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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Very disappointed at the way solicitor has behaved.

11 replies

oneofapair · 07/09/2009 15:30

I was asked to go to my solicitor today to hear the details of my twin sister?s will and my parents went with me for the same appointment slot. Apart from one small bequest to our former school Caroline has left me everything she had and this has come as a dreadful surprise to my parents.

The solicitor then read out portions of a very moving letter Caroline had wriiten to explain what she had done. It was only at the end I realised that the letter was adressed to me and not to anybody else since she had written ?I will wait here quietly for you to come to me. Your loving twin, Caroline XXX?.

I suppose what I am asking is why my parents were called in to be, as they see it, humiliated and why the solicitor read out parts of a private letter from Caroline to me.

OP posts:

shootfromthehip · 07/09/2009 15:33

I have no flippin' idea why your solicitor thought it was a good idea but I can only say that I am mortified for you. As if you weren't in enough pain. So for you.

Sending best wishes at this horrible time x

Sparkletastic · 07/09/2009 15:36

I suppose it was possibly a misguided attempt to deflect any possible ill-feeling from your parents away from you and to ensure that your sister's words were accurately conveyed. Completely rubbish thing to do nonetheless and at the very least should have been cleared with you in advance. Will you complain?

diddl · 07/09/2009 15:38

He could have made a genuine mistake.
Are they executors?
If so,perhaps they needed to be there for that reason.

Were they asked to go, or just you?
Why are they surprised that they have nothing?
Very few children, IMO, would leave anything to their parents.

Perhaps your twin wanted them to hear parts of the letter to "explain" her actions.

Ask the solicitor.

scroobiuspirate · 07/09/2009 15:38

blimey, was the letter, addressed to you, and he/she opened it?

Earlybird · 07/09/2009 15:39

If they were so shocked to have been left nothing, do you think the solicitor read the letter to avoid any possibility of them contesting the will?

limonchik · 07/09/2009 15:45

Whatever his reasoning, he should not have opened and read a letter addressed to you. YANBU

lucky1979 · 07/09/2009 16:06

I think if it was written in explanation as to why she didn't leave anything to anyone else, then I can see why he read it - it may have be written to you but she might not have addressed the envelope of the letter to you IYSWIM, if it was in with the will then he might have had to look through it to make sure it wasn't part of the bequests. Do you have the full letter in your possession now? Could it have been addressed to "oneofapair, and anyone who has queries about the will" or something like that?

If he only read portions as well then he obviously knew there was going to be a few shocks and wanted to make absolutely clear that this was a will written in sound mind and body and give your parents no reason to contest it.

I don't understand either why they are so shocked, what were they expecting from the will?

I'm sorry for your loss

LaurieFairyCake · 07/09/2009 16:08

Surely because they were her instructions - she had left a will, he was duty bound to read it out. She gave him the letter too?

Hulababy · 07/09/2009 16:11

Asj the solicitor to explain his.her actions and why it was done this way.

My DH is a solicitor and specialises int his area of law. He follows the instructions from the estate. Were there reasons why your parents were required to be there - executers, etc or concerns of how they would treat you in light of the will? Is it possible your sister had requested everyone to be present at the reading of the will?

It used to be very common place for a will to be read out formally like this but far less so now.

Was the letter placed with the will with instructions to be read by you only, or sealed and addressed to you alone? Or was it a general letter only?

Without knowing more information it is difficult to judge.

However should you have concerns then you do need to address the solicitor and have his/her actions justified. If you are still not happy you should address your concerns to the managing partner of the firm and await a response. If not happy after that you can go further o the Law Society,

Original poster

oneofapair · 07/09/2009 17:19

Thank you to everybody who has replied. It has allowed me to see what happened in a more balanced way - I guess things had/have got a bit too much for me to cope with and I was being over sensitive.

The letter he read from my twin only had my name on the sealed envelope it but I suppose as it was with the will he felt he needed to read it out. I'm sure he didn't intend to upset me in the way it has.

I am been rather slow because it has taken me until just now to realise why Mum and Dad were so shocked. If Caroline has left me everything then Dad is not the largest shareholder in the business (I had 26% but with Caroline's 26% I now have 52%). Perhaps the solicitor thought there might be problems or a scene and thought it would best be done the way he did it?

I am feeling sick

OP posts:

LaurieFairyCake · 07/09/2009 17:41

He most definitely didn't intend to upset you, indeed he acted in your best interests and he protected you. This is what your twin wanted - now you have to come to terms with the rest.

Good luck.

Flip