No response to Larke v Nugus letter

StartingOut

I sent a L v N letter to my relative about 5 months ago. Relative wrote the will himself. No solicitor involved.

Relative instructed a solicitor who said we should provide witness statements (we have witnesses who the deceased told their wishes to).

We said that we want the responses to the L v N letter so we can determine our next steps. We believe lack of knowledge and approval. But want confirmation of circumstances before we contest.

They still haven't provided the information and have said they won't until we provide the statements. We can get statements done but I think they need to give us the information first. I sent a letter last week saying that they needed to provide the information or we would apply for a court order. Received a stroppy letter today saying that we should give them time (even though they've had 5 months) and that they will provide it when we provide the statements.

Am I taking the right stance by saying that they need to give us the information we requested in the L v N letter first. We may decide from this that the circumstances are ok and not proceed (although I doubt this).

5 months down the line and no further on. Very frustrating.

Happy not to involve a solicitor yet and would prefer not to as I want
the full facts before we officially contest and incur costs.

Any advice gratefully received. May delete after a bit as worried about relative seeing this, but just wanted so views on whether we are correct to stand our ground.

Thanks

SeniorSam

You should consider writing a specific Letter Of Complaint to the senior partner of the solicitors practice.

The letter should be headed LETTER OF COMPLAINT and should list the details of your complaint against the solicitors in question. It should also state that a copy of the letter is being sent to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority and you need to do that also

That letter should be sent by recorded delivery and it will then be passed to the Complaints Officer of the Practice, who has a duty to reply within a specified period and then he has to make a detailed enquiry to discover all the facts and make a response to the complainant.

If tha answer to the complaint is not satisfactory, then the matter can be passed to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, who can do nothing at all until that response to the complaint has been made.

Solicitors hate to have to account to the SRA and be investigated, so the solicitor is far more likely to get off his backside and deal with the complaint promptly to avoid an investigation.

If the SRA are not then able to resolve this, then the next step would be the Ombudsman, but they do not get involved until the SRA have investigated.

Hope this helps

Sam

PS. FreeBear prompted this - thank you - I missed the fact that the solicitors did not write the Will, in which case, the above is of no use. Supply the statements but have them drawn up by your own solicitors.

FreeBear

StartingOut wrote: »

I sent a L v N letter to my relative about 5 months ago. Relative wrote the will himself. No solicitor involved.

Gut feeling here - As it was a DIY will, there wouldn't be any notes or background documentation, so an L-v-N statement wouldn't be forthcoming. I suspect that you would need to proceed with any litigation based on the assumption that there are no contemporaneous notes.

But as always in cases like this, seek qualified advice from a solicitor experienced in contentious probate.

StartingOut

Thanks both.

I suspect there are no notes/records but that helps us re the circumstances around the will being dodgy, so I want them to confirm that. There are also issues around transferring property/selling property at an undervalue (to the relative), so I've asked for records about that - which haven't been forth coming.

I want them to confirm they kept no records rather than stand behind 'if you show me yours then I'll show you mine'. And because of the ground we are challenging on, they will have to prove the will is valid, so we are asking them to do that now before incurring court/legal fees.

seniorSam - do you think the complaint would get the solicitors to answer me?

SeniorSam

Not in that format. However, if you were to writ and say that you are most dissapointed with the response to a simple request for information and are considering asking the SRA for advice on this matter, it MAY get aresponse.

However, as the solicitors in question are not your solicitors or had nothing to do with the Will being drawn up (not even for advice before being written by relatives), then they could simply ignor it.

Unfortunately solicitors in many cases like to hold the upper hand and are not forthcoming in a manner that would be deemed 'helpful' to the lay person.

Sam