Solicitor refusing to give a copy of a will
ABARKIE
Posts: 191 Forumite
Hi
My partner's father passed away on Monday evening.
He had paid for a funeral plan.
He had also prepared a will, of which we have an unsigned draft copy - naming myself, my partner and her brother as trustees.
The solicitor is refusing to let us have a signed copy until they have sight of the death certificate and meet all three of us.
Can they do this?
What is the protocol / correct procedure?
On the draft will, I could not see an Executor being named, however, both my partner's parents indicated they would wish for me to perform this role.
Any advice welcome
Thanks
My partner's father passed away on Monday evening.
He had paid for a funeral plan.
He had also prepared a will, of which we have an unsigned draft copy - naming myself, my partner and her brother as trustees.
The solicitor is refusing to let us have a signed copy until they have sight of the death certificate and meet all three of us.
Can they do this?
What is the protocol / correct procedure?
On the draft will, I could not see an Executor being named, however, both my partner's parents indicated they would wish for me to perform this role.
Any advice welcome
Thanks
0
Comments
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As far as I know that is correct, once the death is registered you can get copies of it for the claims {banks ect} and as the solicitor will need proof before handing anything over the sooner the death is registered the sooner you can move things on.0
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In fairness (whilst it would be a really weird thing to do) they may think you're chancing your luck & trying to find out information without the person actually being dead (if that makes sense!)
At the moment you have an invalid will so I assume need the proper copy.
They may, however, be wanting to see you in order to 'suggest' that they administer the estate .0 -
My partner's father passed away on Monday evening.
He had also prepared a will, of which we have an unsigned draft copy - naming myself, my partner and her brother as trustees.
The solicitor is refusing to let us have a signed copy until they have sight of the death certificate and meet all three of us.
Until you have proof that he has died, he is the solicitor's customer.
Would you want your solicitor to hand over your will to someone who just turned up at the office?
I assume you mean that the three of you are executors? The solicitor will want to hand over the will to the three of you in case one of you starts being a pain and tries to cut the other executors out of things. (It does happen!)0 -
They are being quite correct. Until they see the death certificate they would be breaching client confidentiality.Hi
My partner's father passed away on Monday evening.
He had paid for a funeral plan.
He had also prepared a will, of which we have an unsigned draft copy - naming myself, my partner and her brother as trustees.
The solicitor is refusing to let us have a signed copy until they have sight of the death certificate and meet all three of us.
Can they do this?
What is the protocol / correct procedure?
On the draft will, I could not see an Executor being named, however, both my partner's parents indicated they would wish for me to perform this role.
Any advice welcome
Thanks0 -
What Mojisola and Yorkshireman99 said.
I would add that in similar circumstances following the no-obligation chat with the solicitor (who will be hoping to offer his firm's executry services if you want to take advantage of them) the solicitor got £400 work from me and saved me many times that in IHT.A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.0 -
"The solicitor is refusing to let us have a signed copy until they have sight of the death certificate"
Quite right too. What do you think is wrong about this?0 -
Until you have proof that he has died, he is the solicitor's customer.
We have evidence of death, they do not appear to have given his wife her will either and the wording of the will appears to be incorrect, in my opinion.
By this, I mean that on the father's will, it refers to his husband and on his wife's it refers to her wife
I am also aware they used a voucher incentive to attract customers, but the vouchers never cameWould you want your solicitor to hand over your will to someone who just turned up at the office?
Understand that but my concerns are over the draft will and the voucher scheme are raising red flags for meI assume you mean that the three of you are executors? The solicitor will want to hand over the will to the three of you in case one of you starts being a pain and tries to cut the other executors out of things. (It does happen!)
On the draft will, no executors are named - I wonder is this deliberate by them to "offer" their services!0 -
As far as I know that is correct, once the death is registered you can get copies of it for the claims {banks ect} and as the solicitor will need proof before handing anything over the sooner the death is registered the sooner you can move things on.
We are unable to register the death for a week, due to GP not signing off the certificate
I had the receptionist of the GP laughing at me when I queried that he had been seen once in 6 weeks - and the certificate needs signing off by someone who had seen him regularly, but he was bed ridden from Friday and in the latter stages of bladder cancer and the GP didn't even turn up last weekend when we rang to advise that his breathing had become laboured - but a different story for another day :mad:0 -
gettingtheresometime wrote: »In fairness (whilst it would be a really weird thing to do) they may think you're chancing your luck & trying to find out information without the person actually being dead (if that makes sense!)
At the moment you have an invalid will so I assume need the proper copy.
They may, however, be wanting to see you in order to 'suggest' that they administer the estate .
Understand those concerns, but what worries me is that his wife, my partner's mother has the same issue - ie a draft unsigned will
I have my sister's will and brother in law's and no issue with themgettingtheresometime wrote: »They may, however, be wanting to see you in order to 'suggest' that they administer the estate .
That's my concern and why do they want to see all 3 of us - coming across as ambulance chasers for me.0 -
We have evidence of death
But not a death certificate which the solicitor would need to see.
they do not appear to have given his wife her will either
That's a different situation. If she asks for her will, there is no reason why it shouldn't be handed over.
and the wording of the will appears to be incorrect, in my opinion.
By this, I mean that on the father's will, it refers to his husband and on his wife's it refers to her wife
That's very sloppy but also suggests that the couple didn't read the wills carefully before signing them.
I am also aware they used a voucher incentive to attract customers, but the vouchers never came
Did they ask for them when the vouchers didn't come?
On the draft will, no executors are named - I wonder is this deliberate by them to "offer" their services!
I can't imagine any reputable solicitor writing a will without naming executors! Who is going to apply for probate?0
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