Solicitor slow over probate

sloughflint

localhero wrote: »

I think it's fair to say that the SRA or other rival organisations are not protecting the consumer in the same way.

and that is the SRA are badly letting down the public in allowing solicitors like the OP's and countless others we hear about on this forum charge lots of money to draw up Wills that are not fit for purpose and engage in estate administration when they clearly haven't got the ability, let alone the ethics to do so.

As a consumer that is exactly how I feel and I feel very strongly about it.
Ignoring the rogue aspect within the industry ( quite a worry in itself), allowing incompetence/lack of legal knowledge in this field is particularly dangerous for the following reason:
Even if a person ( eg executor) was wise to a solicitor's inadequate legal knowledge and complained formally, many hundreds of Wills could have been written in the interim before the death of the original client and a mistake spotted. As I said before, problems can lie dormant for years.

sdooley

The IPW has a code of conduct and the ability to expel members. The SRA has the ability to seize solicitor assets, offices and files on suspicion of malpractice.

There is more than enough cake and solicitors are not as far as I know opposed to sharing it with regulated practitioners.

Neither the Law Society nor the SRA has the ability to change the qualifications required to practise in a specific area. Only the Government can do that and they are in the process of regulating various areas of advice, for example immigration.

STEP would obviously like this to happen for wills and have been campaigning for it for years.

DaisyDaisy82

Hi,

I have only read the last few threads in this post (so forgive me if anything has been repeated).

It just agreeves me a little when people are so eager to jump on the 'its the solicitors fault' bandwagon.

The first point I make is that Executors have a year to administer an estate.

As your parents estates were taxable the form required to be completed takes a lot longer than non-taxable (no where near 5 weeks, believe me). Exact figures have to be obtained from investment companies and solicitors spend a lot of time just waiting for these reponses!

When the form is finally sent off to the Inland Revenue, they have if for around 8 weeks! Then an application for Probate is made, which would be another two weeks at least.

Then you have to contact the investment companies and again wait for them to send their cheques (NS&I have a backlog of 4 weeks!) before final accounts can be compiled.

Now the solicitor would know the value of your mums estate. The process has to start all over again for your dad.

Any monies held in a solicitors account will have interest paid on it.

localhero

DaisyDaisy82, I think if you were to read the whole thread you would see quite how incompetent/unethical the OP's solicitor is.

sloughflint

DaisyDaisy82 wrote: »

It just agreeves me a little when people are so eager to jump on the 'its the solicitors fault' bandwagon.

As localhero has said, you do need to read the whole thread through.
I would say the contrary is the case. People are very pro recommending solicitors to draft Wills and administer estates on this forum.
There are other examples of solicitor mistakes dotted on the forum but I hope that this thread will help people understand that it's not all rosy within the solicitor world.

monkey_spank

This is an interesting thread.

Sdooley, are you a practising solicitor please, and if so what area of law are you involved in? You seem to be very keen on STEP, so I assume your firm probably has some STEP members - are you studying for the diploma yourself if not already a member?

sdooley

I'm not practising in probate - I'd rather not say what as it's an area only a few people do. I did some of the STEP qualifications at one stage but I wouldn't say it's the only answer. It's not an expensive course if you're interested in working in the area. Everything should do it or some other exams to the same standard.

monkey_spank

You don't strike me as shy, so why the reticence? You should be raising your profile.

Anyway, the reason why I ask actually, is that I am a trustee of a discretionary trust and I think I need some tax advice - something about a 10 year charge or exit charges among other things.

I can't get my head round it all. I'm wondering whether I should post the info on here as there does appear to be some knowledgeable people around - or whether I should contact a STEP person. I'm based in the north, so not sure whether you might be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks again.

For what it's worth my father in law had a Will drawn up by a solicitor and when he died, another solicitor charged thousands to sort out all sorts of problems created by some rather ambiguous wording, so I agree it's all a bit of a murky area. He'd be turning in his grave if he knew, bless him.

PS I need somebody good as one of the beneficiaries is a law student and is a real pain, talking about getting the trustees replaced - can she do this?

sdooley

Maggie, without wanting to be too cynical, your accountant may have got a commission from the IFA when they passed over the work. Although solicitors are now being encouraged by the Government to pay commission for work (it used to be banned) it is much rarer than in the IFA/accountancy world.

monkey - I hated those calculations! One of the reasons I don't do that work now. The effort to calculate ten-yearly or exit charges and they invariably end up with a tiny amount, if any, tax being due. The exception is where the trust was within the nil rate band when established and you wind it up within the first ten years - even if the value has increased you should be safe from an exit charge.

If you want a lawyer you could go with the independent rankings which have just been published (though almost all the firms on the list will be expensive):

http://www.legal500.com/c/north-west/private-client/personal-tax-trusts-and-probate

There is a separate table for each region.

Alternatively you could try STEP's website - a STEP-qualified accountant rather than lawyer would seem best able to do this.

Or post the question on here - no-one will bite you for it though maybe we won't know the answer.

If it is a huge trust such that there is likely to be a large amount of tax due there are ways around the charge using agricultural or business property reliefs - in that sort of case though it'd definitely be worth paying for advice.

p.s. Maggie - how was your 60th birthday?

p.p.s. Monkey - the place I currently work for isn't really geared up for ordinary clients. We do a lot of work for banks, accountancy firms and plcs. I try to keep fun (here, generally) seperate from work. I'm only a small fish in a big pond.

monkey_spank

sdooley wrote:

I'm not practising in probate - I'd rather not say what as it's an area only a few people do. I did some of the STEP qualifications at one stage but I wouldn't say it's the only answer. It's not an expensive course if you're interested in working in the area. Everything should do it or some other exams to the same standard.

Are you saying then that all solicitors who deal with Wills and probate should pass exams then, equivalent to STEP - because it seems to me to be a bit of a problem?

Does anybody know whether this horrible girl can remove me as a trustee? She mentioned something about the trusts of land and the appointment of trustees act, which I've never heard of.