Solicitor refusing to give a copy of a will

ABARKIE

securityguy wrote: »

"The solicitor is refusing to let us have a signed copy until they have sight of the death certificate"

Quite right too. What do you think is wrong about this?

Why have they not given their client a copy of the signed will - that is my concern

But happy to cash the cheque in advance of getting the will signed - just drafted

We now have the death certificate from the GP, but unable to register the death until next week

ABARKIE

Mojisola wrote: »

I can't imagine any reputable solicitor writing a will without naming executors! Who is going to apply for probate?

That will be down to me - I guess

That is what both parents asked me to do

Yorkshireman99

If you are not named as executor you can't just take on the job. Seeing the original is crucial.

Yorkshireman99

ABARKIE wrote: »

Understand those concerns, but what worries me is that his wife, my partner's mother has the same issue - ie a draft unsigned will

I have my sister's will and brother in law's and no issue with them



That's my concern and why do they want to see all 3 of us - coming across as ambulance chasers for me.

That is not a reasonable inference. The solicitor must, as previously stated, have to follow the rules. They need to see all three executors not just one.

ABARKIE

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

What Mojisola and Yorkshireman99 said.

I would add that in similar circumstances following the no-obligation chat with the solicitor (who will be hoping to offer his firm's executry services if you want to take advantage of them) the solicitor got £400 work from me and saved me many times that in IHT.

The value of his assets will be less than £200K

The joint house is worth circa £170K, in total and only other assets we believe to be the joint bank account and a car worth less than £3K

gettingtheresometime

To be fair I really don't see the problem.

You turn up with a death certificate, they see it & then give you the valid will.

I have an unsigned copy of my will - I know though that the valid will is with the bank so I don't think you should worry about that aspect.

Yorkshireman99

ABARKIE wrote: »

Why have they not given their client a copy of the signed will - that is my concern

But happy to cash the cheque in advance of getting the will signed - just drafted

We now have the death certificate from the GP, but unable to register the death until next week

You don't know if your father had a copy. I have never had a signed copy of the will when I have made one, just a copy printed off from the word processor.

Savvy_Sue

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

They need to see all three executors not just one.

There's been this discussion before in a slightly different context: the solicitor holding the will required all the named executors to attend the office to collect it when that was completely impractical - I don't remember if that was because of distance, infirmity or unwillingness to act.

I said then that when each of my parents died, my co-executor was able to go into the solicitors and pick up the original signed will without me being there. I cannot remember if I wrote something agreeing to him doing this.

But while there might be reasons for the solicitor to ask for all executors to be present, until the OP has seen the final version of the will they do not know who the executors are, because they are not named in the draft!

Yorkshireman99

It should not be beyond the wit of man, or even a solicitor, to overcome such a practical problem. The solicitor needs to be sure that all the executors are genuine and that one is not trying to pull a fast one. The solicitor is not being obstructive as the OP seems to think but just safeguarding everyone's interests. Frustrating but necessary.

getmore4less

if there are no named executors then there are rules for the order people can apply for a grant of administration and it won't be random inlaw first.

It may be that you don't understand what has been written and there are named executors.

perhaps post the wording and make sure you include the bit where it talks about trustees.