Solicitor holding money

[madasa]

Hi just hoping someone may be able to help me, I will try to keep it brief.

My mother was awarded a settlement through court 14 years ago after a negligence claim against the NHS.
She died 8 years ago.

My dad died 10 months ago.

I have just picked up some post from my dad's house.

Amongst it was a letter from the solicitor who dealt with my mother's negligence claim all those years ago.

The solicitor claims that the accountant has just discovered that they are still holding money due to my mother and have sent him a cheque as her next of kin.

There are two things that puzzle me:

a) How on earth could they not realise that they have had money due to my mother/father for 14 years!

b) At the end of the letter the solicitor has asked my dad to 'bank this sum as soon as possible'....why? Cheques are guarunteed for 6 months....why would you say that?

There is just something that doesn't feel right but I can't put my finger on it.

Thank you :)

Sounds like disorganisation to me. I suspect that he wants the cheque banked ASAP as there has been a breach of the solicitor accounting rules and he wants the breach to be ended.

You should be due interest.

Also, was your mums settlement paid out by instalment over a number of years? Might explain a bit of the delay.

Thank you for your reply.

I have been trying to look things up and it does seem that there are 'rules' that have been breached.

As far as I can remember my mum's settlement was paid in full all at once but it was a long time ago and a fairly traumatic time so my memory may be sketchy.

I have drafted an e-mail to the solicitor asking for an explanation and asking what account this money has been held in for 14 years. (copying to solicitor who is dealing with my dad's estate as now I have a cheque in his name with no account to pay it into as they have all been closed)

It is hard enough dealing with my dad's estate without stuff like this rearinbg it's head!

Thanks again

The solicitor's firm will be in breach of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct accounting rules for holding client money due to the client for so long. They are supposed to repay it within a matter of weeks, not years. If the Law Society find out the firm will be liable to a heavy fine. That is why they want shot of the money ASAP. (I'm a lawyer)

Thank you Boondoggle

That makes sense....it is not a lot of money (only about £100) but it just didn't seem right.

It doesn't matter how much or how little / a breach of the rules can be disastrous for a small firm.

Thank you

I will look into it further. I have found info on the Solicitor's Regulation Authority.

Would they be the people I should contact?