Is Solicitor in the wrong

adwozere

My sister looked after a friend of hers over the last year Until she died of cancer at Christmas, in the last 3 months it was very hard for her as she needed 24/7 care.
After she died it was down to my sister the clear her flat and donate all monies from her belongings the Animal charities, this she did, her Will was read by the solicitor and all her money was left to my Sister.
Because the amount was just over £5000 the Solicitor had to deal with , she was told they will pay ALL debts then take their fees out of the money and what left my Sister will get .
After about 2 Months my sister was paid any money that was left, with this she helped her 3 children out with their debts, but now 3 to 4 weeks later the Solicitor has contacted her saying there is more bills to pay which they had missed!! Her pension / housing benefit / Her Benefit money had all been over paid and needed paying back by my Sister!! This amounts to about £1000, she now hasn’t got the money to pay this back, is the solicitor in the wrong and will she have to pay this back?

Any advice or pointing in right Direction will be very welcome

molerat

The solicitor should not have distributed the estate until they were certain that all bills had been settled, in Scotland it is considered improper to do this before 6 months. If the solicitor was acting as executor then they are legally responsible for the error but that will probably not stop them chasing. Tell them they acted without due diligence and to take it out of their fees.

aheaton46

I would suggest she needs to get legal advice - ideally from another solicitor.

WhiteHorse

How do they know about the supposed overpayments?

adwozere

WhiteHorse wrote: »

How do they know about the supposed overpayments?

They told my Sister they had made a mistake and didnt give time for all bills to come in before they settled, they rang her and said there were 2 bills that needed to be settled and they will send them on to her to pay, then a week later they rang again with another bill to pay !!

Overall not good.

Biggles

adwozere wrote: »

They told my Sister they had made a mistake

Excellent, sorted. Send the bills back.

The big mistake was using a solicitor at all for such a small estate.

peachyprice

They are trying to take advantage of your sisters lack of knowledge.
If the solicitor was acting as executor of the will they are legally and financially responsible for any mistakes or incorrect distribution of assets, not the recipients.

Tell her to find a solicitor that will give her a free half hour session, and perhaps pay a small fee for them to write a letter for her.

adwozere

Biggles wrote: »

Excellent, sorted. Send the bills back.

The big mistake was using a solicitor at all for such a small estate.

She was told is had to as it was over £5000, Only £200 over but over !

As "peachyprice" said I think another solicitor will have to get involed

bebewoo

Tell the solicitor to chase the animal charities not your sister.

dzug1

Biggles wrote: »

Excellent, sorted. Send the bills back.

The big mistake was using a solicitor at all for such a small estate.

If the will named the solicitor as executor there was no choice.

I think the 'over £5000' bit mentioned is the normal limit for requiring probate, nothing to do with requiring a solicitor or not.