Last Will and Testement

Hawaiilady76

naedanger said:

Hawaiilady76 said:

No - He did some things during the consultation that made ME suspicious. He asked my Mum the size of her estate (I think this was done so that he could decide if it was worth his while to appoint his company as a joint executor). He also asked for my late Fathers probate papers and his death certificate. He also made Mum sign to say he could do a money laundering search on her and also check with the Land registry as to whether she owned property. None of this was done during the original will consultation  5 years ago - I should say at this stage that the original will was made with a different company who got swallowed up by this new company. Mum didnt want the first half of her will changed (if i pre-deceased her my part to go to her 3 grandchildren). He changed this to include a great grandchild also, when Mum explicitly said she didnt want it changed. He has also filled the will with legal language that was not present in the original will. . He also mentions trustees which we dont understand. 

All the other stuff can probably be justified e.g. the great grandchild may have been a genuine misunderstanding, asking for the estate size might be to determine whether to consider raising tax planning possibilities etc. Solicitors will also use their own wording since they will be confident of it and anti money laundering rules seem to be adopted very conservatively by most organisations.

However changing the executor without highlighting this fact seems at a minimum unprofessional and unethical. The solicitor has a vested interest in appointing his firm as executor and he seems to have put that that interest ahead of his paying client's wishes and instructions.  

Unfortunately I suspect winning a dispute against a solicitor will be harder than with most organisations. And your Mum needs to consider her priorities. Firstly she can ask the solicitor to return her original will. But I believe a solicitor can usually withhold his client's files until any outstanding fees are paid. 

I think in her position I would ask to speak to the firm's partner in charge of complaints and make known her concern. I would probably limit the complaint to the fact her chosen executor and substitute were changed contrary to her instructions and had she not checked the will in detail she may have missed this very important change. However if the response is unhelpful she may be better paying under protest and then possibly disputing the matter later so that she can at least get her will replaced asap. 

Mum is keen to make a complaint, I dont think she should bother as she probably wont win.. However, when the invoice for work done is presented, she may dispute it. I suppose if he keeps the original will it wont matter as there will be a new will in place shortly. 

naedanger

Hawaiilady76 said:

naedanger said:

Hawaiilady76 said:

No - He did some things during the consultation that made ME suspicious. He asked my Mum the size of her estate (I think this was done so that he could decide if it was worth his while to appoint his company as a joint executor). He also asked for my late Fathers probate papers and his death certificate. He also made Mum sign to say he could do a money laundering search on her and also check with the Land registry as to whether she owned property. None of this was done during the original will consultation  5 years ago - I should say at this stage that the original will was made with a different company who got swallowed up by this new company. Mum didnt want the first half of her will changed (if i pre-deceased her my part to go to her 3 grandchildren). He changed this to include a great grandchild also, when Mum explicitly said she didnt want it changed. He has also filled the will with legal language that was not present in the original will. . He also mentions trustees which we dont understand. 

All the other stuff can probably be justified e.g. the great grandchild may have been a genuine misunderstanding, asking for the estate size might be to determine whether to consider raising tax planning possibilities etc. Solicitors will also use their own wording since they will be confident of it and anti money laundering rules seem to be adopted very conservatively by most organisations.

However changing the executor without highlighting this fact seems at a minimum unprofessional and unethical. The solicitor has a vested interest in appointing his firm as executor and he seems to have put that that interest ahead of his paying client's wishes and instructions.  

Unfortunately I suspect winning a dispute against a solicitor will be harder than with most organisations. And your Mum needs to consider her priorities. Firstly she can ask the solicitor to return her original will. But I believe a solicitor can usually withhold his client's files until any outstanding fees are paid. 

I think in her position I would ask to speak to the firm's partner in charge of complaints and make known her concern. I would probably limit the complaint to the fact her chosen executor and substitute were changed contrary to her instructions and had she not checked the will in detail she may have missed this very important change. However if the response is unhelpful she may be better paying under protest and then possibly disputing the matter later so that she can at least get her will replaced asap. 

Mum is keen to make a complaint, I dont think she should bother as she probably wont win.. However, when the invoice for work done is presented, she may dispute it. I suppose if he keeps the original will it wont matter as there will be a new will in place shortly. 

In her position, and once the new will was in place, I would raise the matter with the partner responsible for handling complaints. And in the absence of a satisfactory response or outcome then I would probably put in a formal complaint as well, especially since it is an easy matter to explain. (However I wouldn't bank on winning even with a strong case,) 

At the very least the solicitor is likely to think twice about doing the same with another client. 

getmore4less

Engage the complaint process. 
Probably worth them cancelling the charges just to make it go away.