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Probate/intestacy stalemate query
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securityguy wrote: »Why on earth have you persisted with an incompetent solicitor whom you know to be incompetent? Other solicitors would, I'm sure, be more than glad of the business.
We know now how incompetent he's been. We didn't engage him on that basis.0 -
I think that may well be the best we can hope for now. He's actually the Managing Partner, so top of the hierarchy as far as I am aware.
That isnt the case. The solicitors are required to have someone in charge of complaints who investigates your complaints and then tells you in writing their findings. This person should technically be unbiased and act in the interests of the complaint not the company they work for. Once that has been done if you are not satisfied you can then complain to the law society who have far more powers to deal with the solicitor.
What I would reiterate here is that solicitor works for you and whilst he can advise what the course of action is best for his client he cannot say that he wont do the work.
Has for emails Solicitors don't like using them because there is no way to prove that the person they emailed ever read the email and also because they dont have the time to keep checking their email accounts. In all the years I have been dealing with solicitors I have never met one yet that doesnt like letters being wrote because this bumps up the costs they can claim from their client
Rob0 -
Ugh. From your description, I would seriously consider changing solicitors.Mortgage when started: £330,995
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Arthur C. Clarke0 -
That isnt the case. The solicitors are required to have someone in charge of complaints who investigates your complaints and then tells you in writing their findings. This person should technically be unbiased and act in the interests of the complaint not the company they work for. Once that has been done if you are not satisfied you can then complain to the law society who have far more powers to deal with the solicitor.
What I would reiterate here is that solicitor works for you and whilst he can advise what the course of action is best for his client he cannot say that he wont do the work.
Has for emails Solicitors don't like using them because there is no way to prove that the person they emailed ever read the email and also because they dont have the time to keep checking their email accounts. In all the years I have been dealing with solicitors I have never met one yet that doesnt like letters being wrote because this bumps up the costs they can claim from their client
Rob
Definitely looks like it'll be the Law Society/Legal Ombudsman route...0 -
LannieDuck wrote: »Ugh. From your description, I would seriously consider changing solicitors.
We've looked into that, but the cost of another solicitor re-assessing the work that's been done already (which they'd have to do before they could move forward with us) renders this unviable sadly.0 -
You might find one who's prepared to take on the work for a percentage of the value of the estate. It's pricey, but it could be worth looking at if you can't pay any money up front.:huh: Don't know what I'm doing, but doing it anyway... :huh:0
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So here's where we're up to at the moment. As ever, any thoughts or guidance is much appreciated...
On April 2nd, another letter was sent to the other party's solicitors, requesting full disclosure of the Will file and other related documents and information. We received a response on April 5th that the solicitor dealing with this matter was on holiday and would respond when she returned.
This individual returned to work on April 8th, but we heard nothing.
Subsequent phone calls from our solicitor to that of the other party were not responded to. A further letter was sent to them on April 16th.
They responded today, finally acknowledging the letter of April 2nd and promising to "reply to [our] outstanding enquiries in a few days.
However, from glancing at my records, our solicitor specifically requested the Will file as far back as 14th November 2012 and most probably sooner. We do not trust this latest promise to respond as all others have been broken.
I have asked that the other solicitors be faxed first thing tomorrow morning. (I would rather this be done by email by our solicitor says they do not respond to emails, only by DX. Further, has has told us that "due to problems with this form of communication it is still not recognised by the courts as good service." Is this true?)
I have also asked that we have an acknowledgement of this fax immediately, with a response (which we have been waiting for since at least last November and most probably sooner - I can only find related documentation dating back to November though) by midday on Friday.
Our solicitor says that this would be viewed by the court as unreasonable and disproportionate. (On our part.)
I am arguing that we have waited a number of months for this information and I do not believe a court would deem us to have been impatient or disproportionate in any way. Rather, they would view us to have been extremely patient and reasonable. (In any case, this still falls within the time frame the other side's solicitors referred to in their most recent correspondence.)
I have also expressed my disappointment with our solicitor that, despite the request for the latest communication to be sent over 24 hours ago, he failed to do so.
All in all, an already highly stressful situation continues to be exacerbated needlessly. It feels to us that, on one hand, we have the other side's solicitors who have messed up with the will and have much to hide, hence why they are being so obstructive and appear to have much to hide; on the other side we have our own solicitor who we've now complained about twice to his partners, who has to be forced to answer our questions and carry out our wishes and who seems to also be dragging things out, possibly out of vindictiveness due to our complaints and our assertiveness now in this matter.
