No Communication from Probate Solicitor! HELP!

fatcat123

Hi All,

 

Problems, Problems, Problems…..

Ok so, My Grandmother died November 2018, social services paid for her care (Lean on her house to pay for the care).

Solicitor that has been dealing with the estate has been well let’s say, rubbish…. Grandmothers care bill was approx. £60000 upon her death, from approx. two years’ worth of care home fees.  Her house was empty for some of that that time and a family member had moved in, paying a very low rent.

Family member had power of attorney, and is still living in the house, we have since discovered that the family member signed a lease on behalf of my nan, so they could move in, we have not seen the lease.

The last contact from the solicitor dealing with the case was they have instructed an eviction agent to evict the family member form my late grandmother’s house.

Probate was granted in October 2020, we have found this out ourselves, we where not informed or have not been kept informed as to what is going on at all by the solicitor.

We have written letters, made phone calls, sent emails, all to no eval, as the solicitor simply will not inform us what is happening or give us any progress updates.

Solicitor has been the model of no-communication, we have followed their own complaint procedure twice and despite saying that they will investigate within seven days and get back to us they have not even acknowledged the first compliant, a second formal complaint has been made but that looks like it is going to be ignored as well.

So, what can we do? Do we complain to the solicitor ombudsman? Or is there anything else we can do!

xylophone

(Lean on her house to pay for the care).

If only it were so easy...... Lien?

The last contact from the solicitor dealing with the case was they have instructed an eviction agent to evict the family member form my late grandmother’s house.

And the last contact was when?

Probate was granted in October 2020, 

You have ordered a copy of Will and Probate?

Is the LA not pressing for repayment of the money owed?

Is interest being charged by the LA?

Is Inheritance tax due?

Have you seen

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/complain-about-a-solicitor#:~:text=You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:,to the Legal Ombudsman website

poppystar

Who is the Executor of her Will Or has letters of administration if there was no Will? Is this you, the solicitor or the family member who had had POA? 

fatcat123

We have a copy of the will and probate, we where not told by the solicitor that Probate had been granted. We have "feeling" and looked it up ourselves.

We don't know if the LA is pressing for the repayment of the money owed as we are getting no communication from the solicitor.
Like wise for the interest on the money owed to the LA, we simply don't know as the solicitor is not communicating with us.  We even had to pay for the funeral as the solicitor was not communicating the funeral people so they chased us!

No inheritance tax as the estate is under £500000.

I wanted to know if there was anything else ewe can do to get the solicitor to communicate with us before we go down the Ombudsman route

fatcat123

The solicitors  have been named as the executor of the will - in fact it was solicitor A (working at the same firm) - he left and it after not hearing anything for many months we queried it and got a big (Oh) from the solicitors company, we had the impression they had forgotten about it...

They then fobbed us of for many months saying they had to apply to get solicitor (A) off the will and change it to the firm of solicitors? - to be honest i don't fully understand it all and i have got a feeling we are being fobbed off.

xylophone

Probate has been granted - a solicitor from this firm is now shown as the executor?

Who are the beneficiaries of the will?

See above concerning a complaint to the solicitor's professional body.

fatcat123

xylophone said:

Probate has been granted - a solicitor from this firm is now shown as the executor?

Who are the beneficiaries of the will?

See above concerning a complaint to the solicitor's professional body.

Hello
the estate is spilt up between my mum and her brothers children.

CAni  just ask what may be a strange question!! The solicotor is following my late grandmothers wishes but who are they working for? would it be my mother as the closest relative or are they working for my late grnadmother? i.e who do they have to keep informed as to what is going on?

poppystar

fatcat123 said:

xylophone said:

Probate has been granted - a solicitor from this firm is now shown as the executor?

Who are the beneficiaries of the will?

See above concerning a complaint to the solicitor's professional body.

Hello
the estate is spilt up between my mum and her brothers children.

CAni  just ask what may be a strange question!! The solicotor is following my late grandmothers wishes but who are they working for? would it be my mother as the closest relative or are they working for my late grnadmother? i.e who do they have to keep informed as to what is going on?

If the solicitor is the sole Executor they are effectively working for your late grandmother’s estate and therefore do not have to keep anyone informed of what is going on. This would be different if someone else was the Executor and had employed the solicitor to do the work. Hence my previous question re who was Executor as this is undoubtedly the reason why you are hearing nothing, it is not their responsibility to inform you so they have done nothing for a complaint to be raised about. It is frustrating but is the consequence of a solicitor being given the role of Executor by your grandmother.

fatcat123

poppystar said:

fatcat123 said:

xylophone said:

Probate has been granted - a solicitor from this firm is now shown as the executor?

Who are the beneficiaries of the will?

See above concerning a complaint to the solicitor's professional body.

Hello
the estate is spilt up between my mum and her brothers children.

CAni  just ask what may be a strange question!! The solicotor is following my late grandmothers wishes but who are they working for? would it be my mother as the closest relative or are they working for my late grnadmother? i.e who do they have to keep informed as to what is going on?

If the solicitor is the sole Executor they are effectively working for your late grandmother’s estate and therefore do not have to keep anyone informed of what is going on. This would be different if someone else was the Executor and had employed the solicitor to do the work. Hence my previous question re who was Executor as this is undoubtedly the reason why you are hearing nothing, it is not their responsibility to inform you so they have done nothing for a complaint to be raised about. It is frustrating but is the consequence of a solicitor being given the role of Executor by your grandmother.

Hello,
thank you for the explantion, its not want i wanted to hear but its better to be informed and at least i/we know who the solicotor is working for an where we stand.

This has been going on now for over two and half years, surly there is a point when it becomes a joke!

The intrest that i guess we are paying on the outstanding social services charge against the house is only getting bigger and costing the estate more money!

xylophone

it is not their responsibility to inform you so they have done nothing for a complaint to be raised about. 

This is a professional executor who is failing to administer the estate in a timely manner.

If interest is being charged by the council on account of the delay, this is to the detriment of the beneficiaries.

He is also failing in his duty to realise the assets of the estate in order that liabilities can be met and the residue paid to the beneficiaries.

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-jan-apr-2018/how-long-does-the-executor-of-a-will-have-to-settle-an-estate/

If you are a Beneficiary of an Estate and you believe that the Executor is taking an unreasonable amount of time to settle the Estate, then there are things you can do to address this.

The first step should be to speak to the Executor and ask them what the reason is for the delay – they may have a reasonable explanation for this. For example, if there are foreign assets in the Estate, shares that need to be sold or property that is proving difficult to sell, then this can all add to the length of time it takes the Executor to settle the Estate.

Executors are obliged to carry out the administration of the Estate in the best interests of the Beneficiaries and they should also keep Beneficiaries updated and respond to their queries. As a Beneficiary, you have a legal right to make a claim against the Executor if you feel that they are not carrying out their duties in the correct way.

https://www.richardnelsonllp.co.uk/service/contentious-probate-solicitors/claims-against-executors/

fatcat123

ok so as i understand it the solicotor is working for my late grandmother, but should be keeping us informed and working in a timly mannor?