Solicitor IHT mistake in administering will - WWYD?

[cowprintsocks]

Need some advice on what to do...am one beneficiary in a will, and received the final details of the settlement last week. On reading the info, I realise they've made a mistake on the IHT calculation (haven't deducted gifts to charity) so query it with the solicitor - who agrees error has been made - and over £50k has been overpaid in IHT which they'll now reclaim and redistribute to the beneficiaries.

Whilst I've therefore not suffered any financial loss - it annoys me that there's no apology - and obviously no one from the firm has reviewed this properly, it's only because I'm a sad accountant(!) who has just done her will that this has been picked up.

WWYD? It's not like I'm after compensation, (though given their fees you expect a competent service...)but I sort of feel the need to complain to someone - not least to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else who wouldn't have picked it up and they sort out their review processes. Senior partner? Or something else?

That’s terrible service!
Not sure what you can do, but perhaps check/ insist they do not charge for putting this right!
Maybe report them to the Law Society? Not sure.

Mistakes will always happen - it's human nature. They sound as if they're sorting it out for you. What more do you expect?

@Kazzyhoward if a mistake cost you £50K would you be happy? Most people would not have noticed.

I would in the first place complain to the Senior Partners and take it from there. That's a fairly serious mistake imo.

Goodness.

I would at least write to the senior partner, to ask them to let you know what steps are being taken to ensure that the mistake doesn't not happen again. That at least would get the facts i front on someone senior, to see what they might do about it.

Thanks all. Just sense checking. @Kazzyhoward I'm not after £ and I know they're sorting it out. But it just doesn't feel right to just leave it and not ask them what they're doing to ensure it doesn't happen again...

They should have a procedure for complaints, set out in the letter you should have received when they were instructed. Have you checked That?

Brake - unlikely Op will have a letter of instruction as she didn't instruct them, the deceased did. My DC inherited through a will executed by solicitors, didn't get any letter of instruction etc., just copies of will and accounts.

But yes, I think you need to complain to a senior partner Op, as you say, most people wouldn't know to check for charity figures.

Is there some professional competency board you could raise it with too or a review site for lawyers? You could couch it in terms of 'once notified of a mistake in their handling of the will was pleased to see they were quick to redistribute the £50k appropriately' for the latter so whilst you're praising them it's got the mistake in there and yet they can't complain because it's factually correct.

If you don't have a copy of the retainer letter OP, then check on the firm's website to see if they have their complaints procedure somewhere there. If not, yes, senior partner.

My most immediate thought is how many other times has this happened ? Moreover, how can you believe the firm if they say "never" ?

Request a reimbursement of a percentage if their fees as you did their job not them

Even solicitors are human and will make a genuine mistake. They have recognised and are trying to put it right. What more can they do?

Maybe ask them to confirm they won't bill the estate for their time in rectifying this and making the claim for IHT refund.

If you're unhappy send a letter/email to the head of department rather than senior partner.

It matters because OP has had no apology and (from the information provided) nothing to suggest that the solicitor dealing has informed any one else at the firm. If it's a junior solicitor there is a real possibility they're hiding the mistake from more senior people at the firm.

Mistakes do happen and probate solicit is have to deal with 5billion files at once. This is a particularly massive mistake (I woo kd have thought one notifiable to the insurers). Presumably it will take some time to get the money back from HMRC as well.

Maybe it's a one off mistake. Maybe it's someone who is doing this on lots of files but no one else has noticed.

Im dealing with a probate lawyer at the moment and I appreciate they're poorly paid and worked hard. The lawyer's still committing very basic mistakes which just aren't acceptable (and if DH didn't have a pesky lawyer reading in the background he'd have made a declaration that want truthful as solicitor seemed to have forgotten about potential claimant to the estate).

You can report to the SRA and let them deal with it. It is unlikely that anyone will loose their job over this but the firm may be asked to provide that they have created an improved system to prevent similar mistakes in the future. Also make sure that the estate isn't being charged for the costs of rectifying the mistake.

Mistakes do happen and probate solicit is have to deal with 5billion files at once. This is a particularly massive mistake (I woo kd have thought one notifiable to the insurers). Presumably it will take some time to get the money back from HMRC as well.

Thank goodness we aren't as draconian in the UK to make any mistakes in taxes criminal offences.

Apropos of this thread, I see France has some ideas about making mistakes in tax returns ...

www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/24/france_right_make_mistakes/

I wasnt suggesting that anyone should go to prison. This is a major screw up though -
inheritance tax calculations should be triple checked. The OP hasn't even had an apology which means that the lawyer's trying to act like it's no big deal. Maybe that's on the instructions of the partner (which would be worrying too) or maybe it's because the lawyer is hoping it will go away.

What if they'd paid 50k too little and HMRC had noticed on audit after the beneficiaries had already spent the money?

Yes to requesting they fix it at no cost to the estate! That is a reasonable request and i wouldthink out is one that they could agree to.

If they don't they risk getting a bad name, which is worse that eating that cost.

I would be asking for all fees to refunded and redistributed to the estate. That's an appalling error. How many more have been made and not noted?

Ensure they fix error free of charge, pay interest on the £50k from date of original distribution to date of new distribution and ask for a partial refund of fees as a gesture of goodwill.