Can we sack the solicitor?

[Katrine]

OH and I are now my mother's legal guardians. We have both financial and welfare Guardianship (the Scottish equivalent of Deputyship).

My parents' solicitor (Solicitor A) retired some 5 years after my father's death and sold her legal practice to another firm of solicitors. This firm (Solicitor B) has therefore 'inherited' my mother as a client.

When I started the Guardianship process a year ago Solicitor B did not have partners who specialised in this area of law so we instructed another firm (Solicitor C).

Solicitor B is now refusing to release my mother's Will. We want to terminate her client relationship with Solicitor B and have her Will lodged with Solicitor C. Solicitor B has sought advice from his professional body to prove that our authority to act is limited because the Order does not explicitly refer to her Will.

Obviously fellow TPers will not have seen our Guardianship Order, and may not have experience of the Scottish legal system. I am asking more generally for your experience of changing solicitors on behalf of someone else. Have others found that this has been refused?

 

[Soobee]

In England, we were not able to move our mother's will from Solicitor A to Solicitor B, despite us building a negligence claim against the original solicitor.

They would only release the will on her death.

 

[ITBookworm]

Is Solicitor B charging for holding onto your mother's will? If not I would just leave it there. I would think it a safe bet that he wants to hold on to the will so that he (might) get any work needed when Mum passes away.

When FIL died hubby went to the solicitor holding the will, showed them the death certificate and walked away with the will. We got someone entirely different to do the work. As long as Solicitor A (or their successor Solicitor B) is not named as an executor I can't see any way that Solicitor B can require you to use him for any work.

If he is charging for storage at the moment under pre-existing instructions from your Mum things get a bit more awkward. I wouldn't expect that. Any case I have come across the solicitor is doing storage for free on the expectation of getting further work but it is never guaranteed.

 

[Katrine]

Thank you both. Solicitor A is named personally as co-executor. Solicitor B said, a year ago, that this meant his firm would not automatically field someone to be an executor when the time comes. Solicitor A is still an executor. It doesn't matter that she's no longer in practice.

I guess you're right. It's easier to leave the Will where it is. There has been no mention of a storage fee. It just annoys me that they can hang on to it, thus creating a situation where my mother has 2 solicitors. I'm sure there will be fees to pay in the end but that will be a matter for the executor/s to sort out. At least we can demonstrate that we tried to consolidate her legal affairs.

 

[ITBookworm]

There shouldn't be a fee for storage - absolutely not even so much as a whisper of that for FIL.

The solicitor makes money when the will is written, stores it for free and hopes to make money again doing any work needed. There isn't really any client relationship if there is no work actually ongoing.

Much tidier I agree to have everything with the same firm but not required Our house deeds are with a law firm in Aberdeen (where my sister worked at the time we bought the house), our wills are with a firm in Glasgow (where friend of sister worked who wrote them for us) and any actual handling/rewriting of the wills would be done by said friend who now works for her own firm. Heaven help her sorting it all out if we fall under a bus without documenting everything Basically individual transactions each time.

 

[Katrine]

As you were, mini tantrum over!

Thank you again, ITBookworm. I am now reassured that it is not unusual to leave the Will where it is.

Swish.... the sound of another task being crossed off the Guardians' list.

 

[Cornishman]

For info - My mother passed away last month and my parents' will had been written and lodged with a local solicitor almost 20 years ago.

As there are now only 2 bank accounts with now not a lot in them (the family home having been sold in 2004 to pay for care fees along with financial assets), and the will simply dividing the estate equally between 3 children, we've decided to do probate etc ourselves.

(Here's HMG's "how to do it" guidance if anyone's interested: https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview )

I spoke to the solicitor's office yesterday, and I can simply call in and collect the original will at the end of the week once it has been obtained from their off site repository, for which I understand there will be no charge.