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Hello. Would really appreciate some help.
My father died in August 2015. We attended his Solicitors office for the reading of the Will. Before the will was read we relayed to the Solicitor that our father had advised us before his death that we (myself & 2 sisters) would each receive an equal share of 50% of the proceeds of the sale of his property as well as an equal share of any other remaining estate belonging to him. The remaining 50% of the proceeds of the sale were to be distributed to the children of his late wife, in line with her Will - they made Mirror wills.
Following the reading of our Father’s will the solicitor advised that the current Will superseded what we had relayed as our father had made a subsequent change to his will. When asked what this meant we were advised that our Father’s entire estate was left to us, his three children and that included 100% of the proceeds of the sale of his property. We were quite taken back by this revelation and as further confirmation we asked the solicitor to obtain a copy of the Will made by his late wife. Having read this through the position was re-affirmed we were advised that that Will could be “ripped up and thrown in the bin”. We were also advised to place the property on the market as soon as possible and that they would proceed with the application for probate and request the deeds from from the bank. The meeting ended.
The next communication from you was a telephone call advising that the son of my father's late wife had been in touch regarding his mother’s will and that they advised him that his mother’s will was in fact valid pending what was noted the deeds from from the bank – whether the tenancy was Joint Tenants or Tenants in common. We were subsequently advised, when they were in receipt of the deeds, that they stated “joint tenants” and that we were right to proceed as advised.
Our Father’s property went Sale Agreed and we were advised that the buyer’s solicitor had raised a query that the Land Registry search had stated the title as “tenants in common” not “Joint Tenants” and that they now needed to contact the son of my father's late wife and begin the process of applying for probate and that everything was on hold until this was obtained. We have since found correspondence from the same solicitor confirming that they in fact processed the change from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common.
I guess our complaint is two-fold:
1: We are now 6 months down the line and this is only coming to light when on the cusp of completing the sale of the property and the sale is now at risk.
2: Our expectations were changed upon the advice given by the solicitor 6 months ago in that we would now be receiving 100% of the proceeds of the property sale.
This has all caused a great deal of stress and anxiety at a time when we should be grieving, Do we have a case to present against the Solicitor for negligence?
My father died in August 2015. We attended his Solicitors office for the reading of the Will. Before the will was read we relayed to the Solicitor that our father had advised us before his death that we (myself & 2 sisters) would each receive an equal share of 50% of the proceeds of the sale of his property as well as an equal share of any other remaining estate belonging to him. The remaining 50% of the proceeds of the sale were to be distributed to the children of his late wife, in line with her Will - they made Mirror wills.
Following the reading of our Father’s will the solicitor advised that the current Will superseded what we had relayed as our father had made a subsequent change to his will. When asked what this meant we were advised that our Father’s entire estate was left to us, his three children and that included 100% of the proceeds of the sale of his property. We were quite taken back by this revelation and as further confirmation we asked the solicitor to obtain a copy of the Will made by his late wife. Having read this through the position was re-affirmed we were advised that that Will could be “ripped up and thrown in the bin”. We were also advised to place the property on the market as soon as possible and that they would proceed with the application for probate and request the deeds from from the bank. The meeting ended.
The next communication from you was a telephone call advising that the son of my father's late wife had been in touch regarding his mother’s will and that they advised him that his mother’s will was in fact valid pending what was noted the deeds from from the bank – whether the tenancy was Joint Tenants or Tenants in common. We were subsequently advised, when they were in receipt of the deeds, that they stated “joint tenants” and that we were right to proceed as advised.
Our Father’s property went Sale Agreed and we were advised that the buyer’s solicitor had raised a query that the Land Registry search had stated the title as “tenants in common” not “Joint Tenants” and that they now needed to contact the son of my father's late wife and begin the process of applying for probate and that everything was on hold until this was obtained. We have since found correspondence from the same solicitor confirming that they in fact processed the change from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common.
I guess our complaint is two-fold:
1: We are now 6 months down the line and this is only coming to light when on the cusp of completing the sale of the property and the sale is now at risk.
2: Our expectations were changed upon the advice given by the solicitor 6 months ago in that we would now be receiving 100% of the proceeds of the property sale.
This has all caused a great deal of stress and anxiety at a time when we should be grieving, Do we have a case to present against the Solicitor for negligence?
