I'll try to be brief but it is a little complicated.
My father died. He left his house to his wife and 3 children split equally. This is in a will.
A "friend" who works as a solicitor insisted he write a will. She said all should be left to his wife. His wife said she wanted nothing. My father insisted everyone benefit. There was apparently a heated exchange and then my father and stepmother agreed to a 25% 4 way split.
This solicitor acted as the witness and held on to the will.
My father told me he had written a will. I said who is the executor? He said he didn't know what that means. I said the solicitor should have explained this. He said "the solicitor is "x" a friend of (his wife)". I then asked to look at the will. They showed me a copy. It seemed unusually written. Nothing about stepmum being able to live in the house until she wishes to sell, nothing about funeral arrangements, nothing about his first wife's divorce settlement (who has a percentage of the sale of the house agreed). His wife was the only named executor. He said he wanted me to do this role. We looked into changing it but unfortunately he died before we could.
After my father died, my stepmother, who doesn't speak very good English, asked me to take care of all the legal matters. She said she would not be able to do it as she doesn't speak English and doesn't understand. I love her to pieces and said of course I would take care of it as it was his wish too.
She said she wanted to be out of the house asap so I started the probate procedure. I hired a solicitor after contacting a number of firms and checking reviews etc. She signed all of the firms legal agreements including one to allow me to act on her behalf. She also signed a PA11 form to go with the probate application to give me executor status. She did this with a translator and witness present. She asked me how long until the house was sold. I explained probate takes a while. She said she understood.
After lots of paperwork, admin and stress we are ready to apply for probate. However the will my stepmother holds is only a copy. It appears the friend that helped them with the will holds the original.
Our solicitors contacted her and asked her to release it. She has refused and said she is dealing with the estate.
I met with my stepmother yesterday who told me that she trusts her friend and that she doesn't want to upset her. She said she signed a form for her and she didn't understand what it was but she thinks it is for this woman to act as power of attorney.
I asked to speak to the woman. We called her. She immediately accused me of dealing with it all behind my stepmothers back and lying to her. She said she will not release the will and I have to give her everything I have given to the solicitors. She was aggressive and somewhat emotional. On the phonecall she managed to make every one of us upset. There was such a heated exchange between her and my stepmother that my stepmother was almost vomiting during the call. Unfortunately I do not speak the language so I couldn't understand their conversation. It seemed wholly unprofessional and very worrying.
My stepmother then told me some contradictory things. She said that the law firm her friend works for doesn't know about the will because she did it for them for free. She said that this woman has said she will ensure my stepmother receives her money into a foreign bank account. She said she didn't understand she had waivered her status to both of us and that she was confused. She then said she cannot say no to this woman and said she wants her to deal with the estate.
My siblings and I are named as beneficiaries and all 3 of us are very worried about this woman's conduct. What legal rights do we have here and can we stop this solicitor from having this strange involvement any further? We do not wish to contest the will as everyone is happy with the split. We only wish for this woman to not be involved any further. My stepmother seems to be ill, confused and coerced and none of us feel happy with her acting as executor when she can speak very little English. I'm at a loss with how to proceed.