overcharged by solicitor for wills

simpywimpy

In 2006 my parents re-wrote their wills because we were concerned about iht and chose to set up a discretionary trust. To us this sounded very complicated and involved so when the bill came we presumed it was high because of this. They paid £500 for two wills. We dont have huge sums just that my dad owns two houses and that would have possibly sent him over the then 245k limit for tax.

My mother has since died and on taking the will to two different solicitors in town I have been told that it is just a bog standard will that should not have cost anymore than £100 (making it £200 total)

Obviously we are shocked, any ideas on the best way to handle this and if indeed after so long, there is anything we can do?

Bossyboots

There is nothing you can do. They were offered a service and agreed a price for it. Just because someone else says now, after the event, that they could have done it cheaper does not mean they would have made a good job of it. The solicitor preparing the wills with a background of considering IHT will have had to more than just draw up the will. They will have had to consider what was best for your parents with the details presented. If, after doing that, it was decided that basic wills were sufficient, then that is what they would have got. They would still have had to pay for the work done by the solicitor examining the details of your parents' position.

Voyager2002

Bossyboots wrote: »

There is nothing you can do. They were offered a service and agreed a price for it.

This is not strictly true. The Law Society offers a service that they call 'taxation': they examine the work done and the amount charged, and if the charge is excessive then the solicitor is ordered to repay the amount over-charged. You do, however, have to pay a fee for this service, whether or not you benefit from it.

greyteam1959

If its any comfort simpywimpy we did exactly the same thing a couple of years ago and paid a very similar amount £500.
I dont think you have been overcharged in any way cos the discretionary trust route did involve quite a bit of work on the solicitors part.
Reading your post again I have just noticed the wording..
"My mother has since died and on taking the will to two different solicitors in town I have been told that it is just a bog standard will that should not have cost anymore than £100 (making it £200 total)"
If your parents were charged for a 'bog standard' will when they thought they were getting a discretionary trust set up then they have been misled to say the least.
Perhaps they considered the implications of the trust idea then decided not to go down that route and just set up simple wills.........they wopuld still have received an invoice for 'work' done and that would have been around the figure that you mention

dunstonh

The law society is a bit like the FSA in that they dont tell firms what they should charge and what is reasonable. However, they expect charges to be reasonable.

Its not just level of work but also prestige and costs that can be taken into account. A solicitor in a plush city location would have far higher costs than a rural solicitor for example. Also, what is reasonable and what isnt tends to be set quite high. For example, I recently did some work on fee basis and charged £500. Another IFA wanted to charge £2500. The £2500 charge was not unreasonable just because it could be done cheaper.

simpywimpy

It was myself who made the discussions with the solicitor prior to them having the wills drawn up. My dad owns my house as well as his own and it could have taken him up to the limit for inheritance tax so I wanted to make sure that if mum went first, dad wasnt left holding two full properties . Because of the law changes that doesnt matter anyway now but for two separate firms in the same town to be astounded by the price we were charged after reading mums will, there must be something wrong.

do you know how much the law society charges to look into the matter?

Debt_Free_Chick

Have a look at the Legal Complaints Service remuneration scheme

"The Remuneration Scheme is designed to ensure that the amount your solicitor is charging you for their work is fair and reasonable. Only bills for work that did not include court proceedings can be checked under the scheme."

You need to challenge the bill with the original solicitors first.

Not clear that your complaint will fit this process, but worth a look.

Debt_Free_Chick

simpywimpy wrote: »

... on taking the will to two different solicitors in town

Just curious but ... why did you do this?

I have been told that it is just a bog standard will that should not have cost anymore than £100 (making it £200 total)

Some people would say that .... if they think they'll get business out of you

Biggles

£500 for a discretionary trust sounds not much out of the ordinary; the two houses may have complicated it, too. Write it off, you won't get anything back.

As pointed out, any tradesman will rubbish the work/prices of your previous firm, it makes them look better/cheaper. Ever been to a new dentist and had him say, "My word, the previous guy's done some really good work here"? No, I thought not!