Contesting a Will - Ireland - Help/Advice Needed

Alex_Tong

I'm hoping someone can advise me. Two years ago, a family member of mine passed away and I was the sole executor of the will, inheriting everything as the closest relative. Around 2 months later, a stranger emerged and contested the will, alleging that the entire estate had been bequeathed to them. This raised red flags because it involved a completely unfamiliar solicitor, the signature was different from the one currently being used, the witnesses didn't match up, and nothing about it seemed to align with a legitimate will. After one year, I made the choice to switch solicitors since there was no progress being made with my current solicitor. Following a positive beginning and effective communication, everything seems to have now gone quiet after 7 months. I am always contacting them for updates, they assure me they will update me but nothing happens. I do have a caveat in place so everything is frozen. I simply want to know the current status and next steps, but I'm not getting any response and feel stuck. Any guidance or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks

Marcon

Alex_Tong said:

I'm hoping someone can advise me. Two years ago, a family member of mine passed away and I was the sole executor of the will, inheriting everything as the closest relative. Around 2 months later, a stranger emerged and contested the will, alleging that the entire estate had been bequeathed to them. This raised red flags because it involved a completely unfamiliar solicitor, the signature was different from the one currently being used, the witnesses didn't match up, and nothing about it seemed to align with a legitimate will. After one year, I made the choice to switch solicitors since there was no progress being made with my current solicitor. Following a positive beginning and effective communication, everything seems to have now gone quiet after 7 months. I am always contacting them for updates, they assure me they will update me but nothing happens. I do have a caveat in place so everything is frozen. I simply want to know the current status and next steps, but I'm not getting any response and feel stuck. Any guidance or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks

It's unusual to have the same problem with two unconnected firms of solicitors. 

Go and see them (if that's geographically convenient, otherwise a Zoom call, perhaps), explain your concerns, and ask them to put some timeframes on when you'll get updates.

If you're still not happy, start their formal complaints process - details will be on their website.

Gettingtherequickly

While this may be of no use to you, it may be a bit of a reassurance.  Over 2 years down the line after my mum died, relatively straightforward will, it has still not been finalised. Solicitor in small town in Ireland, went for months not hearing anything, we were suddenly advised that the solicitor dealing with it had left months previously, replacement was quite efficient, then nothing again for months.  Just about 2 years after mum died, they told us our solicitor was due back from maternity leave! A simple email would have prevented all of the time wasted on us chasing for an update.  To be fair though, since she returned, things have progressed quite quickly and we are almost at the finishing line.