legal costs to pay when inheriting property
Discussion
Solicitors pay £40 for amending the Land Registry.
To do it your self costs £80.
Assuming for "average" priced house (£200k-£400k I think).
You are being ripped off for that - as for the other £15k - I'd be getting the police involved tbh !!
Of the solicitors I've had the misfortune to use - I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire !
To do it your self costs £80.
Assuming for "average" priced house (£200k-£400k I think).
You are being ripped off for that - as for the other £15k - I'd be getting the police involved tbh !!
Of the solicitors I've had the misfortune to use - I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire !
Jasey_ said:
Of the solicitors I've had the misfortune to use - I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire !
As this is PH, where being insufferably liberal matters, you’d probably receive a bit of criticism for that.But once you’ve had dealings with a few of them, it’s difficult to disagree with the sentiment.
I’ve had one which really dug out blind and went above and beyond what was expected.
All other interactions have been frustrating, to say the least.
RC1807 said:
If your solicitor's already "spent" £15k of the estate, that's too much £££ for the work completed.
The delay is that my father remarried about 5 years ago. Both were in their mid 80s. There was no provision for his widow in the will so just in case the will was challenged the solicitor said we had to wait 10 months after probate had been granted. Hence 1 August is the date we've been given for when beneficiaries can receive funds from the estate.
We're not entirely certain how much the estate is worth. Roughly £100K in cash and his retirement apartment which we valued at £175K ( It has very large management costs and hence difficult to sell).
There are tenants in the apartment as my father lived with his 2nd wife in her home. The solicitor is the family solicitor used by his 2nd wife.
As an aside, my father's sister died 2 months after him and the solicitor dealing with her estate has also charged a similarly large interim sum to her estate, though another aunt is the main beneficiary of that will.
We're not entirely certain how much the estate is worth. Roughly £100K in cash and his retirement apartment which we valued at £175K ( It has very large management costs and hence difficult to sell).
There are tenants in the apartment as my father lived with his 2nd wife in her home. The solicitor is the family solicitor used by his 2nd wife.
As an aside, my father's sister died 2 months after him and the solicitor dealing with her estate has also charged a similarly large interim sum to her estate, though another aunt is the main beneficiary of that will.
Who wrote the Will....the Executors' firm?...what grounds do they have for thinking it may be challenged and by whom? If they did their job right when the Will was drafted and executed then there should not be any way it can be challenged.
...has someone made a Larke v Nugus request?.............as long as all the correct procedures were followed and he had capacity then he can leave his assets to whoever he wants to.............. IANAL but I am an executor in the middle of a legal Will challenge and unless they have really good grounds to suspect a potential challenge then, IMO they are taking the piss, unless there is something they are not telling you.
...has someone made a Larke v Nugus request?.............as long as all the correct procedures were followed and he had capacity then he can leave his assets to whoever he wants to.............. IANAL but I am an executor in the middle of a legal Will challenge and unless they have really good grounds to suspect a potential challenge then, IMO they are taking the piss, unless there is something they are not telling you.
I dealt with my mums estate last year following her passing. It was her wish that I was the executor but the solicitor could do it if i didn't want to.
So the solicitor made themselves joint executor with myself, which meant they wouldn't allow me to DIY the probate process and they wanted £1800 to do it.
They tried to make out it was difficult, but mum's estate was simple and everything could be done online - except the solicitor wouldn't release the will in order for me to apply for probate. So i ended up paying them £350 for them to resign as executor and wait for them to retrieve the Will which took a couple of weeks.
It took me 6 weeks to obtain probate from issuance of the death certificate, which was over Christmas and including waiting for the solicitor to write me a letter resigning and issuing the Will.
It's not difficult if the estate is simple and especially if there's a Will.
There's no need for a Solicitor to make themselves an executor - them doing that basically put's them on a retainer for further work. If you are the named executor, you can always ask a solicitor to do the work if you don't want to.
So the solicitor made themselves joint executor with myself, which meant they wouldn't allow me to DIY the probate process and they wanted £1800 to do it.
They tried to make out it was difficult, but mum's estate was simple and everything could be done online - except the solicitor wouldn't release the will in order for me to apply for probate. So i ended up paying them £350 for them to resign as executor and wait for them to retrieve the Will which took a couple of weeks.
It took me 6 weeks to obtain probate from issuance of the death certificate, which was over Christmas and including waiting for the solicitor to write me a letter resigning and issuing the Will.
It's not difficult if the estate is simple and especially if there's a Will.
There's no need for a Solicitor to make themselves an executor - them doing that basically put's them on a retainer for further work. If you are the named executor, you can always ask a solicitor to do the work if you don't want to.
ds. catweasle said:
Who wrote the Will....the Executors' firm?...what grounds do they have for thinking it may be challenged and by whom? If they did their job right when the Will was drafted and executed then there should not be any way it can be challenged.
...has someone made a Larke v Nugus request?.............as long as all the correct procedures were followed and he had capacity then he can leave his assets to whoever he wants to.............. IANAL but I am an executor in the middle of a legal Will challenge and unless they have really good grounds to suspect a potential challenge then, IMO they are taking the piss, unless there is something they are not telling you.
