Will names solicitor as an executor

WobblyDog

Will names solicitor as an executor My father died recently, and his will names 4 executors; my mother, my sister, myself, and the solicitors which hold the will.

I'm concerned that the solictors will charge us a substantial % of the estate to handle the process. There doesn't seem to be any paperwork which states what this percentage will be. Before we contact the solictors, are there any steps we could take to control the solicitor's charges?

Is there anyway we could ask the solicitors to "take a back seat" while the 3 other executors (who are also the beneficiaries) handle the process?

unimaginative_user_name

It depends how much the other executors can do. When my father-in-law died a solicitor from the firm which had drawn up the will was co-executor with my husband and charged £200 an hour! As we lived so far away from FIL it was the solicitor who met the estate agent for the house evaluation, for example, whereas if we had been closer we could have done that.

Soon after the death we had a letter from the solicitor explaining his terms, conditions, charges eyc and it said that if it was going to cost the estate over £5000 he would let us know! He also wouldn't release any funds until the house sale had been completed although one probate had been granted he reimbursed some of our expenses relating to the estate such as insuring the empty property, paying someone to keep the garden tidy before the house was sold....

We had all the mail redirected to us so that we coukd let people know of the death. We wrote or phoned people but passed on any bills to the solicitor so that these could be paid out of the estate.

I doubt the solicitor would be willing to let the other executors handle everything as he/she has a legal duty to make sure everything is done properly. You might also find he/she can save you money. My husband's advised him to give me some of the house sale proceeds by a deed of variation (i think it was called) so that he could save capital gains tax which was payable as the house eventually sold for quite a bit more than the probate valuation. The district valuer also challenged the probate valuation and the lawyer and estate agent also fought our corner to reduce our inheritance tax liability.

I hope this helps. J

daska

You can ask. Some solicitors will step down (power reserved is the term IIRC) and allow the family to do it, some won't. Unfortunately probate is generally money for old rope so they often try to hang on to it.

Whether or not it's possible/advisable also depends on the will itself, are there any complexities in it such as a trust? You may need to involve the solicitor to set up things like that.

NAR

If it is a substantial estate it is unlikely that they will step down. However you may be able to "negotiate" how much they will charge.

Rodders53

I refer the honourable gentleman to his other thread on this subject https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4186797

What does the Will actually say?

toadhall

my mother passed away 8 weeks ago, her solicitor and myself as executors, since the solicitor lives 300 miles away (mum moved recently) she was quite happy for me to do it all, suited me fine. She said she was available for advice, but since she was in Scotland it was English law anyway I was working with.