How much to administer a will

Anniebaggs

We have recieved a bill for 6,000 Euro from solicitor for the administration of my Mothers will. There was no property, all assets were in One bank . They were given these accounts with the accounts frozen by ourselves. Is this a reasonable fee? I would hate to think what it would have been if there was any property to sell!

234

Were you given an estimate of the costs at the outset? It is possible to compliain to the Law Society if you think you were overcharged.

Anniebaggs

My Mother was only person that spoke to solicitor on the day he made up the will so i don't know what was agreed. I dought that she would agree to that figure or that she even asked the question.

234

Talk to the executor as they will know more about the will and the dealings with the solicitor; they might request a breakdown of the charges from the solicitor. The fee for drawing up the will would probably have been very small or free. The cost of administering the estate would not have been agreed when the will was drawn up.

coylemj

Anniebaggs wrote: »

My Mother was only person that spoke to solicitor on the day he made up the will so i don't know what was agreed. I dought that she would agree to that figure or that she even asked the question.

It seems to be the practice of some solicitors when drawing up a will to include a clause whereby the person making the will directs that the same solicitor is used to administer the estate when the person dies. This clause is not binding on the executor who can use any solicitor he/she chooses or (as in my case) they can do the probate themselves.

It's a bit late now but if there was no property and all the assets were in the same bank then that was definitely a case of probate that should have been done by the executor with no solicitor. The whole process (Personal Probate) is documented on the web and is well within the competence of a reasonably well organised amateur.

I don't know what the executor can do at this stage. Was no attempt made to negotiate a fixed fee before the solicitor was given the job of sorting out the estate?

Anniebaggs

My sister is executer. It did go to probate. The only thing the solicitor had to do was contact insurance company. We supplied all information to solicitors. It did go to probate but that was very straight forward. We just got this bill Last week. This has all taken Seven months.
I would just like to know is this average for the work undertaken.

coylemj

Who did the probate - your sister by herself or the solicitor?

If the solicitor did the probate then he is entitled to fees. With no prior agreement as to a flat fee, it is the practice to charge fees which are calculated as a percentage of the estate even though an estate worth millions might be a breeze compared to an estate worth far less but with more complexity to it.

If your sister did the probate by herself then it sounds like the solicitor is trying it on and he certainly couldn't justify that level of fees just for communicating with an insurance company.

Anniebaggs

No my sister did'nt do anything but supply the information and documentation. The solicitor applied for probate.

gizmo555

coylemj wrote: »

If the solicitor did the probate then he is entitled to fees. With no prior agreement as to a flat fee, it is the practice to charge fees which are calculated as a percentage of the estate even though an estate worth millions might be a breeze compared to an estate worth far less but with more complexity to it.

But did the solicitor concerned explain this before undertaking the work?

When you agree that a solicitor can act for you, for example in a court case
or to sell your home, the solicitor must give you the details of your charges in
writing as soon as possible.

The information should include:
- exactly how much your solicitor is charging you, or, if they cannot do
this;
- an estimate of how much your solicitor will charge you, or, if they
cannot do this;
- how your charges will be worked out

Anniebaggs

Hi, we never saw anything in writing and Mam never said anything about what he would charge. I don't believe she would agree to that sum. So we will never know.

acme4242

Your bill was 6,000 euro, what percentage of this of the total estate ?
if its above 3 % than its an unreasonable ripoff.

We got done the same when my mother passed away, unaware of the trickery. The Bill was 8,000 Euro, broken down into trumped up charges such as

to receive letter from undertaker : 350 euro
to forward letter to my sister : 350 euro

Its a learning experience, namely some that come to the wake are not paying their respects, but preparing to pickpocket.

coylemj

Anniebaggs wrote: »

Hi, we never saw anything in writing and Mam never said anything about what he would charge. I don't believe she would agree to that sum. So we will never know.

The process of probate and how much it was going to cost was a matter between your sister and the solicitor. Nothing that was discussed between your mother and the solicitor is of any relevance. She made a will and paid the solicitor for his services, the probate is a completely different transaction and was a matter between your sister and the solicitor or any other solicitor she could have given the job to.

If the solicitor gave her the impression that she had to use him to do the probate because he drew up the will or because of something your mother said then he was chancing his arm big time.

Your mother's estate was definitely a candidate for personal probate, especially since there was no property. No clause in a will can bind the executor to use a specific solicitor or even to use a solicitor at all and if there was any such clause in the will, the solicitor would have been duty bound to inform your sister that the instruction to use solicitor 'x' was not binding on her which of course would give rise to the question 'why did you include that clause in my mother's will if it has no legal effect?'.