Estate accounts

[Bomber99]

Hi all

Can a beneficiary challenge cost of an estates interim accounts.


Can a beneficiary ask the administrator for a detailed breakdown of payments made to their representative’s, ie, solicitors acting on their behalf and the work

Is there normally a cost in supplying a beneficiary for this information from either the administrator or their representatives.

The original estimated costs for the administrators representatives fees were between, £14,000 and £20,000 for an estates interim accounts up to £600,000.

At present the costs have been calculated at £29,000 for the estate worth £528,000

In the last few days there has been interim payments to all beneficiaries and a new set of interim estate accounts received the day after.

The estate mainly consisted of a property, some motorcycles and bank accounts.

The solicitors representing the administrators mentioned that the estate was pretty much straightforward and didn’t foresee any difficulties in administering the estate.
With this in mind, this is the reason two of the beneficiaries would like to challenge the administrator’s representative’s fees.

A request was sent by a beneficiary to the administrator’s solicitor for a breakdown of their charges, but this was refused as they were only liable to give this information to the persons engaging them.

I look forward to any help given.

Bomber99

[Pezza54]

Please read the article "The rights of a beneficiary to see estate accounts" at www.sleeblackwell.co.uk

Beneficiaries have a legal right to see estate accounts. If needed, a warning letter of a costs order associated with a court application is sufficient to make the administrator see sense and forward the accounts

A breakdown of a solicitor's charges that has been appointed to assist the administrator in their administration duties is a different matter.

Does your thread relate to a previous thread about your uncle who died without a will and your aunt was appointed administrator?

If so your aunt said all correspondence should be via her appointed solicitor. You should write to the solicitor about the estate accounts and then query his charges because they seem excessive. Send a copy of the letter to your aunt

If the solicitor is unhelpful you can make a complaint, and if still no joy, refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman

[Bomber99]

Hi PEZZA54
Sorry for the late response. Just got out of hospital after an op.

yes this does relate to my uncles estate.

Would I be better off waiting till I get the final set of estate accounts before challenging the solicitor fees and before mentioning a warning letter of a costs order to the administrator.

I have looked at the link you provided but couldn’t find any info on the rights of a beneficiary to see account details.

bomber99

[Pezza54]

Is trying to challenge the solicitor's fees worth your time, money and upset you are likely to cause with your relatives?
You will have to query the fees via your aunt who appointed the solicitor

You are going to receive one eighth of the estate, over £60k. Your cousins aren't receiving anything and you have already said they are upset about this
The difference between £30k and £20k is £10k, meaning that you are possibly losing £1250, a small fraction of £60k

[Bomber99]

Hi PEZZA54

It’s not about the money coming to the beneficiaries, it’s more about the extra fees the solicitor is charging above what they estimated. Working out the hourly rate they charged, and the fees so far paid we estimate they are saying they have completed over 60 hrs working for the administrator. That seems a lot of hours for an estate that consisted of a property and 5 motor cycles. I must mention the administrator is over 85yrs

perhaps we are over thinking this and the fees are reasonable

[Pezza54]

Has the solicitor sent you their fee account?

[Bomber99]

Hi PEZZA54
All we’ve had is the interim estate accounts which show the solicitors charges. As mentioned we asked for a breakdown of the work and charges from the solicitors but they refuse to provide them.

We do have the contract between the administrator and the solicitor showing the estimate for the work the would be carrying out.

[Pezza54]

Does your aunt agree the charges appear excessive? After all, she stands to lose the most if they are

[Bomber99]

That’s where the our concerns lay.
The solicitors say my aunt who is the administrator only what’s to communicate through them regarding the estate. So when we asked the solicitors about their charges their response was, they do not have to give us a breakdown of their charges as the contract is between them and my aunt.

We have respected my aunts wishes not to contact her direct, so we are at a loss to find out why the solicitors charges have increased, and what increased workload makes it necessary for such an increase.

bomber99

[Pezza54]

IMO the solicitor is correct
You have no right (your aunt does) to see a detailed breakdown of his charges

If your aunt is unhappy about the increased costs which are unjustified, she should make a complaint to the solicitor. If her complaint is not resolved amicably she can refer her complaint to the Legal Ombudsman

[Pezza54]

If your executor aunt pays ridiculously exorbitant solicitor fees from the estate, fees which are unjustified, as beneficiary you may have a claim against your aunt, the executor

[Bomber99]

Hi all
my aunt who is the administrator of my uncles estate uses a firm of solicitors to represent her.
If I put in a complaint about the solicitor dealing with the estate, would the company be able to just ignore my complaint or because it has come from a beneficiary would they have to deal with it.

[Bomber99]

Just received some disturbing information regarding the administrator (my aunt) of the estate.

apparently although my aunt is the administrator of the estate she was having payments owed to my uncle from his pension supplier into her personal account.

My aunt paid back these funds only after being informed that they belong to my uncles estate by her representatives.

I would have thought she would of had to sign some form of paperwork with the pension supplier to say she was entitled to receive these funds.

Would any rules/laws have been broken regarding how she was receiving these funds.

i have put questions to the administrator and her representatives but they seem to be ignoring me.

[HariSeldon]

My aunt paid back these funds only after being informed that they belong to my uncles estate by her representatives. Would any rules/laws have been broken regarding how she was receiving these funds.

Why does it matter if the funds have been paid back into the estate?

It could have been a misunderstanding of the pension rules, an innocent mistake or a deliberate attempt to enrich themselves. The administrators job is to secure the assets of the estate which they've done and I think they're absolutely right to ignore your superfluous questions rather than spend more time and (beneficiary's) money on investigating something that is irrelevant.

[Bomber99]

Hariseldon
After asking SUPERFLUOUS questions it’s appears the administrators representative charged one hours work to deal with transfer of the pension fund from the administrator account into the estates Acc
Their cost for one hours work was £370 + vat