Can a Solicitor Do This?

macy9

I want to get my mother's original will from her solicitor as I am making a personal application for probate and need the original for my interview. My friend said that the solicitor will charge me for getting the original will back. Does anyone know (in general) if that's true? *not asking for legal advise* Just wondering if anyone has had experience of being charged for getting the will back. Any idea how much Id be likely to pay for the privilege? :pac:

browndress

It depends on how long the will was stored for and whether or not storage was ever paid for. The solicitor may not have been paid for drafting the will and the charge may still be outstanding. There will have to be a consultation with you to establish your bona fides. All in all it should not conme to more than 1K.

_JOE_

browndress wrote: »

It depends on how long the will was stored for and whether or not storage was ever paid for. The solicitor may not have been paid for drafting the will and the charge may still be outstanding. There will have to be a consultation with you to establish your bona fides. All in all it should not conme to more than 1K.

Did you just pick that figure out of the air? The estate would have to be very substantial...

browndress

The value of the estate would have nothing to do with it. Most solicitors would do this on a time basis. The solicitor would have to establish that the person asking for the original will was a person entitled to a grant of probate and any executor named in the will would have to be informed. There could be several hours work involved for which most solicitors would charge @ E200 per hour or thereabouts. The making of the will itself may or may not have taken considerable time. If a visit to a nursing home was involved therre could be several hours of work involved. Storage would probably not be that expensive as it is a single document.

macy9

I am the executor and as far as I am aware the construction of the will by the solicitor was already paid for. I just want to get the original so I can get the ball rolling on the probate. The estate is completely straight forward; one house. No accounts, no pension, nothing. That's why I applied to the Probate Office for Probate as opposed to hiring a solicitor to do the probate for me.

I guess I'll just have to call them when they're open in the new year. Just don't want to be ripped off for storing a will.

nuac

solicitor would be entitled to a reasonable charge for retaining the will safely, If you are not known to the firm, they would have to establish your identity.

personally think a few hundred euro would cover all that is necessary. 1000 euro excessive imho,

cassiedoll

there should be no fee for getting an original will from a solicitors.

99% have a will safe and an original will is never sent to an offsite storage facility. If they are charging you money...ask them what for?

If the person who made the will was alive and decided to collect it im sure they wouldnt ask for money!!!!

Jo King

Even if there is a will safe, it takes up space somewhere. Wherever that is, it costs money. Every square foot in a solicitors office attracts costs in the form of rent, heat, light, insurance and rates. Solicitors are perfectly entitled to charge for storage and if they do not, it is only because they are offsetting the costs against some other charges. Solicitors are not charities. Retrieval of items from storage takes time and therefore costs money. Add in the time processing the request to ensure that the person seeking the document is if fact entitled to it and you will find substantial costs are incurred by the solicitor.

partyguinness

browndress wrote: »

It depends on how long the will was stored for and whether or not storage was ever paid for. The solicitor may not have been paid for drafting the will and the charge may still be outstanding. There will have to be a consultation with you to establish your bona fides. All in all it should not conme to more than 1K.

With respect and I agree with 99.9% of what you have said but putting a figure like that out there is irresponsible.

macy9

Thank you for all the replies.

In the end, the accountant and his solicitor got the will back for no charge so I don't know what it would have cost in the end had I went into the firm and gotten it myself.

On another note, I litterally cannot get over how unbelieveably rude the lady I spoke to in the probate office was. Just mind blowing. She proceeded to tell me that people only go there when they don't want to pay solicitor fees and should I not be grieving over Christmas as opposed to starting the probate process. Despite the fact that she had zero knowledge of my circumstance. My jaw was litterally on the floor.

stephenhealy1

Sue her for psychological damage!

partyguinness

macy9 wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies.

In the end, the accountant and his solicitor got the will back for no charge so I don't know what it would have cost in the end had I went into the firm and gotten it myself.

On another note, I litterally cannot get over how unbelieveably rude the lady I spoke to in the probate office was. Just mind blowing. She proceeded to tell me that people only go there when they don't want to pay solicitor fees and should I not be grieving over Christmas as opposed to starting the probate process. Despite the fact that she had zero knowledge of my circumstance. My jaw was litterally on the floor.

Yes that is the Courts service for you...full of bitter middle aged female civil servants...there are a few good ones though.