Intestacy Rules - distribution query

[CJ70]

Thank you everyone, I appreciate all the input here.
Peridot I'll speak to my mother, if she wants to pursue this, I'll arrange to take her to get face to face legal advice first & take it from there.
Thanks for all your help/time.

[CJ70]

Hi again,

That's right it is the professional negligence angle. Of course the administrators appointed 'experts' to deal so would not be in the firing line if claims were made, however they would be the people who initially have to deal with the issues. They would need legal advice which of course will cost and although if successful in any eventual professional negligence claim they would likely get a costs order that the solicitors would have to pay (if the matter got to Court stages) the funding until that point would be bourn by the individuals suing the solicitors.

Would it be worth contacting the solicitors to point out their error and see what they say in the first instance? It may be necessary for a formal complaint to be made which gives the solicitors the opportunity to correct the mistake, although they would most likely say that initially the 2 cousins who received more than they were entitled should be contacted. Maybe they should be the ones to contact them? It seems the most problematic issue is the cousins who believed they should have received more in any event, are the ones who should be returning funds.

It is a large sum of money to write off but you need to weigh up the stress of perusing. Maybe get the face to face legal advice to confirm what options you could have before deciding which route to take. You may find a free half hour or reduced fee initial appointment that would allow you to look at what could be done.

Some months have passed, but I would just like to thank Peridot Amethyst and des8 for your time & advice. It was such a great help.
My mother obtained legal advice from a professional negligence solicitor, who advised her to submit an official complaint to the probate solicitors who dealt with the estate. This was done, and yesterday I finally received an email from the solicitors confirming that the estate had been distributed incorrectly, and it was their error.
They are now saying that they are pursuing the 2 cousins of the deceased who were overpaid, to recoup the money to re-distribute to my mother & her 2 cousins.
I understand that this is the most fair resolution to all parties, but I'm aware this could potentially take some time.
Would I be correct in saying to the solicitor that recouping the wrongly distributed sums of money is of no consequence to my mother?
As they have admitted liability, can I insist on payment to the underpaid cousins immediately?
I understand that solicitors would have some sort of indemnity insurance for such scenarios, and regardless,they have admitted liability, so should they not pay the outstanding sums to my mother & her 2 cousins, then separately pursue the other 2 cousins of the deceased for the overpaid amounts?
Grateful, once again,for any wise words you can offer.

[des8]

From a pragmatic viewpoint the short changed cousins could request immediate payment, but it won't be forthcoming so there is little they could do but start a court claim, which is slow and expensive.

I think the total paid out incorrectly was c£120,000.
Possibly the solicitors don't have that amount readily available.
They will seek to recover from the overpaid, who might well dispute the matter or even not be in a position to repay.

The solicitors could then make a claim against their PI insurers, who doubtlessly will undertake their own investigations before paying out.

I'm afraid identifying the error, and obtaining an admission of liability, doesn't lead to an immediate correction

[CJ70]

des8 Peridot Amethyst A few years have passed, and I apologise, but I only thought to come back with any update when I came here to seek advice on another probate matter.
I'll post that one shortly in a new post.
So, to update on this situation;
My mother took this to the Legal Ombudsman, who took on the case & were pretty impressive & extremely helpful - albeit, very slow, but we totally understood this as it's an overwhelmed & free service.
The case dragged on for a long time, until the end of 2021, when the Legal Ombudsman managed to persuade the solicitors to agree to make a payment to my mother for the loss she suffered - before an Ombudsman ruling was given. The solicitors then dragged their heels in making payment. So much so, that in August 2022 my mother was diagnosed as terminally ill & passed away in September 2022. This all happened very quickly & their 28 days limit to make the payment came the day after my mother passed away (not that they made this payment on that date anyway!)
We're still awaiting the payment from the solicitors to my mothers estate, but they're now insisting on waiting until we have a grant of probate. (Myself & two of my three siblings are named as executors in my mother's will)
Due to even more probate problems with my mother's will/estate, that's probably going to take some time.
However, I'm hugely grateful for the advice I was given here. It spurred me on to fight my mother's corner.
On each occasion that we managed to successfully shout down their many arguments, my mum felt vindicated. Although she never received the money before she passed away, she knew that she'd successfully put right (on paper) their shortcomings.
Thanks again