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Estate paperwork?
shazh70
Posts: 15 Forumite
Hi All
I think I have previously posted about this, but can't find it.
My mum and dad were approached by phone in June 2014 by Charter Legal to discuss their requirements for their 'estate' when they die.
A lady called to their house and explained the deal. Mum and Dad were under the impression that the house would be 'owned' by the estate (me and my brother) until death, therefore no one could come on to the house for any fees. The lady took all the paperwork and diagrams she drew away with her, leaving mum and dad with a receipt for just over £2,000 that they had paid stating for legal services. There was a clause on the back saying there was a cooling off period of 7 days.
When the paperwork arrived 21 days later! Mum asked me to check it over, alarm bells rang straight away. The 'estate' meant that nobody but the estate owned the property and nothing could be done with the house until the death of both parents! This was not what mum and dad were led to believe. The comapny also kept pestering mum for the deeds to her house, it was only when she asked her solicitor for them that he advised caution and that under no circumstance must she part with the deeds.
We tried to cancel the deal but was told the 7 day cooling off period had passed, we tried to explain that we had not seen the paperwork until 21 days afterwards so how could we cancel?
We have now handed this to the family solicitor to ask him to send some letters, he has sent one, but surprise surprise, they have sent it straight on to their solicitor.
If all else fails, I will take them to small claims court as they have a huge amount of money for several pieces of paper that are only useful for toilet use!
Anyone got any ideas/thoughts on how else to proceed? Also please make your older loved ones know about this.
Was thinking of contacting Watchdog, but cannot find anything on the BBC website.
Many thanks
Sharon
I think I have previously posted about this, but can't find it.
My mum and dad were approached by phone in June 2014 by Charter Legal to discuss their requirements for their 'estate' when they die.
A lady called to their house and explained the deal. Mum and Dad were under the impression that the house would be 'owned' by the estate (me and my brother) until death, therefore no one could come on to the house for any fees. The lady took all the paperwork and diagrams she drew away with her, leaving mum and dad with a receipt for just over £2,000 that they had paid stating for legal services. There was a clause on the back saying there was a cooling off period of 7 days.
When the paperwork arrived 21 days later! Mum asked me to check it over, alarm bells rang straight away. The 'estate' meant that nobody but the estate owned the property and nothing could be done with the house until the death of both parents! This was not what mum and dad were led to believe. The comapny also kept pestering mum for the deeds to her house, it was only when she asked her solicitor for them that he advised caution and that under no circumstance must she part with the deeds.
We tried to cancel the deal but was told the 7 day cooling off period had passed, we tried to explain that we had not seen the paperwork until 21 days afterwards so how could we cancel?
We have now handed this to the family solicitor to ask him to send some letters, he has sent one, but surprise surprise, they have sent it straight on to their solicitor.
If all else fails, I will take them to small claims court as they have a huge amount of money for several pieces of paper that are only useful for toilet use!
Anyone got any ideas/thoughts on how else to proceed? Also please make your older loved ones know about this.
Was thinking of contacting Watchdog, but cannot find anything on the BBC website.
Many thanks
Sharon
0
Comments
-
Hi there Sharon, I found your previous thread, it's here.
You could try Rip Off Britain. It's a daytime TV show a bit similar to Watchdog. Or here's the page to send your story to Watchdog.
I looked up the Charter Legal website, and it says there (amongst other things) "Our home consultations are always free of charge, without obligation and we have a no-nonsense, fixed-fee pricing structure". So not sure why the woman who called took money.
Not much help to you, but didn't want to read and run!
0 -
Update!
We have now filed a claim in small claims court after solicitor got nothing back, other than a letter saying to send all correspondence to their solicitor, who never replied!
Dad is concerned if we lose will he have to pay for their solicitor?
Many thanks
Shaz0 -
Have you contacted Trading Standards in the area where Chartered Standard are based?If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing0
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