Confirmation confusion

Redsalem

My mum died suddenly in October. My dad had terminal cancer and passed away this June.
They both left wills leaving anything they owned to each other and then in the event of both of them dying, anything they owned would go to my sister and I. They owned an ex-council house worth £140,000 and have £2,500 in the bank.
My sister and I don't live in Scotland but we are trying to navigate the confirmation process from afar.
Firstly I'm not sure if my dad should have applied for confirmation when my mum passed away.
If he should have, where does that leave my sister and I, now that he too has passed away? The second issue we have is my address has changed since the wills were written, how do I approach this?
My last questions concern the terminology used in the confirmation application.
What is the phrase to be used when docquetting a will? What is the difference between an executor datative and nominative? 

Thank you in advance for any help

buddy9

Redsalem said:

My mum died suddenly in October. My dad had terminal cancer and passed away this June.
They both left wills leaving anything they owned to each other and then in the event of both of them dying, anything they owned would go to my sister and I. They owned an ex-council house worth £140,000 and have £2,500 in the bank.
My sister and I don't live in Scotland but we are trying to navigate the confirmation process from afar.
Firstly I'm not sure if my dad should have applied for confirmation when my mum passed away.
If he should have, where does that leave my sister and I, now that he too has passed away? The second issue we have is my address has changed since the wills were written, how do I approach this?
My last questions concern the terminology used in the confirmation application.
What is the phrase to be used when docquetting a will? What is the difference between an executor datative and nominative? 

Thank you in advance for any help

What does Mum’s will say about executors?

What does Dad’s will say about executors?

And it is important to establish how the house was owned. Was the title definitely in both names? If so, is there a survivorship clause (in the proprietorship section)?

(executor dative is, generally, where there is no will). 

Redsalem

Thank you for your reply. The title was definitely in both names.It says 'Mr. and Mrs xxxx, spouses, their address, equally between them and the survivor of them.'
In their wills they each name one another as executor,then my sister and I failing that.

Thanks to all the help you've given people here on this subject, I believe I may have been able to fill in the C1 form correctly. I hope.
I asked the Sheriff court if I could submit photocopies of my passport as I live abroad. They said that would be acceptable but a lawyer had previously told me that I would have to notarize my British passport. So many people claiming to be experts and you seem like the only real expert. Thank you so much for taking the time to look at this for me.

buddy9

Because there is a survivorship clause, dad became the sole owner of the house on mum’s death. Confirmation for mum’s estate is therefore not needed to sell the house.

You obviously need to apply for Confirmation for dad’s estate in order to sell the house.

If the court is content to accept a photocopy why make things complicated.

Have you found answers to your other questions?

In case of interest, where an executor is based abroad, a local attorney can be nominated to deal with applying for Confirmation and the winding up of the estate.

Redsalem

Thank you for confirming that. I have contacted a couple of lawyers, the trouble being the conflicting information they have given me has left me feeling less than confident. So, I will try and obtain Grant of Confirmation myself. Can I trouble you with another couple of questions? In page one box 9. The amount here should be the gross total for confirmation? In box 10, should I write my address as it appears in the will? I do mention in the declaration box 2, that I am designed as living at a former address in the will, however I would just wondered if I should also mention it in box 10. Thank you again for your patience.

buddy9

Box 9 entry is the same as box 11.

In box 10 only your present address. And if you are co-executor then an entry for each executor.

Redsalem

After all you wonderful help I filled out the form but I felt I had to ask a lawyer to check it.

I went to a lawyer who said that they don't normally do 'checking' but if I gave them the conveyancing of the house they would do it. The told me the fee would be £1500 plus VAT. She then sent me a scope of work that detailed £ 250 per hour, if there were items beyond the fixed fee. I queried this but she assured me verbally that this would not be the case. Also she put in writing the £1500 Plus VAT and that 'if additional work were required we would be consulted in advance to stop costs from spiralling'. They are now trying to charge me £11,000 in fees!!. I have refuted this and said any charge above the £1500 was unauthorized as they did not consult me at all.  They are going slow and making this as painful as possible. What can I do? What should I do?

buddy9

Looks like a complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is needed - but the first step is a formal complaint to the solicitor to give them the opportunity to resolve the issue.

https://www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk/your-complaint/our-process/

Redsalem

Our parents died suddenly. I did all the confirmation forms and banking diligence with the help of buddy9 on this forum. I then went to a lawyer in Hamilton just to have them check what I had done. They said that they don't normally do confirmation 'checking' but if I gave them the conveyancing of the house they would do it. The told me that the fee would be £1500 plus VAT. She then sent me a scope of work that detailed £ 250 per hour, if there were items beyond the fixed fee. I queried this but she assured me verbally that this would not be the case. Also she put it  in writing the £1500 Plus VAT and that 'if additional work were required we would be consulted in advance to stop costs from spiralling'. They are now trying to charge me £11,000 in fees!!. I have refuted this and said any charge above the £1500 was unauthorized as they did not consult me at all.  They are going slow fixing this, trying to get us to agree to £ 2500 as a 'good will gesture' and making this as painful as possible. I have lodged a formal complaint with them. I have also seen on Truspilot that they have done this very thing to other clients. I belive one person was making a complaint  to the Law Society. My questions are : If they have put in writing that they can only use this £ 250 rate with prior consult, are we in a strong position legally? What can we do to get them to give us our money quickly? What should I do?

Redsalem

Thank you for your reply.I have made a formal complaint saying the excess fees were unauthroized.

Will they even care if I go to the Legal Complaints Commission? Is the fact that they did not inform or consult me make it clear that they are in the wrong, legally speaking?