Solicitor completely effed up!

[JessicaRabbit23]

Can anybody let me know if this is ok to send to a solicitor for a complaint? Am I being unreasonable?
thanks

Dear [Solicitor’s Name or Firm],

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding serious errors during the probate process of [Deceased’s Name]. Two wills were provided to your firm: a revoked will and the most recent valid will. Despite clear communication, the revoked will was initially sent to probate, delaying the process by several months. While I was understanding, the situation escalated when HMRC granted probate, but then uploaded the revoked will to the public registry. This has resulted in the previous beneficiary being aware of their inclusion in a superseded will, creating significant concern.

Although I contacted your office immediately upon discovering this error, and you acted swiftly to correct it, the fact remains that this mistake has jeopardized the integrity of the probate process and caused undue stress. Given these circumstances, I request that your firm cover any legal costs I now incur due to potential contestation of the will. I would also like a written clarification confirming whether this incident constitutes legal malpractice or gross misconduct. Should I not receive satisfactory resolution, I will have no choice but to escalate this matter.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]

How come a copy of the previous will got sent to the Probate Registry at all? I mean, if they uploaded it on to their website, they must have had a copy. It's completely daft for the solicitors to have sent them a revoked will, or even a copy of it, at all.

If any of this is true, I hope they were really cheap solicitors.

But your solicitors will not be liable if so in any event, it's ridiculous to think that.

£1300 fixed fee. Yes they sent provoked will by mistake. It seems to be my cock up for sending it in the first place but solicitor did say it would be destroyed

Do you understand the scope of your instruction is what they were supposed to do? They did it. They made an error that you contributed to. They've rectified it and didn't charge you extra. The matter is closed.

If a third party wants to challenge the will, that's an entirely separate matter and it could happen for a myriad of reasons at any time. Totally unrelated to your solicitors or instruction. There is no liability at all on their part in that regard.

Thank you. No nothing has happened yet. Apart from an outburst. My solicitor did explain to her but she said she was seeking legal action. It’s the questions and the awkward situation I have been put in.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Although you’re clearly distressed, I think you need to hold fire for now as the ex beneficiary doesn't appear to have any real chance of succeeding with contesting the will. Feeling aggrieved that they’d been left out of the revised will isn’t grounds by itself to contest a will, especially given that they weren’t even financially dependent on the deceased at the time of his death.

A solicitors firm might agree to take on their case after advising them of the futility of their claim but only because they expect to be paid by this person regardless of the outcome of any court case. It doesn’t mean the solicitors think the person actually has a good case!

Some people throw £££££ into legal fees on completely hopeless litigation hoping that by being pushy, they’ll get something out of it. They’re complete chancers!

If this person is repeatedly bothering you directly and asking for money, ignore them or write to them and tell them that you’ll report them to the police for harassment. You do not need to engage with them at all.

I would just ignore her, if she wants to waste her time and energy contesting what sounds like a legitimate will, let her crack on!
As she’s not a blood relative I assume you don’t have to have any contact with her/risk of bumping into her at family events so block her, the solicitor has explained to her why/what has happened.
I wouldn’t send the letter to the solicitor, they rectified the mistake as soon as the were made aware of it.

Thank you so much. Im
grieving the biggest loss of my life and having to deal with all this is what’s made me so distressed ontop of life. Usually I would go to my dad for anything like this but he’s not here anymore to ask or be reassured by.

That’s what I mean- just refuse to engage and refer her to the solicitors if she needs anything explaining.

In reality the only person who knows why the will was changed is your father. The solicitors who drew up the new one might know but even then that’s unlikely.

Just repeat “I am acting as advised by the executors, Y and Co solicitors- raise any queries with them.” If the old beneficiary keeps messaging, block them and tell them you’ll contact the police if they keep harassing you.

HMRC doesn’t grant probate, the Probate Registry does

The will was changed close to 10 years ago. She has no grounds to contest it. Try to stop worrying and don’t engage with her

I'm more concerned that the probate registry accepted a copy, copies are not acceptable except in extenuating circumstances and will only be accepted after the probate office have asked a lot of questions.

At least that is what we are told.

Try to stop worrying about this, concentrate on yourself and the memories with you dad. Block her now, if you do want a final message just say please do not contact me again and if she has any questions she must contact the solicitor.

You are grieving and worrying and so it is going round and round in your head.

The other person involved doesn’t have a hope in contesting the will, your dad wasn’t even married to their mum, the relationship was over a long time ago. She might have thought of him as her ‘dad’ as she had no other male dad figures in her life, she is probably hurt she was left out of the will but hurt feeling don’t contest wills.

She will contact a solicitor, who will tell her she has no case. I would be surprised anyone would take her on. It is expensive to challenge a will with no prospect of getting anything from it, where would she get the fees from?

I suspect that you will get some more angry/upset messages but that will be it. All bark - no bite.

I’m sorry for your loss.

This response nailed it.

Yes your solicitor made an error, but, there is no real chance of the ex beneficiary challenging - just ignore them and move on.

Too late for you now, but for anyone else named executor, as I have been - stop, take a breath and allow yourself time to grieve - you don't have to do everything fast, no one official will chase you for a long time - set the task to one side for a couple of months to get a clear head.

Please try not to worry, she has absolutely no grounds to contest - contesting wills rarely succeeds, even with actual grounds - it also costs a lot.

Just ignore her, remember your dear dad and try and move on.

It will come to nothing, I guarantee.

If you read OP’s responses, they didn’t accept the copy. The copy was queried, the correct Will sent, accepted and probate granted, then someone at the Registey uploaded the copy online instead of the one they’d granted probate on.

Ah, fair enough, that is reassuring!!

The solicitors are not really to blame then, yes they made a clerical error, but it was the probate registry's error that made the void will public and caused the headache.

they aren’t going to confirm in writing that its legal malpractice or gross misconduct

because A you never admit liability like that because of the legal implications, never mind the fact you are sending it to solicitors.

If its gross misconduct its an internal disciplinary & none of your business.

step away from chat gpt for christs sake. You would be better off putting a timeline in your letter, you say they did X and you did Y. Provide the detail & they can then look at the complaint easier. You might also want to take some legal advice.

If the now disinherited beneficiary makes a legal claim against the estate it will be because they believe (or have been advised) they have good reason to do so.

The fact that they may have a legal claim against the estate is not the solicitor’s fault - it will reflect the facts. I think the idea of requiring solicitors to cover costs sounds potty and will come across as very strange - the most you can ask for is an apology for sending a will that had been revoked.

If the previous beneficiary has a claim then they have a claim - that’s a question of facts and law! You can’t blame the solicitors for it, and trying to do so will just embroil you in further (potentially expensive) legal disputes.

And the will is not published until probate has been granted, so how did this non-beneficiary discover they were in the money possibly.

They didn’t. They asked the solicitor for the correct will probate granted everyone distributed but ended up uploading the revoked copy on the probate registry search.

Thank you for your kind reply 🙏🫶

Why was a revoked will submitted??

She clearly thinks she is your sister.

Hell of a coincidence, no?