Solicitor request to step down as Executor??

vivvov

Hello All

Short history: My Mother grew up with her cousin ('Uncle' to me). They are 4 years in age difference, very close and Uncle is now very ill. Uncle was married but divorced in the late 1970's and Mum has been his carer and advocate prior to Uncle recently entering a residential home. Mum also has Power of Attorney for Uncle and, on entry to hospital with pneumonia, Uncle finally made a will via Mum's solicitors. This states that Mum and the solicitor's firm are joint Executors.
Uncle's Financial Adviser has just visited and has relieved to hear Uncle had made a will (Uncle was quite secretive around financial matters and Mum hadn't realised he didn't have a will until she gained POA). The FA then mentioned that it would make financial sense to undertake Probate on Uncle's estate without using a solicitor if possible...and Mum and I have just read a couple of Guardian articles about undertaking Probate without using a solicitor due to the fact that a percentage fee will take a large chunk of cash from Uncle's money compared to the actual work involved in dealing with the issue. Also my partner undertook the whole process for her recently deceased Father who had a similar sized legacy with a similar set up (including trusts) and is confident that, as a family, we aid Mum in managing the process and make a significant saving on Probate costs.
When the will was written, Uncle was in hospital and very ill. He recovered but Uncle is now not in the right state of mind to change his will. He has a certain amount of capacity but it would be very confusing to for him to get his head around the issue.

Questions:
Is there a formal way of requesting that the solicitor firm step down as Executors in order to leave Mum as sole Executor?
At what point can we ask the solicitor firm to step down as Executor?
Is there a particular way of wording any request?

Thanks in advance for responses.

chou-chou

I'm no expert but have seen a similar query on the Death, Funerals and Probate board (child of this board) and recall it was a fairly standard thing to do in straightforward estates. Something solicitors are used to doing as well.


You might get a better response in the above board unless someone can move this one for you.

TBagpuss

You would ask at the point your uncle dies. The solicitor would have to consider what reasons your uncle had for naming them, and whether it is appropriate for them to sand down.

A reputable solicitor will generally do so (although there may be a small admin charge) unless they consider it is inappropriate (for instance, if your uncle had expressly said he would not want them to do so, or had raised concerns about the other executor acting alone.

Also - not all solicitors charge a %, particularly on a smaller or straightforward estate.

badmemory

Sorry I don't know how to post a link but I am sure someone will along to do that. The thread was called "solicitor charging for renunciation" if that helps. Last entry on 21st Aug so it is still on the first page.