Do I need a solicitor to process a will??

S

Scruffy Man

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Hi, my father in law passed away a few months ago and my wife and I are now dealing with his estate. Do we need to use a solicitor for this and if so how much should we pay...... the solicitor told me on the phone it would be a percentage of the assets. If it was possible I would nearly rather do it myself as from my experience with solicitors they drag things out for ever. Plus, I feel it is hard to justify the fees they charge when it would take me months to earn that!
Thanks
 
Scruffy Man said:
Hi, my father in law passed away a few months ago and my wife and I are now dealing with his estate. Do we need to use a solicitor for this and if so how much should we pay...... the solicitor told me on the phone it would be a percentage of the assets. If it was possible I would nearly rather do it myself as from my experience with solicitors they drag things out for ever. Plus, I feel it is hard to justify the fees they charge when it would take me months to earn that!
Thanks
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So - you don't know how much it would cost to engage a solicitor, we don't know the extent of the assets or whether there are any complicating factors and, whatever about the above, you feel it is hard to justify the "fees they charge " ( which you don't know) when it would take you "months to earn that!"

Yes, you can do it yourself. You can contact the Probate Office and they will assist you.

If you want to engage a solicitor, you are paying them for their time. If you don't want to do that, or if you don't like the fees you are being quoted, either get alternative quotes or do it yourself.

mf
 
I would suggest a solicitor if it is a complicated estate, but if it is fairly straight forward you can do it yourself & the probate office are very helpful. Dublin Probate Office

If you do engage a solicitor, verify what they will do for you and what is covered in the fees. My solicitor sent me off to get all the paperwork (statements from all the accounts, valuations etc). This is actually the time comsuming part. So I decided to finish off myself & just got him to do the transfer of the property.
 
Thanks MF1 and Sam,
If I do need to collect all the valuations and bank statements then I am sure I will be able to finish off the job myself with the assistance of the local probate office.
I also think that I could do it faster than a solicitor as he has lots of other clients and I am not nescessarily priority number 1.

The quote was about 2% + VAT on a 500k estate, so 10k + VAT and not a very complicated estate IMO.
Thanks for replies
 
sam h said:
=My solicitor sent me off to get all the paperwork (statements from all the accounts, valuations etc). This is actually the time comsuming part.
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No it isn't. This is the -anyone with half a brain-bit. The rest is the difficult bit ( depending on circumstances).
 
If it is straight forward you can DIY, I did. It's not complicated, and staff at the probate office have to be the most helpful, well trained people I have come across in the public sector.
 
No it isn't.
Click to expand...
it isn't what? "half brain-bit" doesn't equal "time consuming".
In my case
- There were details of accounts and policies from probably every financial institute in Ireland (many no longer valid or closed - but had to make contact to verify). Had to follow up on a potential 80 accounts/policies at about 25 different institututes.
- Some were still valid but the bank/institute had merged with another or changed their record-keeping method & were using different a/c numbers. Different institutes wanted different documentation.
- Sometimes tooks 4 or 5 calls to get through to the right person (+follow up a month later)

Once all the docs are in place - then comes the easy bit! Make an appointment with the probate office. A hour with a very helpful probate officer who signs & stamps everything, sends us off the get a doc stamped by Revenue and about 4-6 weeks later = grant of probate.

The solicitor did deal with the transfer of property.

Even a "half brain-bit" like me can manage!!:D

BUT as I said before...if it is complicated by foreign accounts/property, business, tax issues, etc - definately consult a solicitor.
 
While a solicitor isint necessary (but it is advisable) where does a Commissioner for Oaths fit in to the picture?

I've heard of a Comm Oaths signing the back of a will, is that something to do with probate?
 
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