He also sent us his latest payment statement last week. An additional £2,000 on top of the £3582.50 he has already had, a thousand of which is accounted for by:
Charges for him to read emails to which he responds to by refusing to answer our questions saying there is "no merit" in doing so. (And the subsequent email trail where we press for these answers and, after much provarication, he eventually does so. (For 10 emails of this kind at £13.25 a pop, that's £132.50.)
Emails which are needlessly duplicated by letters, or vice versa. We have specifically asked for only emails wherever possible, but he earns more from us from sending a letter, making a phone call or arranging meetings.
Emails being re-sent due to him not attaching documents initially.
Emails of information we had never requested.
Emails which would not have been necessary if he had applied for Pre-Action Disclosure in the first place, which for reasons I cannot fathom he still has not done. (I queried this, again, at the end of March and have still not had a response.)
Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.0 -
I agree with your solicitor that the court would deem unfavourable if you put a time limit of this Friday on disclosure. 28 days however is another matter. I also agree totally that Emails are not accepted as sufficient in court. I would also not email your solicitor for the same reasons.
With regards to your solicitor sending mail. You cannot expect him to drop everything else just to send a letter you have asked him to do so. Within a week is the norm in my experience.
Each solicitor makes a decision as to whether to use email or normal mail to communicate with their client. My own will use email for none court specific details but where the infor is in relation to the actual case I am pursuing it is always a letter. I have a good relationship with my solicitor and has yet have never been charged for reading an email. I find this strange because he would read a letter for free.
Has you have made two complaints to his partners and you feel that this has not rectified the situation I would contact the law society and have them look into this. If he is found to be not acting with your best interests he would be disciplined which in fact could lead to his being struck off.
My final thought would be to ask for the case file and with that in hand (they dont have to give it you) take my business to another solicitor.
Out of interest if you win this your solicitor should make a claim for his costs which should then if they are accepted be passed back to you. Also remember even if the solicitor thinks that a course of action would not be for the best you have a right to tell him that you wish for him to do this anyway. Always remember he works for you not the other way around
Rob0 -
I agree with your solicitor that the court would deem unfavourable if you put a time limit of this Friday on disclosure. 28 days however is another matter. I also agree totally that Emails are not accepted as sufficient in court. I would also not email your solicitor for the same reasons.
With regards to your solicitor sending mail. You cannot expect him to drop everything else just to send a letter you have asked him to do so. Within a week is the norm in my experience.
Each solicitor makes a decision as to whether to use email or normal mail to communicate with their client. My own will use email for none court specific details but where the infor is in relation to the actual case I am pursuing it is always a letter. I have a good relationship with my solicitor and has yet have never been charged for reading an email. I find this strange because he would read a letter for free.
Has you have made two complaints to his partners and you feel that this has not rectified the situation I would contact the law society and have them look into this. If he is found to be not acting with your best interests he would be disciplined which in fact could lead to his being struck off.
My final thought would be to ask for the case file and with that in hand (they dont have to give it you) take my business to another solicitor.
Out of interest if you win this your solicitor should make a claim for his costs which should then if they are accepted be passed back to you. Also remember even if the solicitor thinks that a course of action would not be for the best you have a right to tell him that you wish for him to do this anyway. Always remember he works for you not the other way around
Rob
Hi Rob,
Thanks for getting back to me - always appreciated.
I fully accept your initial points which, taking the most recent events in isolation, would be valid. What I would say is that the other party's solicitor has been asked for this information for a number of months now. (We can only trace the first request back to last November in writing, but we are sure there were earlier requests too.) If you like, they've had 28 days, another 28 days, another 28 days, another 28 days and so on.
With regards to our solicitor sending mail, this is correspondence we've been asking him to send for months also. The difference in our approach now is that we're being far more assertive with him, having seen how this matter has been dragged out by both parties and how the costs have built up to over £5,500 whilst nothing has actually been achieved. We don't expect him to drop everything (he wouldn't anyway!), but we've already had to complain twice about him to the firm's Complaints Manager (who never responds directly - he just silently passes the email back to our solicitor) due to weeks or months going by with no communication and no work being done on this.
Thank you also for the point about how the court views emails. Very useful to know.
Yes, £13.25 to read an email. This includes the most minimal two line emails where he's asked us to acknowledge receipt of something.
Thanks again Rob.0
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