Solicitor for an elderly relative-help please !

nicebutdim

Morning all !

I find myself in rather a strange situation and was hoping that the good people of the board could point me in the right direction please.

I am the only Irish resident kin of my 2 very elderly Aunts ( 97 and 94 ). Neither married so along with my siblings, I'm also the closest kin they have. I'm sure that they would have had legal representation at one point but they have lost contact with them, have moved a number of times and there is no correspondence to indicate as to who it might be. I'm guessing that their original solicitor would have passed away or retired at this point. All I wish to do is to rejoin the dots, so to speak, and reconnect them with their representation. Thankfully, there isn't an urgent requirement at the moment, but i was just looking for suggestions as to how I might identify who the firm would be.

Thanks for reading

ResearchWill

An add in the Gazette may be able to find the firm.

dats_right

ResearchWill wrote: »

An add in the Gazette may be able to find the firm.

The aunts are still alive. Client confidentiality would dictate that a solicitor could not disclose this information to a third party until the testator dies.

How about this for a novel idea, why don't you just ask your aunts about whether they have made wills or not?

ResearchWill

dats_right wrote: »

The aunts are still alive. Client confidentiality would dictate that a solicitor could not disclose this information to a third party until the testator dies.

How about this for a novel idea, why don't you just ask your aunts about whether they have made wills or not?

I am assuming the aunts can't remember, so the Aunts can put the add in the gazette, also I do not think it is a breach of client confidentiality to state you are a persons solicitor. Once solicitor is identified then the best thing is for the aunts to re engage that solicitor and execute powers of attorney if they have capacity.

The OP also said "and reconnect them with their representation." there was no mention of the OP asking for or wanting private info.

coylemj

I assume the aunts are both compos mentis as otherwise they wouldn't be in a position to brief either a new solicitor or the old one. They clearly don't have what you would call a professional 'relationship' with any member of the legal profession so why don't they just engage a new solicitor - preferably one younger than themselves which shouldn't be difficult!

By making a new will they will render void any previous wills so just go and get a new solicitor. If you think the old solicitor might be dead or retired then I can't see the point in chasing after him, you could literally be chasing a ghost!

nicebutdim

Hey, thanks for all of the replies.



Sole motive is just to get everyone together again, and ensure that they have proper legal representation in place before they absolutely need it. I've no desire to interfere or even get involved. One of the ladies is not really compos mentis, and I'm pretty sure that there is no Power of Attorney lying dormant anywhere, and obviously no chance of getting one in place at this stage. Her older sister is still pretty capable but memory is shot. Would she still become a ward of court or would the duty of care fall on the older sister or someone else? It's a bit like making a jigsaw without the picture

The main reason that I need to contact the old solicitor is that there may be shares/certs that they need to fund continuing care. Ad in the Gazette is a good idea.

coylemj

nicebutdim wrote: »

The main reason that I need to contact the old solicitor is that there may be shares/certs that they need to fund continuing care. Ad in the Gazette is a good idea.

Sounds like wishful thinking, why would a solicitor hold on to share certs and are they getting dividends from such shares? If they have dividend slips and don't have the share certs, there is a well established procedure to get replacements, you contact the registration service and they'll tell you what you need to do.

nicebutdim

Banks used to hold share certs in their vaults for people but no longer do so in most cases. It makes sense for a solicitor to hold on to Certs for elderly people who don't own their own front door

Milk & Honey

You think some solicitor is holding share certs for your aunts? You should look at the wills made by your grandparents and your own parents. You may be able to identify a solicitor firm who acted. If any of them owned registered land you may be able to find the name of the solicitors firm from the land registry. You may be able to track down a solicitor firm used by your family in the past. It does not mean your aunts dealt with them.

coylemj

nicebutdim wrote: »

It makes sense for a solicitor to hold on to Certs for elderly people who don't own their own front door

It might 'make sense' for the client but I can't for the life of me see what's in it for the solicitor. What it means is hassle if the person dies and there's a squabble amongst the next of kin.

dats_right

ResearchWill wrote: »

, also I do not think it is a breach of client confidentiality to state you are a persons solicitor.

I'm afraid you thought wrong.

A GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF SOLICITORS IN IRELAND states:-

"A solicitor has a professional duty to keep confidential all matters coming within the solicitor/client relationship including the existence of that relationship.".

Have you asked the ladies themselves about their Wills? This is the most obvious thing to do. There are a number of possibilities here; (i) it could be that they do not wish to discuss this with you as it is their business and people sometimes don't like relatives poking their noses into their affairs, it is entirely possible that their affairs have been well planned out and the executors of their Wills are aware of this; (ii) it may also be that they have no Wills and will die intestate; (iii) it may be that they did execute wills and same are stored in their house/with a solicitor/with bank or whatever and details will be easily found upon their death, alternatively; iv) they may have made Wills which will never be located because they cannot remember where they stored them.

