Solicitor undermining executor ?

[Chanel]

Hello, I wonder if someone could advise me if I am right to be annoyed with my solicitor. Mum died at the end of April and she had previously made me sole executor, I have a sister who is an equal beneficiary to myself and we both have 2 adult children each who are minor beneficiaries. The solicitor I instructed has been used extensively by my sister and brother in law in the past and at the initial appointment I asked if it would cause him any conflict of interest being that my relationship with my sister is 'frosty' and he assured me it didn't.
I questioned the value they wanted to put down for probate for the house and was told my sister had agreed the figure and i would need her agreement if i wanted to change it.
Then I had to fill in a form declaring all gifts in the last 7 years. I did this and returned it the solicitors. To my surprise I then had an e-mail from them questioning the amounts I had put down as it didn't correspond with what my sister had put on her form, my sister had omitted to put down one of her cash gifts from Mum. None of the other beneficiaries who'd received gifts were sent a form to fill in. I questioned why they'd doubled up asking myself and my sister and they said because she was a major beneficiary.
2 weeks ago we finally got the stage where I could swear the oath but first I needed to agree the schedule of assets and the provisional IHT calculation. They messed this up terribly by first omitting 2 of her bank accounts totalling 175k and then after I pointed out their error they then went the other way and doubled up on one account !!!! I was angry at these massive errors but eventually managed to agree the figures. After 3 days they emailed me to say I could now take the oath as they'd 'had agreement from your sister' on the schedule of assets. Again, I don't know why they asked for her agreement as she doesn't have access to Mum's finances.
Im not sure the solicitors office is being entirely honest with me about needing her agreement for virtually everything, can anyone clarify this for me ? I have no problem sharing information with any of the beneficiaries but feel like I'm doing all the work, correcting solicitors paper work errors and then being undermined as the executor to boot.

[Peridot]

Hi Chanel,

Can you confirm please, are you and your sister appointed co-executors? If you are the sole executor I would suggest that the solicitor should be dealing with you solely. You would then having received advise and guidance from them, instruct them to, for example request further information from other people including residuary beneficiaries.

It is always advisable to get approval from residuary beneficiaries of estate accounts, but this is not necessary until the accounts are being finalised before distribution. It would also be reasonable to request information on gifts received in the 7 years prior to your mother's passing from those who received any gift but only once the executor client has been consulted about whether they were aware of any larger gifts. If clarification is required then a request for further information from the recipient of the gift could be sought. It is after all you as the executor who is swearing the oath that the information is correct to the best of your knowledge and who will potentially have liability if things are not completed correctly, not your sister. I am a little confused why your sister's instructions are apparently being taken before yours as the executor, if she is not an executor?

The fact the solicitors firm has been used by your sister and brother I law in the past should not in itself be an issue, but if she is not jointly instructing them on obtaining the Grant and the administration of the estate of your mother, they should not be taking instructions from her. You need to check your client care letter for confirmation of exactly who the client is. This can then be referred to in any issue you need to raise, provided you are the sole client of course. How is she receiving documents and approving them before you have had an opportunity to check them. Did your sister have more knowledge of the property are there any other reasons she would maybe know about your mother's finances more than you do? As far as other gifts were concerned to other beneficiaries were these only smaller amounts or significant sums? Have they been included in any declaration of gifts for IHT purposes. This link may help understand what gifts are allowed:- https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

As far as errors in documents are concerned, of course mistakes can happen lawyers are only human too (doubtful sometimes I know!). I suspect if the other issues hadn't occurred you would be able to forgive (sort of) this sort of oversite. However I would suggest you need to clarify with the solicitor who they believe their client to be (once checking your client care letter) and if it is the case you are the sole client then I would contact them formally to discuss your concerns with regard to them, apparently accepting instructions from your sister mentioning client confidentiality.

Depending on the response I suspect it will decide your next steps. Does the firm have another office and solicitor who could deal with the matter once the Grant has been obtained? It can be an expensive exercise to change solicitors particularly if the estate has many assets to deal with but of course it can be considered. The solicitors fees would come from the estate and you as the executor would have to show there was no other option as you are expected to preserve the assets as far as you are able for the beneficiaries.

Do pop back on the forum if needs be and we can hopefully help out further and point you in the right direction.