Unhelpful solicitors

workitgirlfriend

I have a strange situation. I was contacted by a company, they had been hired to find me, as my father had died and left no will, they were instructed by a firm of solicitors. I have made contact with the solicitors and they are just awful. They don't reply to emails, when I do make contact, they promise to write or email with updates and actually never reply. Its been nearly 3 months and I don't even know where my father is buried due to their lack of communication. I am the sole living heir, he left no will so I do not even know how they came about this case. My question is, can I remove these people and hire a new set of solicitors to take over? or am I stuck with them? There are no other relatives, just me and I feel these people are just inadequate. The reviews for this company online state pretty much what I am going through and I want to find out what I can do to move this on? Can I instruct new people? Can I do this myself? Any help would be great! 

Hoenir

3 months isn't long in terms of winding up an estate. Particularly where no will is involved and the parties involved are estranged. Solicitors time costs money. Unfortunately they'll be spending it on other more productive matters. Until they are in a position to distribute the Estate. 

kempiejon

If this is like that TV show Heir Hunters I think they used the Bona Vacantia list. This is a government operation and the solicitors might be working on a fee from the potential claimant - you.
I believe you could do this yourself by contacting HMRC. Ah, quick google, there's  more details here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/make-a-claim-to-a-deceased-persons-estate

How you go about locating a burial or if there was one for an intestate death is another question mind.

Jon1970

So basically the company who contacted you are like the firm featured in Heir Hunters? A couple of decades ago my Father was contacted by one of these companies who contacted him and his sisters saying he may be entitled to a portion of an estate of a long lost relative (an auntie if I remember correctly) who had moved to the USA when my Father was a child and that she had left an estate and himself and his sisters MAY be entitled to a portion of it and that if himself and his sisters want the firm to deal with it to they could appoint the firm and their legal services. We had a face to face meeting with the firm where they came to visit (I was involved as I have a rather dated Law degree). 

We had a discussion as a family and if I remember we decided because (1) there were probably other long lost relatives and (2) because it involved the US court system that it probably better to appoint them to deal with it and let them take their cut. Like I say this was decades ago but I believe that you have the option to deal with it yourself or appoint your own legal representation to deal with things. The firm basically check a list of unclaimed estates, trace relatives, inform them that they might be entitled to something if other relatives in the priority order don't exist or can't be found and the firm make their money if you appoint them to deal with things. My father ended up with a couple of thousand after everything was paid but because of the complexities of tracing relatives and the US court system it took about 4 years to conclude.

Hope that helps

RAS

You can also check www.gro.gov.uk to check for certificates. You need a free log on (email address and create a password). Unfortunately it currently only reports death up to the end of 2021 but bono vacantia cases sometimes take a while to reach the list.

And have you tried just googling your father's full name and date of birth? If he died without known family, local authorities routinely advertise in local media for family in case they want to attend the funeral or claim on the estate.

tls123

You can apply for letters of administration to administer the estate yourself as next of kin if he left no will then not sure how solicitors are involved. If you have not signed anything with the solicitors you are not their client. If you are the beneficiary you need to check in what capacity they are acting.

p00hsticks

 workitgirlfriend said:

Its been nearly 3 months and I don't even know where my father is buried due to their lack of communication.

If the solicitor has picked up the case from the Bona Vacantia list then I don't think it is likely that they will know where your father is buried. If there was no-one identified at the time to arrange a funeral and it was left to the Local Authority, then it is more likely that he would have been cremated and the ashes scattered at the crematorium, unless there was a clear indication that he wanted to be buried. 
Public health funerals: good practice guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you know approximately where and when your father died then it might be worth getting in touch with the local authority to see if they have a record

workitgirlfriend said:

I was contacted by a company, they had been hired to find me, as my father had died and left no will, they were instructed by a firm of solicitors. I have made contact with the solicitors and they are just awful. They don't reply to emails, when I do make contact, they promise to write or email with updates and actually never reply. 

As others have said, 3 months is a very short time to even start the process of wrapping up an estate, especially when those dealing with it have no real knowledge of the assets and liabilities of the deceased.  Administrators (whoever they may be) have no obligation to update beneficaries with progress until they are ready to distribute the estate.