waiting for solicitors !!! 22 February 2015 at 4:20PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Deaths, Funerals & Probate 9 replies 1.5K views

ivanhoe_girl

father died april 2014 leaving a very clear, detailed, uncontested will and we are still waiting for the solicitors to complete.when we contact them there is always one more thing to tie up. father made his will on a fixed rate payment is this why they are taking so long?

dzug1

Probably - they will fit it in gaps between 'paying' work as there's no incentive to finish early.


Additionally some solicitors won't consider winding things up for a year after death anyway

g6jns_2

ivanhoe_girl wrote: »

father died april 2014 leaving a very clear, detailed, uncontested will and we are still waiting for the solicitors to complete.when we contact them there is always one more thing to tie up. father made his will on a fixed rate payment is this why they are taking so long?

What do you mean by a "fixed rate payment". You can always make a complaint under the firm's complaints procedure.

ivanhoe_girl

what I meant was he negotiated the payment regardless of amount of work that needed to be done. I think this is why they are being so slow as they cannot add little extras on ! to be fair he probably thought it would be straightforward as I said his will couldn't have been clearer.

Mattygroves2

ivanhoe_girl wrote: »

what I meant was he negotiated the payment regardless of amount of work that needed to be done. I think this is why they are being so slow as they cannot add little extras on ! to be fair he probably thought it would be straightforward as I said his will couldn't have been clearer.

His will might have been clear but the solicitors may be having trouble with one of his creditors. As has been said solicitors tend to wait for the executors year to finish to make sure they've got all the creditors. Have you checked they've got probate granted and the tax forms filed ?

Mojisola

ivanhoe_girl wrote: »

father died april 2014 leaving a very clear, detailed, uncontested will and we are still waiting for the solicitors to complete.when we contact them there is always one more thing to tie up. father made his will on a fixed rate payment is this why they are taking so long?

Are they explaining what the "one more thing" is?

Is it one problem that's ongoing or lots of little things?

Finalising Dad's estate was delayed because one insurance company couldn't work out how to pay out the money but we knew what was happening and what the solicitor was doing about it.

TBagpuss

Is it a solicitor or is it a company such as CoOp?

I agree that the first step is to ask them specifically what the hold up is (i.e. is it a particular creditor, or asset, or is there a specific time period involved) and when they expect it to be resolved. Ask them to be specifc and explain that you do not want to waste their time, or yours, by chasing if there is a fixed date they are working towards.

SeniorSam

If you cannot obtain clarification and are unhapy with the position, just mention this to the solicitors and say that you are considering going to the Law Society to ask them to investigate unless you can obtain a firm date.

I think you will find this may do the trick, as solicitors don't want all the reporting to the Society that they will have to do.

Sam

G6JNS

SeniorSam wrote: »

If you cannot obtain clarification and are unhapy with the position, just mention this to the solicitors and say that you are considering going to the Law Society to ask them to investigate unless you can obtain a firm date.

I think you will find this may do the trick, as solicitors don't want all the reporting to the Society that they will have to do.

Sam

Before doing that you have to go through the firm's own complains procedure. Have you done that?

getmore4less

IME stuff will just sits in the in box waiting for something to prompt them do have another look and process things.

The nature of the admin process is work through the things you can do, send of stuff to get info for the next bit, wait for replies, when you have enough or get a prompt repeat...

I think some(maybe a lot)solicitors prioritize the clients that make the most fuss.