Paying solicitor's bill from inheritance

paperelephant1

I am coming to the end of dealing with my late Father's estate etc. I am joint executor, together with his solicitor, and there is a further solicitor company dealing with the conveyancing for the sale of the house. Upon completion, the conveyancing solicitor will hold back their fee - all good, but I would like the remaining money paid to me, and then I will pay the executor solicitor's bill promptly. Am I allowed legally to do that? He is saying (I think) that legally I am allowed to but he would prefer the house sale money paid directly to him.

p00hsticks

Who are the beneficiaries ?
Where is the rest of the estate money (if any) being held ?

paperelephant1

I am the sole beneficiary (apart from some financial gifts to grandchildren that have already been paid.) There is a very small amount of other estate money (from life insurance etc after all the other bills were paid) which I hold in a separate bank account.

Linton

paperelephant1 said:

I am coming to the end of dealing with my late Father's estate etc. I am joint executor, together with his solicitor, and there is a further solicitor company dealing with the conveyancing for the sale of the house. Upon completion, the conveyancing solicitor will hold back their fee - all good, but I would like the remaining money paid to me, and then I will pay the executor solicitor's bill promptly. Am I allowed legally to do that? He is saying (I think) that legally I am allowed to but he would prefer the house sale money paid directly to him.

Provided the transaction is shown in the estate accounts I dont see any issue why the payment for the conveyancing should not be paid to the solicitor via yourself on behalf of the estate.

paperelephant1

The conveyancing solicitors fee will just be held back by them before they release the money. But I'd then like to have the remaining money released to me, and then pay the other solicitor (who is joint executor with me). This solicitor would prefer the whole lot went to them, then they take their fee out of it,then transfer the remaining balance to me, but they have been incredibly slow with everything, and difficult to communicate with. Legally, can I ask for the money to come to me, then I pay them? 

Linton

paperelephant1 said:

The conveyancing solicitors fee will just be held back by them before they release the money. But I'd then like to have the remaining money released to me, and then pay the other solicitor (who is joint executor with me). This solicitor would prefer the whole lot went to them, then they take their fee out of it,then transfer the remaining balance to me, but they have been incredibly slow with everything, and difficult to communicate with. Legally, can I ask for the money to come to me, then I pay them? 

From m understanding of things I am not surprised that an executor solicitor would take the view that there is a due process which must be followed..  The correct process is to identify and pay all debts and then distribute what is left to the beneficiaries.  The reason is that if the money is distributed earlier and there is insufficient money to pay the debts then the solicitor could be personally liable.  Also they cannot show preference to particular creditors.

These may not really be serious factors in your case but they will certainly drive the solicitor's standard procedures.

Why do you want to go out of your way to pay the conveyencing solicitor ahead of everyone else?  Why not just leave the two solicitors to go through their processes as normal?

Nothing is physically preventing you paying the conveyancing solicitor out of your own money and the getting re-imbursement later or taking the money from the estate money you hold.  However it would complicate things for the executor solicitor.  Perhaps they would charge for the time involved.

paperelephant1

There are no further debts except for the conveyancing and estate agents, then the executor solicitors bill. I am up to date with the utilities, though there will be very small amounts to pay to close those on completion. I am preparing the final estate accounts myself, (these are pretty much done, as I prepared them ahead of probate), and will send them to the executor solicitor for a final sign off. My reason for wanting to do it this way is quite simply that their service has been substandard throughout, consistently failing to answer emails and deal with things promptly, which have cost me a lot in terms of time and money. I don't have confidence that they would deal with the final matters promptly, and am in a financial position where I can't afford any further delay.