I think it was the Executor's office - I don't have the will easily to hand. The will was rewritten following my mother's death and just before my Dad remarried - his future wife also wrote one at the same time. His future wife had already given her house and money equally to her 2 adult children following the death of her husband, presumably to minimise inheritance tax. Their mother was allowed to stay in her house but it was only after my father died that I discovered he was paying rent to his 2nd wife's family and had been since before they married. ...has someone made a Larke v Nugus request?.............as long as all the correct procedures were followed and he had capacity then he can leave his assets to whoever he wants to.............. IANAL but I am an executor in the middle of a legal Will challenge and unless they have really good grounds to suspect a potential challenge then, IMO they are taking the piss, unless there is something they are not telling you.
No idea about Larke v Nugus, had a google about t and don't think it's relevant.
I had a long chat with my brother earlier today and we've had to accept there's very little we can do about this. After minor beneficiaries and charities, my brother and I receive 40% of his estate each and his 2 adult children 10% each. His 2 adult children are looking to get on the property ladder themselves and have been looking forward to receiving their inheritance start of August. Hence, why my brother and I have chosen to take my father's apartment as part of our share.
It is galling, but there's no way we're going to win without it costing a lot more.
It is galling, but there's no way we're going to win without it costing a lot more.
Have you paid any of the bill yet? Ask them for a complete breakdown of the bill and challenge them on anything that looks excessive. See if you can get reductions from them first, if they are unwilling to trim any parts of the bill then you may have to get legal on them and go down the "assessment of costs" route (https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part-47-procedure-for-detailed-assessment#:~:text=I%20GENERAL%20RULES%20ABOUT%20DETAILED%20ASSESSMENT,-Time%20when%20detailed&text=47.1%20The%20general%20rule%20is,them%20to%20be%20assessed%20immediately.) Mentioning this may be enough for them to offer a discount just to avoid the hassle.
condor said:
The will was rewritten following my mother's death and just before my Dad remarried - his future wife also wrote one at the same time.
Presumably not signed until they were married?condor said:
Their mother was allowed to stay in her house but it was only after my father died that I discovered he was paying rent to his 2nd wife's family and had been since before they married.
I don't think that's unusual. What was happening to the rental income on your Dad's place?Sheepshanks said:
condor said:
The will was rewritten following my mother's death and just before my Dad remarried - his future wife also wrote one at the same time.
Presumably not signed until they were married?condor said:
Their mother was allowed to stay in her house but it was only after my father died that I discovered he was paying rent to his 2nd wife's family and had been since before they married.
I don't think that's unusual. What was happening to the rental income on your Dad's place?
Yes, it was 'in contemplation of marriage'. I did say to my Dad he needed to write it after he had married, but he obviously thought what he'd done was sufficient.
His rental income covered the apartment's management costs, which are expensive as there is a resident warden couple on site for 24/7 support. Also the letting agents fee and the various repairs/certificates needed. He might have made £4K/year income from it.
Mr-B yes, the solicitor has the money from the estate and takes his fees from it and then tells us. There was an initial estimate of costs which he then informs us will need to increase as that's already been spent. We get a bit confused as the solicitor's letter is actually telling the senior partner/executor and we get a copy of this letter.
His rental income covered the apartment's management costs, which are expensive as there is a resident warden couple on site for 24/7 support. Also the letting agents fee and the various repairs/certificates needed. He might have made £4K/year income from it.
Mr-B yes, the solicitor has the money from the estate and takes his fees from it and then tells us. There was an initial estimate of costs which he then informs us will need to increase as that's already been spent. We get a bit confused as the solicitor's letter is actually telling the senior partner/executor and we get a copy of this letter.
Sheepshanks said:
catweasle said:
Or included an ‘in contemplation of marriage’ clause.
Well, whatever they did it must be OK - it would have been apparent immediately if the Will was invalid.Validity of a Will can be a very complicated legal thing and I doubt the solicitor that drafted it, and is also the executor, would volunteer he didn't do it properly and follow correct procedures.for example being over 80 did the solicitor follow the "Golden Rule"? If not someone might want to challenge it.... and that is why I asked the OP previously if a Larke v Nugus request had been made to the drafting solicitor.
Sorry if I am being pedantic but this is almost exactly why I am 3 years into a Will dispute of my late father's Will and so far, together both parties costs are circa £35K and the 1st Case Management Hearing hasn't even been held yet.
Sorry for threadrift OP but if you are really concerned you might want to speak to an ACTAPS solicitor for an hour just to get everything right.
catweasle said:
If it was apparent immediately that the Will is valid then why have they told the OP "There was no provision for his widow in the will so just in case the will was challenged the solicitor said we had to wait 10 months after probate had been granted."?
That's a separate thing. I meant 'valid' from the POV of not being revoked on marriage.Sounds like you'll be more aware than I am of reasons why a 'valid' will could be challanged but an obvious concern would exist if no provision had been made for the deceased's widow in case she complained she was dependant on the deceased.
Sheepshanks said:
catweasle said:
If it was apparent immediately that the Will is valid then why have they told the OP "There was no provision for his widow in the will so just in case the will was challenged the solicitor said we had to wait 10 months after probate had been granted."?
That's a separate thing. I meant 'valid' from the POV of not being revoked on marriage.Sounds like you'll be more aware than I am of reasons why a 'valid' will could be challanged but an obvious concern would exist if no provision had been made for the deceased's widow in case she complained she was dependant on the deceased.
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