Solicitors......

grayme-m

Why do you need a solicitor?

When my MIL passed away in 2006 my wife acted as executor and we resolved everything ourselves.

The only niggles were Alliance and Leicester demanding a form of probate (around £70 wasted IMHO) and some catalogue demanding to see the death certificate (go jump).

You'd probably have sorted it all ages ago if you were doing things.

localhero

I would add that anybody making a Will should appoint a trusted friend or relative as their executor(s) if they can.

Once appointed, executors cannot be removed if they wish to take up their duties. An individual non-professional appointed jointly with a bank or solicitor may feel that they are quite capable of completing the administration but if the estate is reasonably large it is quite unlikely that the professional would agree to renounce its role and therefore its fee.

If the professional executor turns out to be incompetent as well as expensive, then it is doubly frustrating.

So unless the estate is particularly complicated or there's the likelihood of a dispute it's best not to appoint a professional - for your executors can (and should where necessary) obtain advice on an ad-hoc basis when/if required.

celtic_charmer

I agree with grayme-m. When my Dad passed away we didn't know what to do. My parents were far from well off and the money the solicitors and the banks were asking to do the probate stuff etc on our behalf were ludicrous in our opinion. It was actually a woman from NatWest Bank (whom we'd gone to see about sorting out my parents bank accounts) who said we'd be better off doing it ourselves. In total it cost us £103 and took a little over 2 months from start to finish (and this included the Christmas\New Year break)

I'd drop the solicitor and do it yourself. It's not difficult and the longer your Mum leaves it the more stress she's going to be under because of the money worries.

Hope you get it sorted.

liz_uk

Hi all - re-opening thread !!

Well It`s September and once again, my brother had a call from the Pru last week saying that they had not recieved a death certificate.

It`s nearly a year.

Upon hearing this news, I frogmarched to the solicitors office and made a right song and dance to his secretary.. who responded that `2 people had been made redundant therefore they had alot of work on`.

Rag to a bull - I now have the policies and will be sorting them out with my brother this week.

The question is - do I report this moron to the Law Society?

The solicitor still has the shares and my father credit cards.

He actually told my mum that there was nothing he could do with the CC and intrest would still be applied - however one telephone call to one of the debtors by myself, resulted in intrest being stopped and refunded back up to October 07 !!

One other issue which maybe Martin or his team could advise me on..

My dad signed up for a driving instructor course in July 07 with LETS DRIVE, he became ill in August and therefore did not take any exams but had recieved some paperwork and literature books ready for exams. He signed a form saying `upon his death, the course will be paid for`. The balance at the time was just over £3k. This was payable to Barclays Bank for Lets Drive.

However, my mum was unable to pay this when I dad passed away. They have now slapped on intrest and additional charges of £3.5k !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Making the total £6500 !! Where does my mum stand with paying this back !!

This can`t be right !!

Keith

Firstly you should follow the firms complaints policy. They should publish one, your t&c letter should also contain details about it.

If they fail to satisfy your complaint then go to the Law Soc.