My solicitor can get no reply from another solicitor!!

211 Posts


My brother in laws partner died last May 2022 and the home they lived in [which they jointly owned] now needs to be sold, as his attorney he has asked me to appoint a solicitor to deal with this, which I did last August.
Since then nothing has happened and our solicitor has written, emailed and phoned and gets nowhere, the solicitor dealing with my brother in laws partners affairs just will not reply.
Now because of the very cold weather and the house being empty [my B.I.L is in a nursing home] a pipe has frozen and burst doing a lot of damage, and we are unable to do anything about it because her solicitor will not answer our repeated questions regarding insurance and the way forward.
Help please, this is driving me mad and is not something I wish to deal with in my old age 82 years.
Since then nothing has happened and our solicitor has written, emailed and phoned and gets nowhere, the solicitor dealing with my brother in laws partners affairs just will not reply.
Now because of the very cold weather and the house being empty [my B.I.L is in a nursing home] a pipe has frozen and burst doing a lot of damage, and we are unable to do anything about it because her solicitor will not answer our repeated questions regarding insurance and the way forward.
Help please, this is driving me mad and is not something I wish to deal with in my old age 82 years.
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If you need to get repairs don to stop further damage then probably a letter to ay 'if we haven't heard back by [date] we shall have to take [specifc action, like getting the wok done] and will expect this to be reimbursed. We have no information about any current insurance, if you have any please confirm urgently that the issue has been reported to the insurers so that a claim can be made in a timely way and provide us with a copy of the policy..
You can also check the firm's website - many firms have details of the different employees and it may be worth trying to phone and or trying to contact the head of the relevant department or whoever is listed as the complaints partner .
My solicitor does not recommend anything, I phoned her yesterday afternoon and she was rather annoyed saying that she doe not really wish to get involved with disputes of this kind as she really only deals with conveyancing, she did say that she has sent letters many emails and tried phoning but get's no response.
Yes the solicitor not responding is an executor for the partners estate.
My solicitor is going to try again on Monday if we do not get any reply will perhaps try a letter based upon what you suggest, only problem being that the partners solicitors receptionist told me that the solicitor will not speak to me directly and that I must go through my own solicitor, which to date has got me nowhere.
You can get an executor removed if they aren't administering the will properly but sounds like a bit of a process. If they are genuinely not doing so and causing damage to property etc then maybe start with a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority?
Dear XXXXXX Intention to sever a joint tenancy I, XXXXXXXXX, by this letter give you notice that from February 2022, I wish to sever our joint tenancy in the property known as XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (the Property), registered at HM Land Registry under title number DN XXXXXX. We will now hold the Property as tenants in common in equity in equal shares. I will apply to the Land Registry to place a Form A restriction on the title to reflect this.
BIL was not pleased as he contributed 85% of the cost of the property.
Home improvement secured loans 30,130/41,000 and 23,156/28,000 End 2027 and 2029
Mortgage 64,513/100,000 End Nov 2035
2022 all rolling into new mortgage + extra to finish house. 125,000 End 2036