£30 to retrieve my will!

mjmal51

I did a will about 8 years ago, kept a copy and the solicitor kept the original.
Just received a letter from the solicitor saying she took early retirement, closed the office, and now wants me to pay £30 to get my original document back.
Also if I do not pay up within 7 days then I will be charged storage costs in addition to the admin fee! What if I had been away on holiday?
I phoned her (home) number and pointed out that if I had warning of her shutting up shop I could have gone to the office and collected it for free.
She said the £30 reflects the money she has had to pay out to software people to do spreadsheets, etc. for everything in her vault. I do not see as that is my problem and she is holding on to a document belonging to me. She has not budged.
Any thoughts on the legality or otherwise of this?

pollypenny

Gosh, bet she votes Tory!

Not much help, I know, sorry!

Mojisola

Type your will out again, get it signed and witnessed according to the rules and tell her she can keep your old one.

sagalout1954

Ask your local CAB (or Age Concern) whether she can charge you this exhorbitant fee.

Presume you didn't know in advance there would be an 'admin' fee to retrieve your will - regardless of whether she was shutting up shop or not? Crikey, she's not an executor is she??**

I rather like Mojisola's suggestion - typed out EXACTLY (right down to the punctuation) and precisely signed and witnessed it'll be as legal as the one this twit is blackmailing you over.

You might want to store your will here in future
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1218.htm

mjmal51

Mojisola wrote: »

Type your will out again, get it signed and witnessed according to the rules and tell her she can keep your old one.

Not really an option as she intends to charge storage plus the admin fee if I do not retrieve, don't know how she can enforce this.

sagalout1954. I fully intended to lodge my will with the Probate Service next month when I move house and was going to go into the office to collect the will then. Had seen a post here a few months ago about Probate storage aand it seemed a good idea. Did not want to do it before I move, but had the solicitor's letter this morning. Had no prior notice of the office closing.
There was no admin fee to collect if the office had still been open. Her only excuse for the charge is employing somebody to collate all the info on stored files on software.
And no she is not an executor, I would never use a solicitor as one because of their high fees.

judy2357

Ive worked in several Solicitors and have never heard of this, perhaps you should contact the Law Society and ask their advice. I would have thought you should have been contacted before she retired and closed the office.

NAR

I wholeheartedly endorse judy's advice, and inform solicitor you are doing so if she does not release the will within 7 days. Might make solicitor wise up. I think she has some cheek.

mjmal51

Phoned SRA who passed me to the LCS. As the threat of increased charges are there if I do not pay in 7 days the advice is probably best to pay, then after the will is retrieved send the solicitor a letter of complaint saying payment was under duress. If no refund then make a formal complaint to the LCS to try and action.
They did agree that the charge seems unfair.

Biggles

Phone her (following up in writing), telling her to destroy it and that, if she doesn't, you will not be responsible for any 'storage charges'. Follow Mojisola's excellent advice re a new will.

If she didn't give you advance notice of charges, she will have no chance of pursuing you for fees afterwards for a will you are not asking her to store.

judy2357

Im not expert in these matters as Im not actually a solicitor but do you think she did actually retire or could the firm have had financial difficulties. In most aspects of solicitors work there are so many rules and regulations regarding keeping clients informed about everything, I cant imagine why you should have to pay as you werent informed of the closure. Did you mention to the SRA/LCS that you received no letter informing you of this.

Some solicitors give free advice for say 20mins/half an hour perhaps that would be the way to go, I would suggest a solicitor in the area as they would probably know the truth in the matter if you understand me.

Errata

I've never heard of this before, and when my parents solicitors firm was sold and 'closed down ' they they received a letter telling them which firm of solicitors their will had been moved to.
£30 is an unexpected amount to be expected to pay, but fairly do-able, and in your shoes I would follow the advice of the LCS, who are they experts, and then argue the toss as this puts you in control not the solicitor.