Solicitor won't release will. Best course of action?

[Eastie77Returns]

DM passed away recently and I am co-executor of her will along with Dsis. DM's solicitor's firm has not been very easy to contact, seem quite unprofessional. We have decided we do not want them to deal with probate. I have access to legal help via my place of work and think we can handle it ourselves with the help of the legal assistance I have in place. However we cannot get hold of the original will. We have sent a signed letter requesting this but no response. I called the solicitor earlier today and spoke to the receptionist. She asked if the firm would be handling the probate and when I said no she said she couldn't give me an update and someone will be in contact "in due course".

What is our best course of action if the solicitor does not release the original will to us? I believe there is a regulatory body for solicitors - can't think of the name - so would it be worth contacting them?

I remember your previous thread, Eastie. I didn't realise it was your mum who had stipulated the all-white garments for the funeral. I hope the probate process will be more straightforward once you can get it under way.

I've recently been engaged in similar after my Dad died. The solicitors had sent Mum and Dad photocopies of the signed, witnessed wills and a covering letter confirming that the originals were at the solicitors' office. I requested return of Dad's will and once they'd seen the death certificate and a letter from my Mum (the executor) that happened in a fairly timely way. I don't imagine they were chuffed to find out that we weren't going to pay them to sort out the estate, but they were perfectly civil and gracious about it.

Good luck.

He had also made it super easy with one paper file with everything listed and filed. Same here. Thank you, Dad, you have made it all so much easier for Mum and me.

Re handling of the probate, it might be worth playing the game saying haven't really decided yet and just trying to get a handle on whats in the Will and what assets there are before making any decisions etc, and let them give you a quote perhaps but push for the Will in your hands. I think also your hurry to get on with things isn't theirs its their everyday business so no sense of urgency there

Give them a deadline to produce the will and threaten to report to law society if they do not meet this without good reason. Nobody should hold up the probate process needlessly

Call and ask to speak to the partner who has responsibility for complaints. There has to be a nominated one. If they’ve lost it, it’s a matter that’s notifiable to their insurance and they need to do that without delay.

I collected my DMs will from her solicitors and took my birth certificate, marriage certificate and passport for ID just to be on the safe side, her death certificate and the copy of her will that I had. My aunt was the other executor but she had died years before. They didn’t ask for any proof of that.
They are not behaving well by refusing to hand it over. I would contact the manager of the firm and tell them you will be collecting the will in person on XXX date, and you expect it to be ready. I would also ask for 5 certified copies to be made available (I paid £5 per copy for this).

So the latest will leaves DM’s share of her house (that she jointly owned with DF) to me and Dsis in trust. The rest of her estate is to be shared between the two of us plus our brother. Dsis had a copy of this will but lost it🙄 Anyway, we require the original to apply for probate.

DM’s estate is not complex. A few bank accounts and a couple of pensions. The bit I’m seeking advice on is if Inheritance Tax is due since DM’s has placed her share of the house in trust. I’ve read that if you leave your house to your children the personal threshold increases to £500k. The house was last valued at £1.4 million. So not sure if the tax is just due on £200k (£700k, her half of the house, minus £500k).

We do need to get it revalued though. I imagine in the current market it’s value has fallen.

We had a copy but that wasn't enough fur the probate office who treated our relatives estate as if they had died intestate because the original had been lost

Thanks Gasp. The dress code was a whole drama in itself but the power of MN helped me find appropriate clothing!

Your solicitors sound great. Reading online reviews of mum’s firm makes for grim reading. Pages of complaints about their lack of professionalism, poor communication, clients citing huge fees they were charged to deal with probate which took years and documents were filed incorrectly.

This go with two forms of identification and insist on it

@Eastie77Returns, have you spoken to the Probate Service? It might be difficult to get hold of them, but if you do, the advisers are usually really good and obviously know all of the ins and outs.
I had to wait over two weeks for DM's will. Be warned though, that if your DM inherited your DDad's IHT allowance, you will need a copy of his too. (Sorry if I've misread it and your DDad is still with you.) In my case, the solicitors must have known that I would need my DDad's will as well, but as I was applying for probate myself, decided not to tell me I would need it as it didn't make for any profit for them.

