Inheritance, is this taking the mickey now?

[NotSureHowItWorks]

I dont know how to link to threads but if you search my name you'll see the first one.
My mum passed away over 3 years ago, leaving her share of the house to me and my children. It wasn't stipulated in the will but she told me she wanted her husband (my stepfather) to continue to live there as long as he wanted.

He passed away last year. The house was sold and completion was 6 months ago. This is still ongoing with no end in sight. My mum's solicitors are the executors. After completion I queried what was taking so long. I was told it was a final CT bill, (no surprise, our LA didn't rush themselves before covid let alone now). That was sorted. Weeks and weeks no contact. I asked again. This time it was a query from my stepbrother. The solicitors had not informed me he had queried anything, I heard it from him after messaging him. Again, weeks of waiting for a response from the mortgage provider confirming what we already knew.
Another two months go by. I have no idea what's holding it up now, I cant speak to anyone, my emails go unanswered as solicitor is out of office with no indication of when she's back, her paralegal is on annual leave. Exactly the same as earlier in the year.
Nothing makes sense. They only asked for my dcs birth certificates after the house was sold for their share to be put in trust..shouldn't this have been done after my mum died? They held onto the certificates for months, I had to request them back as dd needed hers for a job interview. They managed to lose both of my phone numbers when we had arranged a call to confirm bank details.

This is causing me so much stress. Is this normal? Are they incompetant or taking the piss? They are not cheap, are being paid a considerable amount of money from my mum's estate as it were for their services. Surely after she died they should have requested birth certificates, paperwork relating to the mortgage etc?

I'm not a money grabber, i'm not well off at all and in the last few months i've had three major appliances break which i've had to replace, (they were about 10 years old) i'm constantly worrying about money while they seem to be sitting on it.

Should I be making a complaint or is this just how it is?

I have read your earlier threads and this does seem extraordinarily difficult. It sounds like it is time to raise a formal complaint, which you can then escalate higher if they're still being useless.

Exactly this. My mum had appalling service from her solicitor for just a new will, first registration of the house and POA. The will alone took six months, the solicitor didn’t start the POA until after that and only then did we find out she hadn’t even started the first registration which took a full 12 months after that.

I got the main Partners name off the website and wrote a formal complaint to her. It couldn’t speed the first registration up but I got a full, apology, acceptance that the delays were there’s and they didn’t charge anything for the legal fees other than any official court or land registry fees and gave mum 150 as a goodwill gesture.

Go to the top, make a nuisance of yourself.

Time to kick up a fuss and make a complaint.

Can you go and camp out in their offices. I'd be tempted to find out who the senior partner is and book a meeting to see them, if you get nothing back, go to their offices and demand to see them.

They do sound useless.

I think probate has a reputation among solicitors for being a cushy job. The client is dead so can't really chase you, and there's a lot of money sloshing around, so high charges are more easily masked in the transfer of assets from the estate to the beneficiaries.

Not very helpful to you, but it's really not a good idea to appoint solicitors as executors in your will. Even if you think administering the estate is going to be beyond your nearest and dearest you should still appoint relatives as executors, but suggest that they use solicitors to help them. They can pay the bill from the estate. Then they are clearly the client, they can chase, complain more easily, negotiate the fee, and sack the solicitors if they're useless.

@MurielSpriggs

They do sound useless.

I think probate has a reputation among solicitors for being a cushy job. The client is dead so can't really chase you, and there's a lot of money sloshing around, so high charges are more easily masked in the transfer of assets from the estate to the beneficiaries.

Not very helpful to you, but it's really not a good idea to appoint solicitors as executors in your will. Even if you think administering the estate is going to be beyond your nearest and dearest you should still appoint relatives as executors, but suggest that they use solicitors to help them. They can pay the bill from the estate. Then they are clearly the client, they can chase, complain more easily, negotiate the fee, and sack the solicitors if they're useless.

I'd never thought about using that approach. It makes perfect sense. Thank you

Find out who the senior partner is and make a complaint in writing, threatening to report them to the financial ombudsman. If they don't respond adequately, then go ahead and report them. The FO will step in to help. No law firm wants this, trust me!

@NotSureHowItWorks This link might be useful. www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/complain-about-a-solicitor

You should go through the code of conduct and use it as source material for your complaint. and I any event dispute the fees if the service has been so poor

They should have been able to account to you for all the funds by now and either given you the option to (a) deal with the CT bill yourself - I'd be checking the amount/contact with solicitors with the LA anyway or (b) holding sufficient funds back to deal with it, subject to your approval.

