Can a beneficiary dispute legal fees

[Corkscrew]

I have a question for anyone knowledgable on this subject.

Next of kin is my Brother in law, and cared for deceased relative for the past 8 years and looked after all affairs and has been essentially told he has no say in anything as it has passed to executor, fair enough, but executor is working for the legal firm dealing with probate and it seems allowing excessive legal fees be charged to which next of kin had questioned.

Executor of the estate in question was a friend of deceased whom my brother in law knew fairly well also, He is an employee and personal friend of the solicitor he appointed to deal with probate. Could this Be a conflict of interest?
Executor has indicated cost could be 2% and that he can also request to be compensated for his time. Family members felt 2% which could be 15-20 k (due to value of house) was very high for something that appears straight forward ( I know not always the case still seems excessive fee though) and will eat up any monies left in the account after funeral costs.
Property is left to next of kin who has lived there for many years and will continue to do so, he was told there would be seperate legal fees involved to changed deeds to his name when time comes , any idea what this usually costs roughly?
the Will instructed the money in account to be dispersed between various family but that money will be gone on legal fees. Next of Kin cant get responses from Executor about any queries and has been told he has no say in any financial matter anymore and will be informed when probate is back, overall executor has become cold and unresponsive.
it is approaching one year since the person passed away and all account information was handed over immediately and is still at stage of assessing assets and liabilities would this be usual, also would this fee be usual?
Do beneficiaries have any right to question or challenge the fees charged?

Sorry few seperate questions thrown in there.
Thanks

 

[mathepac]

that he can also request to be compensated for his time.

Executors can be compensated for out of pocket expenses incurred solely and exclusively in the administration of the estate, but not for time spent administering the estate e.g. if he needs to pay for a death certificate, he gets a receipt and claims that cost back but he cannot claim for the time spent walking into town or queueing for it.

 

[Curlywurly]

There is what is known as the Executors year. The personal representative i.e. The executor must distribute the estate as soon after death as is reasonably practicable but proceedings against him cannot be brought before the expiration of one year from the date of death without leave of the court. A person interested in the estate may issue a citation requiring the executor to prove the will where they have failed to do so. See rules of Superior Courts Appendix Q forms 23-32. It is lodged in the Probate Office. If you ring around some solicitors they will give you a price for transferring the ownership of the property. You will need to know the value and it would be useful to know if the property is registered in Land Registry. Price quoted may not include vat or outlays. Likewise you can get quotes for extracting Probate so they can be compared with the amount being charged by current solicitor. Good luck.