solicitors

[milkman]

My wifes mother passed away last year leaving her estate to my wife and her sister.
A will was made and a partner from firm of solicitors is acting as executors of the estate, they appointed a solicitor from within the firm to act on there behalf.
At some point my wife sister went in and requested to change the solicitor that the firm had appointed, they did this without informing my wife or asking her for any input to the decision.
Shortly after that the allegations from her sister started, that she had borrowed money and agreed other things, to which my wife denied.
we registered a complaint with the firm that by allowing her sister to change solicitors that it amounted to her influencing how the estate should be handled and that we required proof of the allegations made by the firm and her sister.
we had a reply which obviously they said they had done nothing wrong and no they would not supply evidence that the allegation were correct.
Since then thing have deteriorated substantially .
Without going into to much details as it would take me a long time to explain all the things that we believe has gone wrong.
Is there any way that i can request that they supply us with all the correspondence between them and any person or bodies to whom they have contacted in any matter relating to the estate.
i would rather do this my self as i am acting on my wifes behalf and money is to tight to start employing solicitors
I would appreciate any help or suggestions from anyone.
Thank You

[MissFM]

Re: solicitors

Hi Milkman

I'm sorry for your loss and that things are so unpleasant within your family. It's so sad that bereavement and inheritance often does bring the worst out in people.

The solicitors acting as executor have a duty of care to fulfill their responsibilities conscientiously and certainly shouldn't be unduly influenced by any of the beneficiaries.

If you have made a formal written complaint to the solicitors and are not satisfied with their response then you can escalate it to the SRA/LOS. See here:

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/get-in-touch/complaints/

[enquirer]

Re: solicitors

My wifes mother passed away last year leaving her estate to my wife and her sister.
A will was made and a partner from firm of solicitors is acting as executors of the estate, they appointed a solicitor from within the firm to act on there behalf.

Depending on how the firm is structured, this might amount to a conflict of interest.

At some point my wife sister went in and requested to change the solicitor that the firm had appointed, they did this without informing my wife or asking her for any input to the decision.

As it is they who are the executors, neither has any say in the matter. One wonders why she made the request, and why they acceded to it.

We registered a complaint with the firm that by allowing her sister to change solicitors that it amounted to her influencing how the estate should be handled and that we required proof of the allegations made by the firm and her sister.

If the firm itself has made allegations against your wife, this is a very serious matter and should be referred to the SRA.

As the allegations regarding your wife now exist in written form, the documents in which your wife is named will be covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. You might hit them with a SAR (Subject Access Request) requesting copies.

I suspect that you will need to employ your own solicitor - if only to send very stiff letters to the sister and to the executors, pointing out the seriousness of their conduct and requiring them to withdraw or substantiate the allegations.

[milkman]

Re: solicitors

Hi all
Thanks for the replies.
I have no idea as to why my wifes sister went to change solicitor and was allowed to do this.
We were told that it was because she had concerns, we asked what those concerns were and they would not tell us.
its not as if that solicitor was acting on my wifes behalf so we can only presume that he told her something that she did not like to hear.
We asked the firm and gave them 8 weeks to substantiate those allegations made and when we prompted them for a reply the said "we are not obliged to supply you with that information nor are we bound by any time scale you set".
Makes you wonder if they realise that they have made a big mistake by making those allegations.
Any way i have been in touch with the sra and the information commissioner,s office to see if i can get the information under the freedom of informations act.
I am waiting for a response from them
Thanks for the replies