Solicitor as an executor of a WILL costs are excessive

rich_hall

Hi 

My Grandmother passed away a few years ago now, and named a solicitor as an executor in her WILL. Im now extremely concerned that the solicitor has been taking advantage of his/hers position and over charging grossly for the estates administration. I have never had to deal with a probate or anything like this before but im now feeling lost and im not sure who to turn to or what to do. It seems that there is a conflict of interest here and im not sure what to do. Has anyone else been in a simmilar situation before who could offer any advice?

Many thanks 
Rich

Flugelhorn

solicitors charge when they are executors for everything they do in relation to estate, certainly cots a lot more than if  member of the family does it themselves. If they were appointed as executor in the will then it is difficult to do much about it . have they stated how much they are charging?

rich_hall

Flugelhorn said:

solicitors charge when they are executors for everything they do in relation to estate, certainly cots a lot more than if  member of the family does it themselves. If they were appointed as executor in the will then it is difficult to do much about it . have they stated how much they are charging?

I was expecting them to charge but I feel what they are charging is excessive the current estimated bill is £30,000 on an estate of less than £200,000 in value. The service from the solicitors has been awful too they don't keep anyone informed of what steps are next ect and its now been going on over 2.5 years.

elsien

Were there any complications in the estate that explain why it’s taking so long? 

Keep_pedalling

That is way over the top in both time and cost. What did the estate consist of?

Unless it was very complicated, you have reason to complain on both counts. You would need to go through the firms complaint procedure and if that does not result in a satisfactory outcome you can take the complaint to the ombudsman. 

 https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/complain-about-a-solicitor

Thrugelmir

rich_hall said:

Flugelhorn said:

solicitors charge when they are executors for everything they do in relation to estate, certainly cots a lot more than if  member of the family does it themselves. If they were appointed as executor in the will then it is difficult to do much about it . have they stated how much they are charging?

I was expecting them to charge but I feel what they are charging is excessive the current estimated bill is £30,000 on an estate of less than £200,000 in value. The service from the solicitors has been awful too they don't keep anyone informed of what steps are next ect and its now been going on over 2.5 years.

Without factual substance no one can comment on a particular case. Solicitors will however maintain extremely detailed records as to how the time was spent, right down to 5 minute segments.  

lr1277

This is a guess based on reading the forum. I am sure I have seen when a solicitor is dealing with an estate, they place an ad in the London Gazette to find if the deceased owed any money.  They might advertise for a year to ensure any and all people to whom money is owed are found. They won't do anything until the time they have allocated to finding debtors is finished. This may explain part of the delay.

jimbo6977

Every time you mither them, they will charge the estate for answering the phone to you. 

castle96

Was there no 'statement of fees' type thing at the outset? £30k on £200k (15%) is really taking the mick ! Timescale if no complications, is way over the top

twopenny

If you start at the beginning you can negotiate the fees especially if it's a large estate. This is easier if it's a small firm and not a large chain.

Could your parents who are presumably more connected as it's one of their parents, write to the solicitors and ask why it is taking so long? Though there will be a charge it shouldn't be enormous and could put your mind at rest.

It really is something you need to have discussed straight away. To ask what the situation is before the whole system is underway and time will have to be taken to collate and give an itemised response.

It sounds like they are charging an hourly rate rather than the usual 1 - 2%.

A house to be sold, pensions/assets to be located if they are not notated, beneficiaries to be traced or have proof at the start can escalate the bill.

Or you could get someone to ring as a potential customer to ask how much to write a will and percentage for being executors. That will give you a start but not be specific to your Grandmothers will.

HHarry

We paid £20k on my Aunts £125k estate.  It included a shared-ownership flat was was more complicated to sell - but I didn’t feel they’d padded their fees.

At £200/hr it soon adds up.  In our case they messed up the final acounts so I did negotiate a bit of a discount.