amendment to will

muckyme2

Hi there...my situation is ..a relation of mine passed away in april 2010, i am the main beneficiary of there estate...know i had to pay a considerable amount of money to four other relations.. as stipulated in the will in order for me to receive the estate...know my deceased relation made there will in january 2006..this is the will which i got a copy of upon there death..the solicitor which made my relation will with is also the executor of there estate...my problem is...i have paid the total amount due to relations and all other expenses in relation to the will,but the solicitor last week furnished me with a letter dated june 2008 for a four figure sum to be paid to the local parish priest...this letter is signed by my deceased relation...now if i knew i had to pay this extra money to the priest back in 2010 i would'nt have paid any of amounts of money i did to the other beneficiaries of the will .the solicitors needs a receipt for the commissioner for charitable donations and bequests..my question is this normal practice for a solicitor to give different parts of a will at different stages...iam just afraid il recieve another part of the will in three years time

Santa Cruz

I would feel that the solicitor should have made known all bequests, debts etc. linked to the estate at the time of executing the will. Who were the executors?

muckyme2

The same solicitor

Santa Cruz

Where has this demand for payment suddenly appeared from? If the solicitor has had it in his/her possession for the last few years then they are negligent. I don't believe that there is any obligation on you to pay this. If it was a stipulation in the will so be it but it is not. The will is the mechanism for settling the proceeds of the estate of a deceased person not some letter pulled out of a hat a few years later.

Pat Mustard

OP, you could try ringing the solicitor/executor to ask him for an explanation as to why this has come up now, a few years down the road. If he doesn't give an adequate explanation, you could get independent legal advice from another solicitor.

muckyme2

Hi there..the demand for the money has come from the executor of the will who is the same solicitor who drew up the will in 2006 and this amendment in 2008.. when my relation died in 2010 is was only given a copy of the will made in 2006...i only got a copy of this amendment made in 2008 last week

Pro Hoc Vice

muckyme2 wrote: »

Hi there..the demand for the money has come from the executor of the will who is the same solicitor who drew up the will in 2006 and this amendment in 2008.. when my relation died in 2010 is was only given a copy of the will made in 2006...i only got a copy of this amendment made in 2008 last week

Why is he demanding money from you. Any money would come from the estate. None of this adds up.

234

If he is the executor then you should not be involved in paying any money at all. If you are the residuary legatee then the executor should be paying all the bequests and then leaving you with the rest of the estate.

It definitely should like you should be consulting another solicitor about this.

Peregrinus

It's a bit odd. It sounds as though the solicitor distributed the estate in accordance with the 2006 will, and only later realised that he had overlooked the 2008 amendment and/or the precatory letter, and he's now trying to get back money which, in fact, he should not have paid you.

muckyme2

No money was paid to me in the will,i was left property..

Peregrinus

Is the executor saying that you were left the property on condition that you would make various payments to relatives and, now, to the parish priest?

If not, how come he thinks it's your responsibility to make these payments?

Do you know, were you specifically left the property? Or were you simply left the residue of the estate, after specific bequests to other relatives (and, apparently, to the parish)?

brian_t

The Mustard wrote: »

OP, you could try ringing the solicitor/executor to ask him for an explanation as to why this has come up now, a few years down the road. If he doesn't give an adequate explanation, you could get independent legal advice from another solicitor.

I would be very concerned that this solicitor/executor will be attempting to cover up (what appears to be) his incompetence in dealing with the relatives will.

Was the original will even properly written ?

muckyme2

Peregrinus wrote: »

Is the executor saying that you were left the property on condition that you would make various payments to relatives and, now, to the parish priest?

If not, how come he thinks it's your responsibility to make these payments?

Do you know, were you specifically left the property? Or were you simply left the residue of the estate, after specific bequests to other relatives (and, apparently, to the parish)?

I was left the property on condition i give four other relations x amount of money..plus pay the solicitor...for his services and there burial...there was no mention of paying anything to the priest...i have the property in my name since 2011...iam just wondering can bring me to court if i dont pay this sum of money to the priest???

Bepolite

I'm not a legal professional but I think Peregrinus has hit the nail on the head here. Look like (and this is only a guess) the solicitor has lost/misfiled/forgot about the codicil, found it and has now had an 'oh s**t' moment in relation to an extra payment you were requested to make given that you go the property.

My advice would be to seek independent legal advice if the amount is substantial. If it's not I'd perhaps inquire with the current solicitor how much of his fee is getting refunded to help deal with the issue and whether or not he want to be dealing with a complaint to the law society. To be fair to the solicitor this is only if my premise is correct.

Perhaps the local priest has bumped into the local solicitor in the local pub recently enough? :pac:

Valentine1

Rather than speculating about what the solicitor may or may not have forgotten on recently unearthed it might be best to ask the Solicitor in question for a full explanation about this new amount of money. How it comes about, why you are only being informed of it now and on what grounds you are obliged to pay it. If not happy then seek independent legal advice.

Bepolite

Valentine1 wrote: »

Rather than speculating about what the solicitor may or may not have forgotten on recently unearthed it might be best to ask the Solicitor in question for a full explanation about this new amount of money. How it comes about, why you are only being informed of it now and on what grounds you are obliged to pay it. If not happy then seek independent legal advice.

Sorry I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. OP this is certainly the first step.