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HARRISBURG — A Bucks County attorney has been disbarred from practicing law in the Commonwealth after he misappropriated more than $36,000 from the estate of a deceased Hanover Township man, according to a ruling Tuesday by the state Supreme Court.
A report by the court’s disciplinary board said attorney William J. Kerins “misappropriated, converted or misapplied” a minimum of $36,626 from the estate of William J. Helfrich Jr., Kerins’ uncle.
Helfrich, of the township’s Newtown section, died on April 8, 2010, according to the Times Leader archives.
According to the report, Kerins, 62, made multiple withdrawals from the estate account between 2010 and 2011 while acting as both attorney and the estate’s executor.
Kerins’ estranged wife notified the estate’s heirs after learning Kerins had paid their daughter’s $18,000 tuition at the University of Pittsburgh shortly after withdrawing a combined $18,873 in cash from the estate’s bank account.
Kerins, of Southampton, claimed he had not taken new clients since 2009 and needed to “get out” of the matter because he was experiencing cognitive difficulties, couldn’t function like he used to and no longer wanted to be a lawyer, the report says.
A family member said Kerins’ cognitive issues were “truly an act,” the report says.
The Supreme Court ordered Kerins to pay the expenses and costs incurred during the investigation.
The disbarment will take effect on Jan. 28.