The estate solicitor. The accounts

DarkMoonstone

Hi,

I'm a 50/50 inheritor of a will, and the estate solicitor has produced the accounts for the estate. The problem I have is, without going into too much detail, I feel this solicitor has shown considerable amount bias to the other inheritor. It's also the case that the other inheritor has had far more access to the deceased's affairs than I have, so I'm not entirely convinced I've seen or been told everything.

So I was just wondering what I can do about it. Is there something I can demand off the estate solicitor in regards to proofs of these estate accounts? Like I know the deceased had more than one account with a certain building society, but I'm sceptical about the totals I'm seeing. Is there some sort of standard winding up statement that will have been sent to the estate solicitor from the building society, that I can demand a copy of?

Same goes with National Savings and Premium Bonds, can I demand some sort of standard winding up statement of accounts from them that was supplied to the solicitor?

I'd really like to do this for all the bank, building society and other investment accounts.

Would it be a good idea to bring in my own solicitor to check things over? Is that common? And how much would that be likely to cost me? Would a regular probate solicitor be fine for this job, or could a contentious probate solicitor be better (but I'm guessing more expensive) for such work?

Thank you.

Ayr_Rage

Who is the executor?

They should provide a final account document.

Keep_pedalling

It is highly unlikely that a solicitor who is acting as an executor will treat 2 beneficiaries unfairly they have to distribute the estate as per the will. Is the solicitor the executor or have they been appointed by the executor to act for them?

Residual beneficiaries are entitled to a full set of estate accounts from the excecutors.

bobster2

It's not clear what you think the solicitor acting as executor may have done wrong.

You refer to the possibility of "bias" towards the other beneficiary - and suggest that the executor may not have reported the balance of certain bank accounts correctly- but how would this reflect "bias"?? Do you really think there may have been more in the accounts than they are stating in the documents they provided to you - and have somehow syphoned some off first and given this to the other beneficiary??? This would be a very serious allegation.

flaneurs_lobster

Do you really think there may have been more in the accounts than they are stating in the documents they provided to you - and have somehow syphoned some off first and given this to the other beneficiary??? This would be a very serious allegation.

From my reading of the OP that is exactly the allegation that is being made.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82163929#Comment_82163929

Agree, where the OP seems to be going with this is an allegation of potential fraud.

No other way to interpret their desire to have someone independently verify deceased's asset balances at date of death and the conduct of the estate administration.

If OP is set on on fundamentally questioning the administration of the estate by the solicitor, they will be seeking the services of a contentious probate lawyer to review the handling of the administration and essentially auditing the estate accounting. The lawyer would no doubt delegate the auditing function to an accountancy firm, thereby incurring additional professional fees.

How much would all this cost? No idea. It will cost what it costs and if no malfeasance found to have occured, OP bears the entire cost of the excercise and also risks legal action from the solicitor concerned given that the nature of the accusation being made against them could result in serious SRA intervention.

In the circumstances, OP had better be very sure of their facts before taking this further.

Flugelhorn

had similar experience ( though I decided that I definitely trusted the solicitor) - it was the executor and their handling of the estate funds, the way they became executor and actions as attorney prior to that

accepting it was the end of having to deal with the individual and any unknown loss was worth it.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82163929#Comment_82163929

Another possible scenario, is that the other beneficiary had historically more info about the deceased's finances and accounts, and was hiding a couple of them somehow.

Although it is quite common for people to think that somehow all monies have not been accounted for. Suspicion's are easily raised where money and wills are concerned, and probably the most likely scenario is that everything is above board.

sammyjammy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82164133#Comment_82164133

Great decision, OP unless you have evidence of mishandling just let it go and move on with your life.