Also, I have never seen an advert in the Gazette asking: "Would any person having knowledge of a Will made by me, please contact..." I think a solicitor would be very suspicious of such a notice. Especially having regard to the age of the ladies concerned and the possibility of undue influence and mental capacity issues arising. Unfortunately any such notice is very unlikely to yield results. As the reality is that solicitors do not review their Wills directory every month to check these notices in the Gazette. The words needle in a haystack come to mind.

nicebutdim

dats_right wrote: »

I'm afraid you thought wrong.

A GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF SOLICITORS IN IRELAND states:-

"A solicitor has a professional duty to keep confidential all matters coming within the solicitor/client relationship including the existence of that relationship.".

Have you asked the ladies themselves about their Wills? This is the most obvious thing to do. There are a number of possibilities here; (i) it could be that they do not wish to discuss this with you as it is their business and people sometimes don't like relatives poking their noses into their affairs, it is entirely possible that their affairs have been well planned out and the executors of their Wills are aware of this; (ii) it may also be that they have no Wills and will die intestate; (iii) it may be that they did execute wills and same are stored in their house/with a solicitor/with bank or whatever and details will be easily found upon their death, alternatively; iv) they may have made Wills which will never be located because they cannot remember where they stored them.

Also, I have never seen an advert in the Gazette asking: "Would any person having knowledge of a Will made by me, please contact..." I think a solicitor would be very suspicious of such a notice. Especially having regard to the age of the ladies concerned and the possibility of undue influence and mental capacity issues arising. Unfortunately any such notice is very unlikely to yield results. As the reality is that solicitors do not review their Wills directory every month to check these notices in the Gazette. The words needle in a haystack come to mind.

Thanks for the reply.

All of the scenarios you've outlined are possible

re i) they themselves have asked me to look into this for them completely unsolicited. As I said before, I have no interest in interfering. Quite honestly, I already have plenty on my plate with my own family commitments. If they have executors, they are unaware of who they are.
ii) very possible. They may pass away intestate, but if they are deemed competent, they shouldn't have to.
iii) again, very possible. However, there is no sign of anything. If anything is in place, how would it be activated if there has been no contact for years....genuinely not a smart arse question, I don't know the mechanics of the process.
iv) again, possible

nicebutdim

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nicebutdim

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ResearchWill

dats_right wrote: »

I'm afraid you thought wrong.

A GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF SOLICITORS IN IRELAND states:-

"A solicitor has a professional duty to keep confidential all matters coming within the solicitor/client relationship including the existence of that relationship.".

Have you asked the ladies themselves about their Wills? This is the most obvious thing to do. There are a number of possibilities here; (i) it could be that they do not wish to discuss this with you as it is their business and people sometimes don't like relatives poking their noses into their affairs, it is entirely possible that their affairs have been well planned out and the executors of their Wills are aware of this; (ii) it may also be that they have no Wills and will die intestate; (iii) it may be that they did execute wills and same are stored in their house/with a solicitor/with bank or whatever and details will be easily found upon their death, alternatively; iv) they may have made Wills which will never be located because they cannot remember where they stored them.

Also, I have never seen an advert in the Gazette asking: "Would any person having knowledge of a Will made by me, please contact..." I think a solicitor would be very suspicious of such a notice. Especially having regard to the age of the ladies concerned and the possibility of undue influence and mental capacity issues arising. Unfortunately any such notice is very unlikely to yield results. As the reality is that solicitors do not review their Wills directory every month to check these notices in the Gazette. The words needle in a haystack come to mind.

While there may be an issue of ability to give consent, once valid consent is given then the rules say as follows.

"A solicitor has a professional duty to keep confidential all matters coming within the solicitor/client relationship including the existence of that relationship. These matters can only be disclosed with the consent of the client or by the direction of a court."

littlemac1980

nicebutdim wrote: »

Hey, thanks for all of the replies.



Sole motive is just to get everyone together again, and ensure that they have proper legal representation in place before they absolutely need it. I've no desire to interfere or even get involved. One of the ladies is not really compos mentis, and I'm pretty sure that there is no Power of Attorney lying dormant anywhere, and obviously no chance of getting one in place at this stage. Her older sister is still pretty capable but memory is shot. Would she still become a ward of court or would the duty of care fall on the older sister or someone else? It's a bit like making a jigsaw without the picture

The main reason that I need to contact the old solicitor is that there may be shares/certs that they need to fund continuing care. Ad in the Gazette is a good idea.

If all you are really concerned about is their need for care, and from what you're saying about their mental condition, you could always approach your own solicitor and ask them about the Wards of Court process. You don't need to find the Ladies' own old solicitor or such.