Solicitor not completing probate and not answering queries

[DEMORALISED]

My neighbour changed his will from a previous cleaner/companion, and left everything to a couple of friends, plus £ 25,000 to my wife. The cleaner and a caveat placed opposed the will.
All efforts to show that my neighbour was not of sound mind or was coerced into changing will came to nothing, and the cleaner has told me that she instructed her solicitor to stop the objections.
The solicitor who wrote the will said that there would need to be a court hearing to get rid of the caveat.
This started 5 years ago and after 2 years the solicitor said that he was instructing a barrister to prepare papers. He kept saying this, but nothing happened.
Eighteen months ago we got a solicitor to ask him what the situation was and he replied with the same answer as before. The solicitor wrote back asking for any paperwork to support this but the original solicitor did not reply..
2. years ago tha couple who inherited the house were allowed to move into the house that they were left.. They sold their original home, did some improvements, moved in and retired. They said that they had to pay the original solicitor's bill of £35000 in order to do so.
They acknowledge verbally that they will pay us the £25000 but not until they know that the house is legally theirs.
The solicitor at the beginning said that there was not enough money in the estate to pay the inheritance, although there was furniture and possessions of quality in the house..
I hope this makes sense to someone as it doesn't to us and we are at a loss to see why he cannot complete the probate

[Pezza54]

Hi
Welcome to LB

This is what I think may have happened but I could be wrong
The cleaner caveator made an appearance after receiving a warning
The caveat was withdrawn by consent
The solicitor executor obtained probate
There was not sufficient money in the estate to pay the solicitor executor's fees for executor duties and defending the claim against the will.

You need to obtain a copy of the will from probate to confirm your wife should have received a pecuniary legacy, and the remainder of the estate left to the deceased's friends
You should also obtain a copy of the consent order to see what was agreed about legal costs. I guess there was no order as to costs otherwise the cleaner would have to pay them

A pecuniary legacy (such as your wife's £25k) should be paid from the estate after any specific legacies but before the remainder

If the property was bequeathed to the friends, and the will doesn't state it should be sold, then this specific legacy should take place before pecuniary legacies. If this is the case, why would the friends promise to pay your wife her pecuniary legacy?

You should check with the Land Registry to find out if the friends are now the legal owners of the property. They may not be telling the truth to avoid paying your wife £25k


Your wife should write a letter of complaint to the solicitor and if she is not satisfied with their response, she should refer her complaint to the Legal Ombudsman

[atticus]

Rather than speculate, let's have some facts.

Have you seen the will? If so, who is (are) the executor(s)?

More questions may follow.

[DEMORALISED]

L feel that I am wasting your kindly donated time. The only outcome is either taking him to court, which is too expensive, or going to the Legal Ombudsman which gets too complicated filling in their forms.
These seem to be the only options apart from carrying on emailing him and trying to get him to answer. Thanks for your help.