Extreme delays caused by solicitors - how to deal with this
Discussion
I'm the executor for the estate of my sister who died in 2008. I have really been messed around by the solicitor firm I've been using. Long story short, I need to have a deed of variation drawn up, though unfortunately the sole beneficiary is under 18, so I know it's going to need to go to court.
There were initially some unavoidable delays, but everything ground to a halt last autumn. Now 15 months after the death I finally get information from the solicitors firm about how to go about the process. The process needs to be complete within 6-7 months or it's too late!
The original solicitor went awol last autumn - it turns out he was ill then retired due to ill health but this wasn't communicated to me until January when I received a letter from my "new" solicitor. This solicitor has fannied about for 4 months - and it was apparent a couple of weeks ago that they'd only just looked at my file properly. OK, I know I should have sat on them much earlier in the day, but I've had the inquest, toddlers and a full time job to deal with, and I initialy thought the delay was due to the fact that the inquest was ongoing (it took a year).
So where do I stand? I am in the process of making it quite plain that the handling of this has been unacceptable, but other than that I'm at a loss what else to do, especially with so little time left. I don't even have the option of poppiing round as they're near the rest of the family but a few hours drive away from me. The whole thing has been extremely stressful, particularly since I didn't know I'd even been named as executor until after the death (and sole executor at that).
There were initially some unavoidable delays, but everything ground to a halt last autumn. Now 15 months after the death I finally get information from the solicitors firm about how to go about the process. The process needs to be complete within 6-7 months or it's too late!
The original solicitor went awol last autumn - it turns out he was ill then retired due to ill health but this wasn't communicated to me until January when I received a letter from my "new" solicitor. This solicitor has fannied about for 4 months - and it was apparent a couple of weeks ago that they'd only just looked at my file properly. OK, I know I should have sat on them much earlier in the day, but I've had the inquest, toddlers and a full time job to deal with, and I initialy thought the delay was due to the fact that the inquest was ongoing (it took a year).
So where do I stand? I am in the process of making it quite plain that the handling of this has been unacceptable, but other than that I'm at a loss what else to do, especially with so little time left. I don't even have the option of poppiing round as they're near the rest of the family but a few hours drive away from me. The whole thing has been extremely stressful, particularly since I didn't know I'd even been named as executor until after the death (and sole executor at that).
You need to raise this with the firm, going the regulatory route will not speed your process.
Find out who the lead partner is for the firm and make your point to them in writing, using no more than five or six bullet points and leaving out the bit about your family, work and distance. Just tell them what they are doing wrong and how this makes you unhappy with their service.
Then tell him what you want. You probably want a decent proportion of the fees to date cut and a guarentee that the case will be properly supervised from now on.
Give them your phone number and tell them you would like a call.
If they don't pick it up then transfer your case to a new firm to regain momentum and seek advice on whether the original firm have any case to answer in the way that they have handled your business.
Find out who the lead partner is for the firm and make your point to them in writing, using no more than five or six bullet points and leaving out the bit about your family, work and distance. Just tell them what they are doing wrong and how this makes you unhappy with their service.
Then tell him what you want. You probably want a decent proportion of the fees to date cut and a guarentee that the case will be properly supervised from now on.
Give them your phone number and tell them you would like a call.
If they don't pick it up then transfer your case to a new firm to regain momentum and seek advice on whether the original firm have any case to answer in the way that they have handled your business.
I'll add one thing from a personal experience.
Expect to get dicked around.
Very similar set of circumstances with solicitors leaving companies, files being lost, then found but with vital documents missing, people retiring etc.
I lost out as execution dates had been missed, but found no joy in complaining and was generally pushed from pillar to post until I lost the will to write any more letters, visit any more snakes or phone any more professional (yeah, right) bodies.
The case is still floating around, the house in question sits empty and in general I would probably advocate a fire bomb.
On SP&L the old bill are often accused of closing ranks.
We were amateurs in comparison.
But, like the Murphy's............
Expect to get dicked around.
Very similar set of circumstances with solicitors leaving companies, files being lost, then found but with vital documents missing, people retiring etc.
I lost out as execution dates had been missed, but found no joy in complaining and was generally pushed from pillar to post until I lost the will to write any more letters, visit any more snakes or phone any more professional (yeah, right) bodies.
The case is still floating around, the house in question sits empty and in general I would probably advocate a fire bomb.
On SP&L the old bill are often accused of closing ranks.
We were amateurs in comparison.
But, like the Murphy's............
You don't want to hear this but...
The same happened to a chap I worked with and it dragged on for almost 3 years, he was the sole beneficiary in the will and it just came down to sheer faffing about by an old solicitor. He ended up getting very official through the various societies before anything happened.
The same happened to a chap I worked with and it dragged on for almost 3 years, he was the sole beneficiary in the will and it just came down to sheer faffing about by an old solicitor. He ended up getting very official through the various societies before anything happened.
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