Go to the legal
Ombudsman. You have to make an official complaint too and wait 8 weeks until
You can officially go to LO so do that at the same time. If you’ve already contacted the lo they might respond quicker

From what you have said it sounds like they are pretty slow. Your first step should be to complain to them. They should have a complaints procedure on their website (if not they should be able to send you a copy) including who to contact. If you aren't happy with their response then you can take your complaint to the legal ombudsman.

Do you know that the proceeds of the sale is definitely going to you, given there was no stipulation in your Mums will?

After your Step-Father died, did he leave a will which left the house and estate to you?

It is awful that they are not picking up your calls and you are left in limbo, especially since things are financially very tough for you.

I would physcically go and visit them in person.
Raise meery hell and threaten official compliants through proper channels and ombudsmen.

I had a nightmare but my fathers awful solicitors but at least had the good grace to reply to the emails once in a while. What you describe isnt acceptable.

@MurielSpriggs
That’s exactly what I did I am the executor of my fathers will and I had no problem doing my mums probate a few years ago but my dads was slightly more complicated as my dad had a lifetime interest in the house and I wasn’t sure how that works with the IHT forms .

I didn’t want to hand over the whole control of it completely but I did need some hand holding .
Rather than fuck it up myself 😂 I used a company called Farewill to do my dads estate / IHT form
I collected all the stuff they needed sent it to them. They send you a check list of what is required .
I got weekly email updates of what was happening.

I got the probate certificates last week
Took 7 weeks from start to finish and cost £750 including the Probate Fee & 7 copies of the certificate and a notarised copy of my fathers will
Couldn’t recommend them enough as they made the whole process very easy and straight forward
I paid £150 deposit initially and the balance is due 30 days later

They are taking the piss. You need to start kicking up a fuss.

Check your terms and conditions for their complaints procedure and make a formal complaint. It usually kickstarts things.

(taps side of nose)

@StCharlotte

Check your terms and conditions for their complaints procedure and make a formal complaint. It usually kickstarts things.

(taps side of nose)

The problem is that @NotSureHowItWorks is not their client.

MrsBobDylan, my mum's share of the house was left to myself and my dc in her will. My stepfather's share goes to his family, so his will is nothing to do with me if that makes sense, sorry if I wasn't clear on that. I mentioned it because he lived another two years after her and he had all the paperwork to do with the house, I had no access to it. I had presumed that after her death the solicitors had asked him for whatever they needed and he had supplied it. It looks like they didn't ask and I cant understand why they didn't get all this in order years ago. I have no idea if this is normal practice.

As part of your formal complaint request an itemised bill of what the solicitors have charged the estate and for what services.

@MurielSpriggs

They do sound useless.

I think probate has a reputation among solicitors for being a cushy job. The client is dead so can't really chase you, and there's a lot of money sloshing around, so high charges are more easily masked in the transfer of assets from the estate to the beneficiaries.

Not very helpful to you, but it's really not a good idea to appoint solicitors as executors in your will. Even if you think administering the estate is going to be beyond your nearest and dearest you should still appoint relatives as executors, but suggest that they use solicitors to help them. They can pay the bill from the estate. Then they are clearly the client, they can chase, complain more easily, negotiate the fee, and sack the solicitors if they're useless.

@MurielSpriggs I've been an executor a few times and always used this approach, seems to work.

As an aside the solicitors will take a payment for being the executors

I'd ask for a break down of every single part of the bill, you want to know exactly what has been charged to the estate and what the amount was for?

as pp states, cushy number is probate and the client isn't around to chase the work....

A friend having probate done through a solicitors but she was an executor, had to send paper work back 3x as it wasn't correct, solicitors aren't infallible and can be down right incompetent.

Did your mum and stepdad use the same executors and or solicitors ?
Do you have any contact or updates with your stepfathers family ?

I've been waiting nearly 4 years for solicitor to sort probate out
it's a joke

Look up "The executor's year". The executors have one year to get the estate in order and distribute the funds. If they don't the beneficiaries are quite within their rights to formally request distribution from the executors (in this case the solicitors I think). Of course there can be reasons for a delay, but opening a case might get them moving and provide an explanation!

I would strongly suggest that you engage a solicitor on your behalf to do this asap and negotiate fees beforehand. The executors might be more inclined to act and respond to another law firm, although that is not guaranteed either. But you can sack your solicitor if they are useless and let another firm take up the papers.

Best of luck, estate administration can be a pain in the rear end.