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I really need some advice..my partner was executor to his moms estate. His sister has blocked the process every step of the way with solicitors letters, threats, character assassinations, caveats, land registry objections and more. He had to get a solicitor in order to answer letters, issue a warning off and complete the probate process. This cost him just over £3000. He has probate now and is the process of paying out his 4 siblings. However his solicitor (George Green) has told him he cannot take the legal fees from the estate. The solicitor did initially say your fees can be paid from the estate as this is the only way forward to get probate and administer the estate to beneficiaries; now the solicitor is telling him he cannot claim this money back from the estate. It’s really maddening! He has done a job that he was asked to do and is now ‘out of pocket by £3000…how can this be right? Please help.
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Difficult to give you a concise answer without sighting the terms of the will but most professionally drafted wills have a provision for executors expences.
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Whilst the costs of the solicitor seem rather high for dealing with answering letters, as executor your partner cannot offset his/her expenses in dealing with their duties. However, if the executor was prevented from acting without the necessity of obtaining support from a solicitor before proceeding, then it may be a cost to the estate before distribution. You should take legal advice on this, but as 4 siblings are waiting for their inheritance, they may wish to agree on how to deal with the additional costs to avoid lengthy delay in receiving their inheritance. May I suggest that you initially ask them?
As solicitors are aware, executors are not allowed to offset expenses, although the solicitor in question may have been considering that this action was a necessity in order for the executor to be able to proceed. Perhaps he/she should ask the question?
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We are not discussing executors Expenses. We are discussing legal fees. Quite different matters.Originally posted by EnglandPi View PostComment
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Legal fees not expenses. Expenses would be things like phone calls, photocopying, postage stamps etc. The legal fees involved had to be settled otherwise the executor would not have been able to proceed and settle the deceased person’s estate which is what he was entrusted to do. Why would anybody agree to be an executor if there was a chance they could be out of pocket? In this case it’s a family member but imagine if you were a friend or neighbour who agreed to be executor.Originally posted by Sam101 View PostComment
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We contacted UK Probate today who we’re dealing with probate; probate saw stopped by a caveat so we had to use a solicitor to issue a warning off and converse with our sisters solicitor as she would not speak to any of us. UK probate have said we can take the money from the estate as we needed to use a solicitor in order to complete the process and get the estate distributed. However, the solicitor we used said we can’t claim the money back from the estate. We can’t speak to 2 siblings as they have cut themselves off from the family. Really don’t know what do!!Comment
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You said - However his solicitor (George Green) has told him he cannot take the legal fees from the estate. The solicitor did initially say your fees can be paid from the estate as this is the only way forward to get probate and administer the estate to beneficiaries; now the solicitor is telling him he cannot claim this money back from the estate.
As your partner is the Executor, he can distribute the estate but hold back the costs of the solicitors needed in order to proceed. Then let George Greens solicitors take what action they wish. However, it would be better to withhold any distribution to any beneficiary that blocked your actions requiring a solicitor to be appointed until such time as they agree the costs are their responsibility. The Executor can seek help from the Probate court if in difficultyComment
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