Solicitor claims overpayment of dad's estate

[GoddessMoon]

In November 2022, the solicitor dealing with my dad's estate closed our case and all money was distributed to the beneficiaries. The week before Christmas 2023, and the same solicitor - since retired because he is in his 80s ffs - contacted me via the firm in which he is still a partner, to say that they had overpaid the estate by over £8000. My thoughts are well, they wouldn't ask for this back if they didn't think they were entitled to it, but I think it is unfair if they expect us to pay back when the money has been spent (although in my case it is in savings - everyone else is younger and had plans!). I am the main beneficiary who received 55% of the estate.
Granted, when that final letter with all the costs came through, I only glanced over it and did not add anything up - they are professionals, right, I assumed they would have done their sums correctly. I signed and then the money was transferred.
I guess my questions are:

• are the legally entitled to this money back given the time that has lapsed? (I guess yes)
• Are they legally obliged to at least allow people to pay back in installments? I can pay mine back, albeit reluctantly, but the others are not able to.
• At the time of them finalising my dad's estate, I think one of their secretaries had gone on maternity leave and the place was in chaos. He says as much in his letter, that 'things were up in the air' in an attempt at an apology. I requested he leave the other beneficiaries out of the whole thing and to leave me alone until the end of January. Another letter arrived 3 days ago - the only letter to have been on time! in which he says we need to discuss the matter and that he will start to contact the others despite me saying not to do that because I have a suicidal niece who will most likely crack under this stress. Not to mention, none of the other beneficiaries have any money left over.

Any helpful advice is warmly welcomed, thank you.

Does he mean that another bill has come in that the estate needs to pay?

You need to ask him for a statement of the client account (which is where the estate money was held before distribution).

Thank you. No, no bills, just that there was a mistake and they paid us too much.
I have the old statement still, my husband is going to read it for me later as I can't handle stuff like this with my own mental health issues.
I have requested that the solicitor does not contact the others, that I agree to discuss things but I do not want to talk to him because I no longer trust him. I have asked for an explanation, because 'things were a bit up in the air at the time due to being short staffed' is not my problem! (I didnt actually say that but did ask for an explanation

that’s a massive breach of solicitors accounts rules if they have overpaid you because the overpayment would have come from money they are holding for another client!

post again when you’ve checked the statement - I’d be interested to know what is showing as the final balance.

You need a line by line accounting of the error before agreeing to the existence of an overpayment. It’s not clear from your op if they have provided sufficient information.

You're right, I am going to ask for that though. Thank you!

They need to provide some evidence, they can't just say you owe money and not evidence or. Personally I'd ignore him 🤷‍♀️

Lol, as if you'd just take his word for it now!

Ask for proof how they have overpaid you.

Sorry - he needs to come up with some evidence before you pay anything. I doubt he'll go away quietly but I agree completely that their internal incompetence is not a problem you need to jump on to help him solve.

The solicitor firm should have their own insurance that will cover them for their own mistakes.

I guess they can ask / pursue you for the money back but it wouldn't reflect well on them to take it to court for a relatively small amount of money.

Are you the Executor? Your rights and responsibilities are different from those of a mere beneficiary.

Legally they can ask for the money back for six years; if it’s a mistake and you owe it, but that’s not at all clear here. You don’t seem to have evidence there was a mistake, and even if there was, it’s far from clear cut that this would be recoverable from you.

If it is repayable, everyone involved would be able to make their own arrangements to repay, including a payment plan if needed. You wouldn’t be able to make it on their behalf, but try not to stress about them repaying.

First, get evidence of the problem.

Thank you. Yes, executor. We agreed that I didn't need to run the final accounts past the beneficiaries.

Hard to believe your family had to pay for this 'advice.' Goodness. Not sure how far you'd get with the solicitor's regulatory body though.

Thanks. He is in his 80s this guy, very dithery. I suspect he writes his letters on a type-writer because I couldn;t tell you what font it is in. I have asked to deal with someone else anyway.

My thoughts are well, they wouldn't ask for this back if they didn't think they were entitled to it

HI OP - I used to work in payables for various companies, settling invoices. They might well think they are entitled to it, and they might well be right, but debt counselling experts on Money Saving Expert used a tactic for debt demands that I used to employ when claims like this came out of nowhere - it's called Prove It. In this case as other posters have said, a detailed statement of the client account showing what's been paid and how and why this overpayment has apparently occurred.

Another letter arrived 3 days ago - the only letter to have been on time! in which he says we need to discuss the matter and that he will start to contact the others despite me saying not to do that because I have a suicidal niece who will most likely crack under this stress. Not to mention, none of the other beneficiaries have any money left over

And in this case I'd be going hard ass and saying I don't appreciate his manipulative tactics in trying to bounce you into paying this back before you've even seen the evidence it's owed, but you might not want to do that, of course.

I am so glad I came here for advice!
So the solicitor who took over from him when he retired has got back to me, with the 'correct accounts'. Here is her response:

I am sorry this has been so difficult and the shortfall identified at a late stage. It is certainly an isolated incident and one which unfortunately has led to a deficit on our firms client account. This has naturally meant that the funds which have been sent to the beneficiaries was incorrectly calculated and they were sent too much as per the attached revised accounts.

I appreciate this is frustrating, disappointing and extremely inconvenient but I can assure you the second account is indeed correct. We have since changed (I use a different approach and software) for my accounts in the hope that this, albeit it a one off typographical error, never happens again.

my husband is going through the 'accounts' now. BUt - it was a typo! That's not on me, surely??

I appreciate this is frustrating, disappointing and extremely inconvenient but I can assure you the second account is indeed correct

Dear Solicitor, as you can appreciate, we relied on your professional advice and expertise in the distribution of the estate, so to be faced with this claim some time later is understandably upsetting and we'd like to know exactly what happened that led to this error. Please can you send me the updated statement of account so we can check the basis on which you are claiming back these funds.

I'd also ask if the accounts were double checked before they were sent to you.

I'd agree going back quite hard nosed on him.
First of all is he still a registered solicitor? You can check this here https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/register/

If he is not then refuse to deal with him. That's just a private individual asking you to do something which is tantamount to a scam.
If he is then ask for a full statement on account and the details of overpayment and that this is required before any further discussions on potential repayments. Tell him that if he goes against your wishes for this and approaches the beneficiaries directly then you'll report him to the SRA .

No, the mistake isn't on you but, if the solicitor is correct, you have money to which you are not entitled. You do not have any right to retain money that was paid to you in error, regardless of who made the mistake. You will need to repay it. If you cannot afford to pay it back immediately, talk to the solicitor about a repayment plan.

My understanding is that if the solicitor firm was the executor then they are liable for the mistake. Bear in mind they will have professional indemnity insurance to cover this.
You may need to get separate legal advice on this !

Thanks. He is listed, thanks for the advice on that.
The person who took over from him has sent me the two final accounts, where she assures me 'the 2nd is indeed correct'.

I get that the money isn't ours but this stinks, especially over a typo!

Yes, they are liable for their own negligence, but that doesn't mean people get to keep money that isn't theirs. If necessary, their insurance will cover any liability the solicitor has to other clients due to the shortfall in their client fund. The insurance company would then come after OP to recover the overpayment.

Can you see on the revised accounts where the typo is? Has he put the 0 in the wrong place.