Will. Money being withheld?

[Dickanddom]

I’m wondering how long a will takes to be settled in England. No property to sell. Probate took a year. It has been 2 years since it has been granted. The solicitor told us not to contact them at the beginning but I’m starting to worry that something is amiss. Is it normal to take this long? I don’t have a good relationship with the executor so cannot ask him. Huge thanks

So 3 years after the death? Def contact them.

Isn’t there somewhere you can look at the Will for yourself, after probate has been granted? Are you concerned that the executors have not followed the deceased’s wishes? Less likely if a solicitor is involved, TBH

I’m concerned that either the solicitor has stolen the money or the executor is deliberately trying to delay the process. He is a millionaire and the money will make no difference to his day-to-day life. We’re waiting on it for a house purchase.

Thanks, think we will contact them.

maybe have a look at the published Will before contacting the solicitor - make sure it’s the same as the one you’ve seen which bequeaths you money.

If probate has been granted it should be pretty quick, they can sometimes delay if one lot of funds haven't been received for some reason (selling assets or difficult to liquidise investments) but after all this time I would have thought a partial distribution would have been made even so.

Dont forget to ask for the interest on the money if its been sitting in the solicitor's client account.

If you get no joy you may have to get your own solicitor to find out what is going on if it's a substantial amount of money.

You can download the probate and will online through gov,UK to check you are a beneficiary, are you a family member of the deceased. Contact the solicitor and ask for a progress report, if they don't respond ask your solicitor to call them.

Sure the executor hasnt taken the money? 3 years later it should of been all paid out, doesn’t sound like your getting any money.

You can check the probate/will online, costs a couple of quid and should be available in a couple of minutes.

You deffo need to chase after 3 years op...

Downloaded the will today, I am definitely named as a beneficiary. I called the solicitor, however, she doesn’t work Monday. The secretary has said she will phone tomorrow. I’m beyond frustrated at the waiting time.

Oh let us know how it goes!

I think it's very ususal for solicitors to hold on to clients' money for as long as they can get away with it, thereby making interest income.

Any interest should show in the clients account and be part of the estate

Keep calling.

Unacceptable. Persevere.

Looking fwd to your update!

No, the solicitor has to pay the client "reasonable" interest, but if he makes 3% and a standard deposit account is paying 1%, he can keep the difference. They all do it.

Really, I didn't know that. How does it work, are there 2 accounts?

The Will might name you as a beneficiary but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get anything. My DFs will named his children (including me) as residual beneficiaries and his grandchildren as beneficiaries at a specific amount. After his funeral costs were paid out and the grandchildren received their very small inheritances, there was nothing left for us children.

There’s a substantial amount of money in his estate, he never had any debt while he was alive. I helped him choose and pay for his funeral plan while he was alive. I met his financial advisor who told me I could expect 50k.

when I was due an inheritance it paid out very quickly once everything had been sorted. I’d say someone down the line is holding your money unlawfully

I’ve just received a small inheritance just inside a year after a death, am gloomily keeping an eye on another which hasn’t had probate yet after 10 months. Hope you get a fast response.

You can see the probate documents too so you know the size of the estate. Check this against the will.