Who should be charged ?

[Bondai]

Hello
My brothers and I are currently liaising with a solicitor in a dispute case (attempt) against the estate of my late mother. My brothers and I are named Executor and/or Beneficiaries in the Will. However my late mothers boyfriend still resides at my late mothers property and is adamant that the house should be his since he lived there with her for so many years even though he is not named in the Will.
More to the point though. He has now arranged a solicitor to make a case against the estate (yes he had time to do this since probate has taken almost 1.5 years even though it's a very simple estate).
My question though...
His solicitors have asked for information from our (the estates) solicitor as follows:
1 - Accounts and liabilities
2 - Probate and progress of probate

The estates (our) solicitor wants to charge the estate (us) X amount of money in order to answer the questions from the other solicitor but I do not think it is fare that the estate should be charged as these are queries from outside of the estate. Why should my brothers and I pay for someone else's questions and queries so that they can make a claim against the estate ?

It doesn't seem fare at all to me and is a massive burden. It seems they can ask questions and query any matter as and when they feel like it and the estate has to pay for it ?

Should we have to pay for those queries to be satisfied. We cant afford to keep paying money for someone else's questions.

Any advice is very welcome.
Thank you

[atticus]

A letter asking for information about the estate and progress of probate is not a Larke v Nugus letter: those concern the preparation of the Will.

If you wish to avoid paying your solicitors, you can reply yourselves.

This man may have an Inheritance Act claim.

[Pezza54]

The executors have to give their permission to their solicitor to reply to a Larke v Nugus letter.
Your solicitor is probably advising you that his solicitor's questions should be answered attempting to avoid expensive legal costs defending a court claim
If his solicitor considers estate managers are being obstructive the solicitor can file a caveat with Probate which will halt the progress of probate
The caveat can last 6 months if not withdrawn by the caveator and can then be extended for a further 6 months
If the caveat is challenged the caveator can make an Appearance. Once an appearance is made court costs are required to resolve the dispute and remove the caveat
The solicitors will assess the strength of the potential claim against the will and the defence and hopefully arrive at a mutually agreeable solution to avoid court action