Solicitor refuses to step down as co-executor

Tuesday_Tenor

One thing the the solicitors may be wary about is the fact that there is only one other executor. If they renounce but then your mother dies or becomes incapacitated during the process of executing the will, that would leave their original client (the testator)'s affairs in a pickle.
Possibly they might be more amenable to reserving powers; that would mean they were not completely 'abandoning' the testator, and could step back in, in an emergency.

I mention this as, in the past, I had no difficulty getting a solicitor to renounce (for a small admin fee, of course!). In our case, though, there were two other co-executors.

If they do agree to power reserved, I suspect you will still have to do the Gazette notices, and wait for the required periods, as if you don't the solicitors would probably want to step back in. So you might still be in for a long process, but at least it would be a cheaper one.

pphillips

Perhaps the solicitors think they are beneficiaries of the estate!

securityguy

"If they have quoted your mother £5000 to act a co-executor"

The mother isn't the client: the estate is.

pphillips

If the estate is the client then how can the estate say to the solicitor "i'm not paying £5000, that's extortionate"?

da_rule

Something that might be worth checking is that there is a charging clause in the Will. This is a clause that allows professional executors (i.e. solicitors) to charge for the work they do. If the Will has been properly drafted then it'll almost certainly be there, but always worth a check.

Crabapple

It's a point that has been raised before. Since the Trustee Act 2000 there is no need to specifically have a charging clause in a will, professional executors can still charge. It may still be there either explicitly or incorporated by way of the STEP provisions.

OPs mother needs to tackle this from the angle of getting that high quote down by getting them to justify it and doing as much work as possible herself.

da_rule

Does the Act cover Wills written before it came into force?

unforeseen

With that change then having a charging clause is a bonus. Taken from the guidance at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/29/notes

Section 28(2) reverses the present common law rule which requires an express charging clause to be strictly construed against the trustee, so that, unless the trust instrument contains contrary provision, a professional trustee, who has the benefit of such a clause, may only be remunerated for services which could not have been provided by a lay trustee.

My bold

securityguy

pphillips wrote: »

If the estate is the client then how can the estate say to the solicitor "i'm not paying £5000, that's extortionate"?

It would be for the residual beneficiaries to challenge the fees once the estate accounts have been finalised.

Yorkshireman99

securityguy wrote: »

It would be for the residual beneficiaries to challenge the fees once the estate accounts have been finalised.

Too late as the work will have been done. Any challenge needs to be dome ASAP.