecard, we stay on the file through close — and an agent who fails a file doesn't get the next one. Our next attorney assignment depends on this one going well, and we're comfortable being held to that.

The economics, stated plainly

We do not pay attorneys for referrals and we don't accept payment from them — you're handing your client a process, not entering a fee arrangement. On the referral path the client pays nothing additional: the hired agent's brokerage pays a standard broker-to-broker referral fee at closing, fixed in writing before candidates are chosen and identical for every candidate. Details: does a referral fee come out of the sale?

What this is not: a lead marketplace, an AI agent-matching widget, or Compass Concierge — it's an agent-selection advisory run by a licensed practitioner. Full service description: probate & estate sales.

Questions counsel ask

Should I just send clients to the agent I always use?

Treat that agent as a strong candidate, not a default. When counsel's usual Realtor underprices or misses a court timeline, the client remembers who sent them. A documented two-to-three-candidate comparison — with your agent in it — protects the client and your referral either way.

Does using this process create a conflict for counsel?

It removes one. You're referring a documented selection process, not a person. We receive no payment from you and pay you nothing; on the referral path the hired agent's brokerage pays a standard referral fee at closing, disclosed in writing and identical for every candidate, so compensation cannot pick the agent.

Can this run as a standing protocol for my practice?

Yes — that's the intended shape. You send the property and constraints; we return probate-experienced candidates compared on the published scorecard, in writing, for your file. Same process every administration, same disclosures every time.