Solicitor employed as executor/administrator now demanding money from beneficiaries.

[Shodan]

Really hoping someone can point me in the right direction on how to deal with this.

Our mother died 18 months ago, and despite extensive searches we couldn't find her will. We had already employed a solicitor to gain power of attorney following our mother's stroke, and since none of us wanted to apply for executorship (or whatever the proper term is when someone dies intestate) we employed them to act on our (and our mother's estate's) behalf.

They were truly awful, tbh- arrogant, rude and very dismissive of our concerns and queries- but eventually the 'probate year' passed and they distributed the estate's assets.

They were well aware of all the debts owing on the estate- particularly this one, which is for the care home fees that our mother had to go to following her stroke.

It now transpires that they didn't pay this bill, and they have sent me a letter demanding that we each contribute our share towards paying for this bill. Obviously the fees need to be paid- but have the solicitors acted unlawfully? Do we have any recourse on this?

I doubt it’s unlawful. But the solicitor sounds incompetent and with poor people skills.

www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

Sorry, posted too soon. That's the link to the Solicitors' Regulation Authority page on how to complain about a solicitor. Worth considering doing that. Solicitor sounds incompetent. Paying the deceased's debts is surely one of the first jobs to be done when sorting out an estate.

I'm sorry about your mother. Having all this hassle can't have helped you during this sad time.

Thanks for the link, I'll check that out.

It's hard to get info from googling, but the one bit that jumped out was that they had a legal responsibility to ensure that all debts were paid before distributing the assets of the estate, so that's why I wondered if they'd acted unlawfully.

I doubt it's unlawful but it certainly sounds negligent.

We had the same issue, they didnt settle the carehome bill so we paid it.

Was he the executor or were you the executors with him acting on your behalf? If he was the executor, he may be personally liable for this debt.

@prh47bridge The woman we engaged was the sole executor, as far as we understood, but she handed off all the work to an assistant/junior solicitor. The family had no say or hand in any of the estate dealings.

If there was no will the solicitor cannot have been Executor. She could have applied for a grant of letters of administration but it would have been on behalf of the next of kin so it presumably was done in you and your siblings names with her being paid to deal with things on your behalf. Look at the grant you got and it should say clearly on there who was responsible for administering the Estate.

The person or people named are the ones responsible for ensuring that all debts are paid, however, if the solicitor who dealt with this was negligent in not paying the debts prior to the distribution of the Estate you may have a claim against the practice or her personally.

@redastherose The solicitor, whom we engaged, was the person responsible for administering the estate. We decided, as a family, to employ her rather than doing it ourselves as we believed it would be less hassle (it was not).

She, and her assistant/junior, made it very clear that we were merely beneficiaries, so it does seem possible that there may be a case for negligence.

You will know whose responsibility it was by simply looking at the grant of probate and seeing who the named administrators are.

If it is you then you may have a claim in negligence against them if you become personally liable to settle the care home bill. If it is them (and it might well be if you have received the demand rather than simply a letter telling you that as executor you need to make sure it is paid) then I think they are in trouble.

If you all refuse to pay I suspect they will pay it themselves. They will have charged more by being executors precisely because it carries this sort of risk.

Not unlawfully as in police involvement, but very incompetently. Contact them pointing this out, and asking for some of their fee to be repaid you as a goodwill gesture. If they are unresponsive contact their governing body

If they are not executors because there was no will, it’s difficult to see why they would pay the debts from the estate. I’m not sure they have responsibility for this.

@TizerorFizz

If they are not executors because there was no will, it’s difficult to see why they would pay the debts from the estate. I’m not sure they have responsibility for this.

The solicitor administered the estate. They are therefore responsible for ensuring all debts were paid from the estate. The fact the deceased was intestate does not alter this.

It's not unlawful but seems pretty incompetent. Your first step is to complain to the firm and set out what you want them to do to make it right. If you are not satisfied with their response you can go to the legal ombudsman. The legal ombudsman has powers to resolve complaints.

I think the fact that I used the word executor in my OP has confused things a bit.

The solicitors are the named administrators. That is very clear. That is the basis on which we employed them.

We are in the process of gathering information from other parties. There is definitely evidence of lying from the solicitor in question, which I have proof of. There is also some discrepancy in the original bill amount and what the solicitor is now demanding.

I've discovered that one of my insurance policies has free legal advice that covers this area so I'll be speaking to them, but it does look like the formal complaint to the solicitors followed by the Law Society is the way to go.

Many thanks for the input.