Money left to me in a will, solicitors want me to pay them for releasing it!? HELP!

Voyager2002

colsten said:

Whether the solicitors fee gets paid by the OP or taken from the estate is 6 in one and half a dozen in the other.

I fear that it is work that was paid for long ago and then forgotten about.

Murmansk

Someone I know works for a firm of solicitors. They (the firm) were dealing with someone's estate following their death and the solicitor went to the funeral and the subsequent meal. They charged at £250 per hour for attending the funeral and meal - don't think they'd actually been invited.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the original question but it gives an insight into the workings of solicitors - and they probably did very little for the £250 they're charging the OP

TBC15

Go to the police and get an opinion. Sounds like demanding money with ……something.

Grumpy_chap

Is the £250 significant against the amount the OP will receive from the estate?

colsten

TBC15 said:

Go to the police and get an opinion. Sounds like demanding money with ……something.

That sounds like a suggestion for wasting Police time.

TBC15

colsten said:

TBC15 said:

Go to the police and get an opinion. Sounds like demanding money with ……something.

That sounds like a suggestion for wasting Police time.

Or getting a legal opinion.

colsten

TBC15 said:

colsten said:

TBC15 said:

Go to the police and get an opinion. Sounds like demanding money with ……something.

That sounds like a suggestion for wasting Police time.

Or getting a legal opinion.

Police aren't lawyers. Leaving that aside, it is not illegal for a firm to ask to be paid for a service they are asked to provide.

RetSol

I suggest that you make a formal complaint to the solicitors challenging their fees using the template on the Legal Services Ombudsman website - https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/?portfolio=factsheet-2-how-to-complain-to-your-legal-service-provider. 

TBC15

colsten said:

TBC15 said:

colsten said:

TBC15 said:

Go to the police and get an opinion. Sounds like demanding money with ……something.

That sounds like a suggestion for wasting Police time.

Or getting a legal opinion.

Police aren't lawyers. Leaving that aside, it is not illegal for a firm to ask to be paid for a service they are asked to provide.

Even if you didn’t request the service?

Thrugelmir

Voyager2002 said:

The solicitors have obviously not done their work very well. Say that you are preparing a formal complaint to the SRA and ask them for a complete timeline of when they were instructed and when they did what. Or you might suggest that in view of the extended delays their fee should be reduced: offer them a tenner and see what they say!

I'm sure the solicitor know exactly what they are doing. Waste their time and the bill will simply rise.