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Must a solicitor who has been holding a will complete probate

  • 05-04-2009 12:30pm
    #1
    MementoMori
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,492 ✭✭✭


    Simple question (I think)

    Person Alan draws up a will dividing his estate between three sons and leaves it with Solicitor Barry. Alan tells sons "I have split everything among all of you equally. There is no-one else in the will" Ten years pass - will is not updated.
    Person Alan dies. Solicitor Barry would normally complete probate and all other legal activities relating to the will.

    However is it possible that the three sons could go to Solicitor Barry pretty much immediately after death and say to Solicitor Barry "Thanks very much for doing the job of looking after the will but we'd prefer Solicitor Colm to complete probate on the will. Please forward all the relevant info to him as soon as possible and send us on your bill for looking after the will for the last ten years?"

    I know what I'm describing would be an unusual situation and in the normal course of events the solicitor who was holding the will/who it was drawn up with would handle it all the way through but is it possible to switch to a different solicitor after the death of the individual?

    Also on a related note how do solicitors figure out what they charge for these services?
    I would presume it's mainly based on the complexity of the estate but how exactly is this determined?


Comments

  • #2
    Quaver
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 185 ✭✭Quaver


    It is possible, and happens quite a lot. Usually, Solicitor Colm will write to Solicitor Barry and say that he is representing the Executor if the will (this will often be accompanied with an authority from the Executor) and could Solicitor Barry please send the original Will to Solicitor Colm.

    Also, fees are usually charged on a percentage basis (e.g. 5 or 10% of the value of the estate), or one can negotiate the fee beforehand with the Solicitor.


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