right thing using the solicitor for confirmation? (scotland)

DON79

My sister and I are sorting out my dad's estate which is a house, 2 policies worth about 60K each, savings around 120K plus a small amount of shares.

We informed the banks ourselves that my dad had passed away, also we did contact the policies to advise and see what we needed to do about claims. We were simply going to transfer the house into 50/50 names in the meantime while some work is done to it with a view to selling.

We saw the solicitor today but we are both uncertain whether we really need to use his services or how complicated things are going to be... I have read the links above but we are both not confident about handling things ourselves either.

How difficult is it likely to be if we did do things ourselves?

The solicitor has said his fee's are £185 an hour but would not commit to a definite price or estimate of time it would take, saying only it would take six months, possibly a year in complicated estates.

So what I am wondering is whether my dad's estate would be classed as complicated? The solicitor has got us spooked a little by the lack of a real time estimate and we don't want the hours he bills us for to be through the roof either!

Does anyone know roughly how many hours a solicitor would spend sorting the above things in the estate out?

thank in advance

dzug1

Don't know if Scotland is any more difficult than England and Wales but I wouldn't regard yours as a complicated estate.

And it shouldn't take 6 months to get probate/confirmation - though you perhaps shouldn't finalise things before then

Tuesday_Tenor

If you were in England I would say that the estate sounds straightforward enough to do it yourself. By the time you have gathered all the info to give to a solictor, you are well on the way to completing the tasks yourselves! You already seem to have a good grasp of what the estate will consist of, so it sounds as though your father's paperwork is largely in order. You'll find lots of threads on here about prople who have been Executors in England without needing to use a solicitor.

I don't know much about the system in Scotland, and in trying to find out more it seems that the Sheriff's Court website is undergoing a major overhaul and is not very useful at the moment .... :
http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/scotland-ni
Old information (2006) online is not very encouraging about D-I-Y in Scotland, but this might be (a) originally written by lawyers wanting business and/or (b) the very information that the Sheriffs Court website is currently updating.

I hope someone which more knowledge of the system in Scotland will be able to assist better.

My gut feeling/common-sense approach/strategy would be:

1) [Not clear from your post if you've had the funeral yet or not].
If you know that the bank will pay out for the funeral (usually do, dirtectly to funeral directors on presentation of invoice) then concentrate first on the funeral and grieving for your Dad. Other things can wait till you're ready.

2) Get all the forms and guidance notes about the confirmation process from the local Sheriff's Court. Sounds like you might have to ring them up, rather than requesting online atm. Whenever's the right time after the funera, spend time going through these and having a go at filling in the forms. Then you'll have an idea if there are likely to be any complications and whether the task is
(a) well within your capabilities, between you
(b) within your capabilities, with legal advice/checks on specific issues
(c) something you'd need to completely hand over to a solicitor.

3) Certainly don't allow yourself to be rushed/bamboozled into handing it over to a solicitor straightaway. Give yourselves time to check out the issues. There's no rush. You might, at the end of the day, hand it over to a solicitor, but let that be from knowledge, with good reasons, rather than from ignorance.

getmore4less

Go down the DIY route, instruct solicitor as needed, that way you stay in control.

Will require some research but if you have time it will probably be quicker than using a solicitor even with the research needed.

troubleinparadise

Sorry for the loss of your dad.

This is all new to you, is I'm not surprised you don't feel confident.

However, it sounds as though your dad's affairs are straight forward. Take some time to read up what you need to do, and think about it.

I did my mums fairly complex IHT return myself; it seemed silly to do all the legwork (finding papers, addresses, numbers) and then just telling someone else the final numbers to write on a form when I could do that easily myself.

I have used solicitors for things that were out of my area; it has taken time but has been perfectly manageable.

ValHaller

DON79 wrote: »

We were simply going to transfer the house into 50/50 names in the meantime while some work is done to it with a view to selling.

Don't bother - sell it from the estate.

madbadrob

In Scotland to get the confirmation doesnt it have to be an application to the Sherrif's court and if so then you will need the solicitor to do this. I know from tracing heirs to intestate scottish estates we have to before we can apply to QLTR for the money to be released.

Rob

DON79

Thanks for all the replies so far...

the house is going in 50/50 names as my sis is not sure she does want to sell it as yet either... so in the meantime we are going to do the minor works that need done. There is a horrible green ceiling that would definitely put people off lol! it is getting painted white asap! plus bare plasterboard needs filled and painted and some missing carpet to sort out.

coolcait

If your father died without leaving a will, are you sure that you will be able to 'sort out the estate' without getting some kind of legal 'document'?

I'm not entirely sure that you'll be able to simply transfer the house into anyone else's name unless you (or someone else) has been appointed executor dative and/or got the confirmation.

I found this info on the Scot court website, and it has links to other useful information. I hope it helps a bit.

http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/dealing-with-a-deceased's-estate-in-scotland

DON79

He has left a will. I just forgot to mention that...

my sister and i are named executors in the will....

DON79

Following on from this, I have FINALLY received the terms of business from the solicitor! only took them nearly two weeks to send out...

anyway, needless to say, I am not that impressed by the vagueness of some of the expressions "we may charge" this that or the next thing..


What i would like to know, is that even although the solicitor will be dealing with applying for confirmation & the house - Can my sister and I still have our own executors account to pay any final bills and distribute any legacies that have to be paid? I would much rather we did this ourselves rather than have the money pass through the solicitors own accounts and sit there for six months or however long they take to sort things.

And if we do this ourselves also, I presume they cannot charge us a percentage of the estate for administering funds as they will not be the ones paying legacies etc?

Thanks in advance