Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trust Deed of Appointment

SeniorSam

g6jns ..... did you miss it ?
your course of action should be to write a formal letter of complaint, signed by the other executors and send a copy of that letter to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. You should then receive a reply, within the time specified by the SRA when complaints are made, with details of what action the solicitors will now take.

No harm is sending a copy to the SRA, but they will not get involved until the solicitor has replied and stated what action he is now taking.

Sam

g6jns_2

SeniorSam wrote: »

g6jns ..... did you miss it ?
your course of action should be to write a formal letter of complaint, signed by the other executors and send a copy of that letter to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. You should then receive a reply, within the time specified by the SRA when complaints are made, with details of what action the solicitors will now take.

No harm is sending a copy to the SRA, but they will not get involved until the solicitor has replied and stated what action he is now taking.

Sam

AIUI the SRA will take no action so it seems pointless trying to involve the at this stage. Sorry if I was at cross purposes with you. Hopefully a formal complaint to the solicitor will get things moving. It sounds as if their insurers are in for a large bill.

SeniorSam

It certainly does. I wonder how much the solicitor has been charging the Trust all these years for his seemingly incompetent actions.

Those unjustified costs and damages could amount to a considerable sum, but his professional indemnity may pay, unless they feel he has not acted as he should according to their rules.

Sam

becrrw

Thank you both for your replies. Before writing to the solicitor with a letter of complaint we await their reply to see if they can by some miracle find a Deed of Appointment but their previous communication obviously made it sound very doubtful leading me to post the question here.

Sam just to clarify, if it comes to writing the letter of complaint to the SRA it will only be signed by the one executor - my Mother as the other Executor is the Solicitor who created my Grandfather's trust, loaned it to my Grandmother and then appointed it to her! We have just discovered he retired last October after being contacted by his replacement at the firm.

The last thing you want to have to go through after losing a family member is a fight with the solicitor. I only hope they will offer to correct this without causing any further stress and sleepiness nights to both my Mother and I.

SeniorSam

The letter of complaint need to be sent to the solicitors practice and I suggested that a copy be sent to SRA, who cannot take any action until the solicitors have had the opportunity to correct the complaint.

Do not delay doing this. Do it now, as the matter will get actioned far more quickly if it is done officially and put a heading to your letter 'OFFICIAL COMPLAINT.'

Don't worry about the actual solicitor retiring as the Solicitor's Practice are responsible for any action of a solicitor in that Practice. What will then happen is the Solicitors Practice are obliged to notify the SRA that a complaint has been received and is being looked into.

The signature of the other Executor, your Mother is sufficient and correct, but it would do no harm for you to sign also if you are a beneficiary and helping in this matter, which you are and have been. You should add, after your signature, that you are the son and helping your Mother.

It is my opinion that your family has been very poorly dealt with by an elderly solicitor, who may not have know how to deal with certain matters. That is no excuse and the Practice is liable. Don't be 'fobbed off' with more excuses. They have to act upon receipt of the complaint to put matters right.

Sam

becrrw

Thanks Sam, that's very helpful and reassuring.

I'm actually the Daughter rather than Son and I'm not a beneficiary either, my Mother is the only beneficiary. I am just doing my best to support and advise her as we both went into this process completely clueless. I only wish I had been old enough to research and advise years ago when the Trust was created!

Thanks again

SeniorSam

You have certainly had a very bad service for far longer than normal. Most solicitors do know what they are doing, but this one should have retired at a far earlier age as his knowledge is very poor.

Do check your messages

Sam

Crabapple

I am aware that STEP is the gold standard for lawyers (and accountants) working in this area, but just to say that it costs thousands to take the exams to qualify and a lot of your personal time to study. Not having STEP does not necessarily mean that the person you use does not have sufficient experience to do things correctly.

That said, in this case, not knowing there should be a Deed to appoint assets out of a Trust - that's Trusts 101, and anyone who does probate work should know how to correctly fill out an IHT400 even where things are a little more complex.

I don't believe that the Trust did need to be reported to HMRC though - they do not require all Trusts to be reported to them, only income producing ones where Tax Returns will be needed.

SeniorSam

There are indeed many solicitors that are not STEP qualified, that had my admiration and respect. Their knowledge was perhaps equal to a STEP qualified solicitor, but as far as the public are concerned, when initially seeking advice in this particular area, a STEP solicitor would be preferable.

I met with solicitors who didn't have a clue about IHT mitigation, yet were quite prepared to continue working in this area.

Unfortuately, many professional fields have similar problems, but better qualifications can help.

Sam

g6jns_2

SeniorSam wrote: »

There are indeed many solicitors that are not STEP qualified, that had my admiration and respect. Their knowledge was perhaps equal to a STEP qualified solicitor, but as far as the public are concerned, when initially seeking advice in this particular area, a STEP solicitor would be preferable.

I met with solicitors who didn't have a clue about IHT mitigation, yet were quite prepared to continue working in this area.

Unfortuately, many professional fields have similar problems, but better qualifications can help.

Sam

The problem is that many technical fields have become so complex that the "one man band" of old just cannot do the job well. That is why I would always use a firm with a number of partners who have the breadth of experience to provide clients with the expertise needed. My own solicitor has a partner who does nothing but wills and trusts. As far as the potential client is concerned STEP are not so much the gold standard as a good indication that their needs will be met. Trust law is incredibly complex and full of pitfalls that it is folly to take a chance. Having said that for any solicitor to have made the mess in the OP's case is shocking.