Wills and probate - how long to sort things out after death

andygb

One of our relations has passed away, and another member of the family has been made executor. They are now concerned that the probate will take between six months to a year (they have been told this by the solicitors) to sort out.
Is this normal, or would this indicate some problem with the will?
They are also concerned with the legal costs which are being calculated at £500 per hour (I know that this is normal for senior partners in London, but not for country solicitors).

Fire_Fox

Nobody here has seen the will nor do we know what assets there are, the solicitors are more likely to be correct than MSE. If the relative is executor, why are you concerned over the solicitors costs? Surely they will only be doing the bare minimum. Who appointed those solicitors, it is in the will?

RAS

Are the solicitors appointed as joint executors? If so there is nothing anyone can do about the fees.

If the executor has appointed solicitors, why? Most of the work can be done by anyone able to run their own finances.

Fees are usually set a a portion of the estate - what percentage are they charging?

bazster

My OH has just been through this after her father died. I filled in all the probate paperwork for her and her brother (the executors). It's pretty easy, less complex than an annual income tax return. The sums solicitors charge for this are a complete rip-off.

The whole process took something like 6 weeks, and they now have themselves a probate grant and a stack of official copies.

The only annoyance was having to go to a probate office miles away for a 7-minute "interview".

Fire_Fox

bazster wrote: »

My OH has just been through this after her father died. I filled in all the probate paperwork for her and her brother (the executors). It's pretty easy, less complex than an annual income tax return. The sums solicitors charge for this are a complete rip-off.

The whole process took something like 6 weeks, and they now have themselves a probate grant and a stack of official copies.

The only annoyance was having to go to a probate office miles away for a 7-minute "interview".

It would take a lot longer if there is property to be sold for example.

nottslass_2

We've literally just had probate granted on my mums estate.

Paid a solicitor to handle it rather than doing it ourselves and its taken just over 6 weeks- I've heard it can take months to do it yourself.Solicitor charged a flat fee of £550,which was well worth it........................

OP If I were you I'd ring round a few local solicitors and ask for a quote and approx time scale.

Hermia

nottslass wrote: »

We've literally just had probate granted on my mums estate.

Paid a soliciter to handle it rather than doing it ourselves and its taken just over 6 weeks- I've heard it can take months to do it yourself.Solicitor charged a flat fee of £550,which was well worth it........................

I don't see why it would take months to do it yourself unless the estate was very complicated. My mum died recently and it took me a few days to fill in the forms and I got a probate appointment within a month. If you employ a solicitor you still have to give them all the paperwork etc so I don't think using a solicitor would have saved me that much time. I even valued the house and contents myself and the probate were happy with my figures so I didn't even have to pay for a valuer.

Hermia

nottslass wrote: »

Paid a solicitor to handle it rather than doing it ourselves and its taken just over 6 weeks- I've heard it can take months to do it yourself.Solicitor charged a flat fee of £550,which was well worth it........................

That is a very good price BTW. I know a few people who have been quoted a fee that is a % of the estate. Even if the person only owned a small house that really does add up.

sdavies13

My Uncle's estate took months for the solicitors to sort out and they charged a fortune for doing it. Plus they had me doing a lot of running around sorting out the information that they required to deal with it.

My Mum's estate took me 3 days to handle the probate and was just as complicated. I still did most of the running around but this time I wasn't presented with a big bill at the end.

The solicitor who drew up my Mum's will warned me handling probate was very stressful, expensive and liable to cause family disputes and splits. It was nothing of the sort...

In fact the most stressful part was presenting Mum's will and estate in "court" which was actually talking to a woman sat the other side of a desk in a small office in Southend court house. I've got more stressed out at job interviews!

andygb

nottslass wrote: »

We've literally just had probate granted on my mums estate.

Paid a solicitor to handle it rather than doing it ourselves and its taken just over 6 weeks- I've heard it can take months to do it yourself.Solicitor charged a flat fee of £550,which was well worth it........................

OP If I were you I'd ring round a few local solicitors and ask for a quote and approx time scale.

Thanks for that information. All I have been told is that there are a few letters from the solicitors, and the costs are mounting up. I have no experience of wills/probate, and have no interest in this will (I did not know the person well, or keep in contact with them).
The person concerned lived on a site in a parkhome, and appointed her brother as the only recipient and as executor.
He is concerned about the costs and why the process should take so long.
I have advised him that if he is in doubt about the solicitors firm, then he should contact the Law Society/Solicitors Regulation Authority.
I have also recommended that in any case, he should see the citizen's advice bureau.
I do not stand to benefit from this, but I am concerned that this person is going to get the run around from people who may drag their heels if they are given the chance.
I was able to advise him on a house purchase years ago, but this is way out of my comfort zone.

Fire_Fox

andygb wrote: »

Thanks for that information. All I have been told is that there are a few letters from the solicitors, and the costs are mounting up. I have no experience of wills/probate, and have no interest in this will (I did not know the person well, or keep in contact with them).
The person concerned lived on a site in a parkhome, and appointed her brother as the only recipient and as executor.
He is concerned about the costs and why the process should take so long.
I have advised him that if he is in doubt about the solicitors firm, then he should contact the Law Society/Solicitors Regulation Authority.
I have also recommended that in any case, he should see the citizen's advice bureau.
I do not stand to benefit from this, but I am concerned that this person is going to get the run around from people who may drag their heels if they are given the chance.
I was able to advise him on a house purchase years ago, but this is way out of my comfort zone.

Woah, no need to make a complaint at this stage! Who are the executors, are the solicitors or ONLY the beneficiary brother? You can easily appoint someone else if the brother is the sole executor, cannot easily if the solicitors were appointed by the deceased. One probate is not like another.