Solicitor involvement in will & post-death admin

[MyDadIsTheGreatest]

My elderly father is likely to die soon. He has a will and I think my brother and I are the executors. It's fairly straightforward as everything will be split between the two of us and our children (who are all under 18), he & I get on well and are both happy with the terms of the will. There is a house which will be sold, and various shares / investments. My cousin is a solicitor and has a copy of my dad's will.

My dad insists that we "have to use the cousin" as the solicitor to deal with things after his death including sorting out the financial side of things. What I'm not clear on is what role does the solicitor play after my dad's death? What would we need to get him to do?

I agree. Executors don't need to know the contents of the will, although it can make things easier, but they should certainly be asked if they will act. Otherwise all the executors can just renounce the role and then the estate might have to pay to employ someone.

Thanks, everyone. My dad did ask us to be executors. I checked with him and the solicitor cousin isn't an executor. He just thinks we should use him to sort out the estate because he trusts him and thinks he'd do a good job. I think my dad worries a bit about people with access to his financial information using that to swindle him/us. eg he initially didn't want to get a cleaner because he was worrying they'd nip off upstairs and help themselves to his investment certificates. So I think that's the motivation for getting my cousin involved. He probably helped my dad do the admin when my mum died.

Avoid solicitors that charge a % of the value of the estate. We spoke to several for DM’s estate - DM’s solicitor wanted an hourly rate plus a %, my local solicitor said they only charge the additional % in complicated estates, and my sister’s local solicitor would only charge an hourly rate.

That sounds a relief, I would still work out what the guy meant about contacting him before going to any third parties.

If its a larger estate and iht is due a few thousand to a solicitor to sort it out properly seems sensible. You will need solicitors to sell the house anyway. If a small estate with just money in the bank and no house you could diy but I wouldn’t otherwise.

Shop around though

so did you sort out the "contact no one" issue? You don't need to say what it was on here, so long as your mind is relieved.
I mean this politely but has you father always had these worries? Is it time to talk about an LPA?

No, I need to ask my cousin about the "contact no-one" thing. He might be keen to offer us his professional services at a discounted rate.

My dad has always been very cautious about money. We do have LPA, which were just in the process of activating. Thanks.