Solicitor refuses to step down as co-executor

Janeford12345

Hi I don't know if anyone can help. 'My grandma appointed my mother and a solicitor as co executors in her will ( I think as they persuaded her to but don't know.) My mother has been power of attorney for years before my grandmothers death as has dealt with bank accounts already. The estate is simple - just savings and premium bonds totalling about £150,000, no property, no debts etc. The solicitors have. R.E.M. Asked to step down but refused on the basis that my grandmother "had the opportunity to change solicitor as co executor in the past when she altered her will and they want to respect her wishes". They have quoted £5000 to act as co-executor and have sent a long list of actions they will take including posting in newspapers, estimating the process to take about six months! Firstly is there any way we can challenge their refusal? And if not, can we challenge the amount of work and time they are saying us necessary? I don't want to stress my mum out any more so trying to get a solution for her- I presume the solicitors will not talk to me but have not tried this yet. Thank you.

Crabapple

There is no requirement on them to step down, no.

The newspaper ads and timescales are to protect the executors from debts and claims which by the sounds of things would not apply and wouldn't be worthwhile if your mother was acting alone.

They are unlikely to discuss this with you so it will have to be your mother as co-executor.

£5k is a lot for a cash based estate well below the IHT threshold. 1-2% would be more usual but then in a small estate percentages can be higher.

Do you know when the will was made? One possible line of enquiry might be whether your grandmother was advised of the likely costs of them acting as executors in line with the Law Society best practice guidance. Unfortunately it is only guidance not a requirement.

Crabapple

Further thought - assuming about £200 an hour for a fee earner that's 25 hours work which also seems excessive on the face of it. Are there lots of legacies and/or beneficiaries to deal with?

unforeseen

If they have supplied a list of what they will do then get in first and put the notice in the gazette etc and tell them you have done it. As co-executor you have the right to do this. The solicitors appear to think they are the sole executor and can take over and charge for doing everything.

tacpot12

As co-executor you Mum should be able to agree what they will do and what she will do. If you are prepared to help her she will be able to take on more of the work, possibly doing all of it and just using the solicitor for advice and checking that they may insist they have a right to do to protect themselves. Your mum should ask for a current fee schedule and when work is done (so on a monthly basis) ask to see evidence of who has done the work (their names) and how long it took.

Yorkshireman99

AIUI the solicitors professional body recommends that solicitors do stand down in such circumstances i.e. a simple estate that a non professional can easily administer themselves. Frankly they are trying it on and need to be challenged. Any fee should be on the actual work done not a percentage.

securityguy

And in this particular case, someone who has held a power of attorney for some years might be in a much stronger position to, for example, know that there are no unaccounted debts in the background and be willing to deal on that basis, whereas a third party executor has no choice but to go through the whole process of London Gazette and six months for claims. Which is another reason the solicitor should renounce.

There are all sorts of arguments you can make about more complex cases, but where the proposed executor is (as I suspect is the case here) both the main and the residual beneficiary, and there is no suggestion that other smaller bequests won't be paid, it hard to see whose interests the solicitors could claim to be protecting on behalf of their deceased client. The only person who would suffer were things to be messed up would be the OP's mother anyway. It would be different were the will more complex, or the lay executor not the residual beneficiary.

Janeford12345

Thank you all so much. I think the will was made around 1998 when she reduced her son's share but so not know whether they made costs clear. Knowing my grandma she would be shocked at the cost and would never have paid it if she knew she had a choice! The only beneficiaries are 5 family members who all are aware of the Will's instructions and will not contest in any way. I will advise her to challenge the solicitors using the reasons kindly given above and if they do not back down, to split up the tasks. Thank you all for your help- I just feel as though they are taking advantage of the situation for easy money!

Yorkshireman99

As a last resort you could say you will tell the local paper. If you do be careful not to libel them.

getmore4less

2 months ago

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5547201

thorsoak

You could always ask to see the attendance notes made by the solicitor at the meetings with your mother taking her instructions about her will (and which should be on your late mother's file) which should indicate her reactions to suggestions about the solicitor acting as co-executor.