Solicitor writing Wills - how long?

beedeedee

We approached a local solicitor back in Dec 2011 to rewrite our wills. Nothing much had changed since the last ones we wrote (20+ years ago) - other than son is now over 21 and would no longer require a guardian etc and we needed a new, younger executor.
I rang in January and spoke to the receptionist who said "It's on her desk - I can see it"... but still as yet - we have not heard or received a thing.
No money has yet changed hands (we understood the first 30 mins to be free), but we have now lost a bit of faith in her - how long will it take her to deal with the will when we peg out?
The agreed fee was to be £175 - where do we stand? is 3 months a long time to write a will nowadays?

tyllwyd

Three months is a long time - my guess is that it got put to one side at Christmas and she has been getting on with other stuff that seems more urgent, and it has got forgotten about. I think that by now you would be entitled to write and say that you need to hear something in the next couple of weeks, or you will have to cancel and go to someone else because you need to get it sorted out. And a week or so after you've written, ring to chase it up. But be careful to document what you agreed if you do cancel - you don't want to go elsewhere, then find that a will and an invoice arrive from the original solicitor arrive six months later.

NAR

beedeedee wrote: »

how long will it take her to deal with the will when we peg out?

Hopefully she is not named as an executor? Surely you know two people who you think could carry out the role, at a more lower cost to the estate than a solicitor.

chesky369

Put your son down as executor - he'll be cheap.

beedeedee

No - she most certainly is NOT an executor. We would never have a solicitor as an executor - they take far too much as a fee........!
We will write a letter to the effect that she doesn't appear to want our business and we wish to cancel. Then, if she suddenly gets her act into gear and magically produces the Wills, should we ask for a reduction in the price due to the over 3 month wait, if this length is not "normal"?

scotsbob

All that is changing is the name of the executor and the charge is £175!

Aren't you the lucky one that you didn't want a will written from scratch.

NAR

. . . and the part about Guardians for son. Still sounds on the expensive side though.

tyllwyd

But if the previous will was written 20 years ago, I'm sure no solicitor would want to just re-use the old version because of all the changes in the law since then, so they are going to be starting from scratch with their firm's up to date template.

beedeedee

OK. There are two Wills obviously - one each. Nothing much has changed regarding our bequests, but there are more up to date templates which we would wish to use, so tyllwyd is quite correct. The price quoted was fine, we never quibbled with that. It's simply the length of time taken to produce a finished document we can sign, that I am interested in and whether over 3 months is normal?
We'll write as suggested and will let you know the outcome.

Savvy_Sue

3 months is a LONG time to hear nothing: in that timescale I'd have expected to have a draft at least, for checking and correction. And do check: the first draft of mirror wills sent to my parents had obviously been copied for the 2nd will, so Dad was leaving things to himself ...

IanManc

beedeedee wrote: »

we have now lost a bit of faith in her - how long will it take her to deal with the will when we peg out?

As the solicitor is not going to be an executor, then there'e no need for her to "deal with" anything when you peg out. An executor can quite easily administer an estate without using a solicitor, and can instruct a solicitor of his choice for specific things like conveyancing, if there's a house or flat in the estate.

I'd suggest that you write a complaint to the senior partner of the firm, explaining about the inordinate delay in the preparation of these wills since instructions were taken, and pointing out the potential for a negligence claim against the firm if one of you should die before the new will is executed.

Any mention of a possible negligence claim always concentrates minds in a solicitor's office, and your new wills should appear as if by magic within a few days.