Switch lawyers in mid Probate/Confirmation

[Chocs]

My mother died last summer, my sister and I are sole beneficiaries and joint executors. There are two flats involved, one of which is tenanted, and a few £100,000s, and a hefty IHT bill has been paid and stamped by HMRC. We went to solicitors as we had no idea how to deal with any of it, they have now applied for confirmation/probabe. They have also issued an enormous interim bill, more than three times what was quoted verbally, and never confirmed. Of course there is a load of waffle from them when I queried the bill and they offered to cap the remainder of the bill to a further £10k, which will amount to x 5.5 the original quote. My question is can we just tell them to jump, to hand over all the papers when the confirmation (I am in Scotland) comes back as granted? There is a property to sell and one to transfer ownership, and we have received no funds at all as yet. How complicated would it be to just get the lot and take it elsewhere for the property stuff? Would we be able just to get the money from the various institutions ourselves? Thanks for any advice.

[Peridot]

Re: Switch lawyers in mid Probate/Confirmation

Hi Chocs,

I'm sorry to hear you're having a few issues with the solicitors you have instructed in respect of your mother's estate. You mention a quote. Was this provided in writing at the outset? You should also have received terms and conditions together with a client care letter explaining what work was entailed for the price they quoted.

It is not unusual unfortunately for the costs to increase when dealing with a deceased's estate, for example other assets may be found that may not be as straight forward to deal with as initially thought. However as soon as the solicitors realised that the costs were going to be over the quote they should have contacted you and advised of their revised quote, once they had the further info, for example.

Is the lawyer in Scotland or England? I anticipate that the costs rules governing solicitors in Scotland are the same or similar to the England/Wales rules? I have found the following link to the Law Society in Scotland that provides a little guidance on what client's should expect and which may give you some pointers. http://www.lawscot.org.uk/for-the-pu...ou/legal-fees/
Unless there are vast differences in the work the solicitor has had to undertake for example if there were more assets than initially thought or there were trusts to deal with, then their fees shouldn't really go way beyond the initial quote. If there were no major changes in the number and size of assets that you advised the solicitor of, then I would consider making a formal complaint to the firm. If that is not dealt with satisfactorily then up to the Legal Ombudsman.

Do check your client care letter and terms of business carefully. You can also ask for a full breakdown of the time spent on the file or a print out from the file logging the time recording and providing a fuller explanation than you have received.

As far as receiving any of the inheritance at this point, that would not be possible until at least the Grant has been obtained. Even then I would only recommend an interim payment, just in case any unforeseen issues arise, liabilities or claims for example occur.

If the solicitors are applying for Probate/Confirmation now, I would not suggest dis-instructing them before you get the Grant. If your intention was to obtain other solicitors to take over they would probably insist on checking all the figures etc to date which can be very time consuming and for which you will have to pay again.

However if you really are unhappy and have lost trust and confidence in the solicitor once you have raised the issues with them and they have been unable to allay any fears you may have, or offer an alternative, such as another fee earner to deal with the matter, then maybe once you have obtained the Grant, look into instructing someone else. I am always cautious however when these situations arise as if you are instructing another professional it can often cost even more than your current firm as many things will be repeated to double check figures etc are correct.

Maybe not the answer you wanted to hear but I hope there are some useful points for you to take away to consider.

[Chocs]

Re: Switch lawyers in mid Probate/Confirmation

Thanks for the reply, I have now written a formal letter to the lawyers dispensing with their services as of receipt of confirmation. I asked for a breakdown of charges and was told I'd have to pay for it. I wish I'd never gone anywhere near them and I will be making a complaint against them once I have received all my paperwork, balance of funds etc. Unfortunately I have no doubt they will not part with the file until their outrageous invoice is paid. You live and learn but I will be blackening their name in my town at each and every opportunity!