It is highly unlikely they have lost it if they hold it. It is nore likely that it is being held in secure storage offside. If you only write two weeks ago (did you send death certificate?) it is possible they have put in a request for it to be taken out of storage. I would call again and ask to speak to the solicitor rather than the telephonist/receptionist

I would do what @AMuser suggested. The SRA won’t entertain looking at it until the firm’s complaints process has been attempted.

I finally got hold of the solicitor.

He told me, without a trace of irony, that the delay was because he has been busy dealing with his recently deceased mum’s estate..!

They do have the will. It’s held in a fire proof cabinet and will apparently be sent shortly. He did let slip that they ‘finally’ found it so I think someone had mislaid it.

My brother was able to collect our Dad's will from the solicitors without me - but I had to send him (email attachments) copies of 2 kinds of id plus council tax bill with my address on it. It took us 2 or 3 weeks to sort this out and get him an appointment.

I did all the probate application stuff (application online, original will, death certificate etc sent in post - signed for at probate office) and it was pretty straightforward but Dad had no property, just 3 bank accounts with the same bank. My brother did all the financial side.

Just wanted to update on this. Despite assurances from the Solicitor that he would send the Will within the next few days, it didn’t arrive. As we waited for it, I discovered to that the firm was investigated by the Solicitors Regulators Authority and then closed with immediate effect as the owners and an employee had committed fraud😵‍💫

The SRA took possession of all documents the firm held and said they would not be dealing with customer enquires for the time being. But to our huge relief the Will suddenly turned up a couple of days after the office was closed down. I think the owner or admin staff posted it out just as the closure took effect!

Thanks for the update and the happy ending. That must have been a worrying few days.

Our wills were held by a firm which collapsed due to catastrophic financial incompetence - I keep meaning to make new ones.

Cripes! I hope you were then able to get it all sorted out with non-dodgy professionals. A near miss!

Thanks, it was all sorted in the end. Once I received the will I decided to apply for Probate myself and HMRC have just confirmed they have approved the application and will now send me the grant of probate.

I unfortunately have an ongoing issue with one of the beneficiaries who has been contacting me for what he thinks is his share of mum’s estate even though I’ve explained multiple times I cannot distribute anything yet as I have to settle a tax bill and debt she had.

I’ve already informed dad that I do not want to be named Executor in his will - I’m not doing this again!

I hope you find a suitable person to act as executor in your stead.

A friend was sole beneficiary for a neighbour (they hadn't intimated their intention), the solicitors to act were named in the will and indulged in a whole range of very costly shenanigans. Additionally, because she was the spare-key holder and assumed the neighbour's relatives would inherit everything, she gave them access and they helped themselves to at least £5,000 in cash and some very valuable antiques.

One of my friends has named me as executor, I'll probably do it because he has well over £50,000 of assets that would be difficult for anyone outside of our hobby to identify, never mind value and I wouldn't want his grown-up child to lose out.

Folks should talk more about their intentions, wishes and (where necessary) the conditions regarding items in their wills. Although fortuitously dealt with successfully by a deed of variation, an acquaintance - whose mental acuity was less than it should have been - stated that she was leaving equal shares to her three children. The first got the mansion, the second numerous investments and the third the Modigliani (Woolworths c1976).

That was lucky op! What a nightmare. We had trouble getting hold of my dad's will.The will company was fairly dodgy and the Director was Director of 38 other will writing companies! He asked me if I wanted help with probate as it's complicated (it absolutely wasn't for my dads affairs) and was rather put out when I said that I wouldn't be trusting someone with outstanding accounts due to companies house. I think he was surprised if bothered checking!

This happened to us. At our first meeting with the solicitor we instructed them to do no work as we were going to do the probate ourselves When my Sister tried to get the will they were very difficult. She told them she would wait and sat in the lobby. When people walked through the door she told them that the solicitor wouldn’t release a will. By the time several people had turned round and left the Solicitor came down and handed to her

I like the sound of your sister, @user1471505494!

You don’t mess with her when she is right