Slow solicitor advice

AMO77

Hello all.
We lost my beloved mother in February this year.
A local solicitor is joint executor with one of Mum's close friends.
The estate is very straight forward: no mortgage, saving/shares all going 50/50 to my brother and me. The estate falls just short of Inheritance Tax, so there is nothing to pay.
The solicitor has been very slow, uncommunicative and basically just not good.
I asked him to sell all existing shares in an email on April 17th and he still has not done so, holding up the estate.
He has not given an explanation why, and simply emails (or rather one of 3 secretaries emails) saying he is now dealing with the case.
Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. The lawyers has all relevant accounts/share info as Mum was so organised and kept a file with everything in. It has now been nearly 10months. We just want an end to all this.

Yorkshireman99

AMO77 wrote: »

Hello all.
We lost my beloved mother in February this year.
A local solicitor is joint executor with one of Mum's close friends.
The estate is very straight forward: no mortgage, saving/shares all going 50/50 to my brother and me. The estate falls just short of Inheritance Tax, so there is nothing to pay.
The solicitor has been very slow, uncommunicative and basically just not good.
I asked him to sell all existing shares in an email on April 17th and he still has not done so, holding up the estate.
He has not given an explanation why, and simply emails (or rather one of 3 secretaries emails) saying he is now dealing with the case.
Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. The lawyers has all relevant accounts/share info as Mum was so organised and kept a file with everything in. It has now been nearly 10months. We just want an end to all this.

As you are not a client they are not obliged to do as you asked. You can try making a formal complaint using their complaints procedure but they may refuse to do anything. Then you can report them to their professional body.

AMO77

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Keep_pedalling

Afraid this is about par for the course with solicitors and probate. I very much doubt if the solicisitor could have sold the shares in April as he / she would not have obtained probate by then.

Do you know if probate has been obtained yet?

AMO77

Thanks Keep Pedalling. Yes Probate was obtained in June I believe.
A few shares have now been sold, and we await further updates.

Sevennotemode

Sad to hear of your hassle at a sad time.

Prepare yourself for his bill - they are notoriously greedy with probate and estate administration as the client is deceased and now they have a free hand to charge what they like.

I have put a paragraph in my will which states that no solicitor or 'legal person' is to be allowed within barge pole length of my estate when I am gone.

Ziggazee

Sevennotemode wrote: »

Sad to hear of your hassle at a sad time.

Prepare yourself for his bill - they are notoriously greedy with probate and estate administration as the client is deceased and now they have a free hand to charge what they like.

I have put a paragraph in my will which states that no solicitor or 'legal person' is to be allowed within barge pole length of my estate when I am gone.

Quite a chip on your shoulder there Sevennotemode.


Not all Solicitors are out to fleece their clients. Many of them provide an excellent, supportive, good quality service. They're running several files at once and there are only so many hours in the day, so not everyone can have everything done IMMEDIATELY.

gettingtheresometime

Ziggazee wrote: »

Quite a chip on your shoulder there Sevennotemode.


Not all Solicitors are out to fleece their clients. Many of them provide an excellent, supportive, good quality service. They're running several files at once and there are only so many hours in the day, so not everyone can have everything done IMMEDIATELY.

They can also act as an impartial referee if the family situation is awkward.

TBagpuss

OP, is your mother's friend someone you are in contact with? It's possible that some of the delay might be down to him/her, for instance if they are slow in signing / returning documents or agreeing actions on the file.

Where a solicitor is the executor of a will there is guidance that the residuary beneficiaries should be treated as 'quasi clients' - in other words, that it is usually reasonable for the solicitor to provide them with information - if you have not already done so,it would probably be worth writing (rather than phoning or emailing) to the solicitor (perhaps cc-ing the letter to the other executor), asking them to respond to the previous enquiries and in particualr, to explain:
- why the shares were not sold once probate was obtained
- whether they have now been sold, and if not, what is needed for this to happen and when this will be done
- what other work is required in order to complete the administration of the estate, and what the timescale is for the work to be completed.

If you don't get a response, it may be worth escalating by making.

If you are on good terms with your mum's friend, then you could ask them to chase up the solicitor, as co-executor they are in a stronger position to query or complain about the solicitor, or alternatively they may be able to explain to you what is happening.

AMO77

Many thanks for taking the time to write.
I am going to email tomorrow the solicitor tomorrow.

securityguy

Sevennotemode wrote: »

Sad to hear of your hassle at a sad time.

Prepare yourself for his bill - they are notoriously greedy with probate and estate administration as the client is deceased and now they have a free hand to charge what they like.

I have put a paragraph in my will which states that no solicitor or 'legal person' is to be allowed within barge pole length of my estate when I am gone.

Fortunately it's unenforceable, but I would refuse to be an executor of an estate which attempted to prevent me from getting legal advice. Executors are personally liable for mistakes unless they can show due diligence, and one of the ways they do that is by taking professional advice. A self-written will by someone with a chip on their shoulder which you would be attempting to enact without professional help? Run away, I think the best advice would be.