Getting a bill paid from a deceased estate - solicitor not responsive?

DSB72

Hi,
I thought I would pick the collective MSE brain on this one. 
I have a  small business that is owed c£3500 from a  deceased estate. The client died in Nov 2019. I chased this in May for the solicitor to point out he has 12 months to pay it and he will. I chased this two weeks ago and had no response. All the while the clock is ticking and we are not into the final month of the 12.
Where do I go with this? The office is shut to visitors? What do I do if it goes over the 12 months?
I'm not hugely keen to take a solicitor to court in all honesty. Is there a procedure for something like this, maybe through the law society?
Thanks anyway
David

martindow

Has the estate sufficient funds to settle its debts?  I can't see any reason why the solicitor does not deal with this in a timely fashion otherwise.  It's not his money he would be paying out!

MalMonroe

Any kind of business trying to keep afloat will have personnel working from home right now. Have you tried phoning? Somebody is bound to answer at some point. Unless this solicitor is wanting the business to go bust, which is unlikely. 

Even if the physical office space is closed to visitors, there will be somebody, somewhere answering phones. Keep trying, would be my advice. It's not November yet.

Thrugelmir

When was probate granted for the Estate?  Does the Estate currently have the liquid funds to settle the debt? 

Covid may well be creating long delays. 

Sandtree

The Law Society and their ombudsman deal with complaints in relation to the client/solicitor relationship and so you can complain about your solicitor but not a third party's solicitor. Things may be different if you get into the realms of allegations of illegal activity, fraud etc but clearly not relevant here.

If a grant of probate or administration has been made send a letter before action to the executors, if it hasnt then send the same to the estate. Life is a little more complex if no grant has been made and you have to follow through with your threats then the matter is slightly more complex but hopefully the LBA alone is enough to trigger movement.

martindow

I think that the Law Society will expect you to have exhaused a solicitor's complaint procedure before they get involved.  I would suggest that the next step should be to make a formal complaint with a senior partner.  There should be a named partner to deal with complaints, whose name can possibly be found on the practice's web site or on paperwork that you already have.

Manxman_in_exile

Why does he have 12 months to pay the deceased's debt?  What were the terms of your invoice?

As a general question, is it the case that when the person liable to pay an invoice dies, the executors can legitimately delay paying the debt for 12 months, and the creditor can take no action during those 12 months?

Uxb1

I'd re-post on the deaths,probate board - lots of experts there
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/deaths-funerals-probate

I personally think it rubbish what you are being told by the solicitor. Does he think funeral directors are all waiting 12 months before they get paid along with utility companies. I reckon something else is doing on here and I smell a rat.

NB There are various reasons why not to distribute an estate to the beneficiaries till around 12 months has elapsed - well 6 months after probate actually which in itself can take up to 6 months due to the inheritances and dependencies act of 1975 which allows for unknown children to crawl out from under a stone and make a claim on the estate for 6 months after probate granted

Savvy_Sue

Manxman_in_exile said:

Why does he have 12 months to pay the deceased's debt?  What were the terms of your invoice?

As a general question, is it the case that when the person liable to pay an invoice dies, the executors can legitimately delay paying the debt for 12 months, and the creditor can take no action during those 12 months?

I agree that's a good question. It seems to me that the executor is treating the debt as a bequest, but that may not be the way it's supposed to be. After all, you'd normally expect to pay the funeral bill much faster than within a year.

Thrugelmir

Uxb1 said:

Does he think funeral directors are all waiting 12 months before they get paid along with utility companies. I reckon something else is doing on here and I smell a rat.

Funeral directors are paid before the Grant of Probate. Banks will pay the invoice directly from funds held in the deceased's account on presentation. All other creditors wait. 

Manxman_in_exile

The OP was told by the solicitor dealing with the estate that he (the solicitor): "... has 12 months to pay it and he will."

The question seems to me to be:  Is this correct?  In other words, in the case of a deceased debtor, is their estate able legitimately to delay payment of a debt for 12 months?  Does the executor have to wait that long to see if they are notified of any other debts that may have greater priority?