Shocked at solicitor itemised bill

badger09

ProStuart wrote: »

Thanks for all the responses!!!


Yeah, they were named as sole executors and if I'd have known what I know now I would have renounced them and done it all myself.


When I questioned them, they said this is how the industry operates and has done so for the last 30 years.


But in my mind it doesn't make it feel like anything other than daylight robbery and simply wrong for ANY company to charge such a ridiculous fee for opening and reading a 3 line letter.

You couldn't have 'renounced them and done it all yourself'.

You could have asked them to renounce, but they're under no obligation to do so.

jalvpa

For my MIL (she did leave a will to my OH and my BIL), i did all the leg work with the various banks, building societies, share companies etc. adn that took a couple of months. There was IHT due to we appointed a solicitor to deal with the forms and gather the money once the grant of probate came through as it was a large amount. We got a fixed fee of £4500, well worth it in my opinion BUT would hate to see what it could have been if i hadn't done the admin in the first place!

Nick_C

Look at it another way.

Your mother's solicitors are following her instructions, and being paid for from the assets she left.

She probably thought she was sparing you a lot of stressful work following her death.

I was so grateful that my mother pre paid for her funeral. It relieved me of a major stressful task that would otherwise have been urgent and unavoidable. But I administered the estate myself at my leisure. Probably took me about three days over three months. This would have been about 30 billable hours probably.

Solicitors' hourly rates include all the overheads of running a business, which are significant.

My dentist's hourly rates are similar.

TW1234

I know it sounds horrendous when charged in this manner, but it is only a mechanism for apportioning all the costs of operating a solicitor's office that are needed to enable the solicitor to actually undertake the work of applying his skill, knowledge and professional reputation to the work needed.

Have you considered the hourly rate charged by main dealer car garages in relation to the actual mechanics wage rate? (eg "to changing battery on key fob £10" ) or an emergency plumber etc, etc.