Client Account - Interest

My mother's will has been with the solicitor for 18 months now. The process seems very slow to me as it was not a large estate even though her house was sold during this time. The proceeds of the sale of house were lodged to the solicitor's client account - gaining interest. Everything seems to be moving very slow, possibly as the chosen solicitor only works one day a week ( not my choice). Just wondering if it is standard practice for solicitors to keep any interest earned on money sitting in the client account.

The solicitor will have to account for the interest. There are some regulations and guidelines on this.

Hi Royal,

I know it is incredibly frustrating waiting for these things to be processed, and it is hard to understand how it can take so long, but 18 months is not unusual for a probate, even where there is no house to sell. Bear in mind that the solicitor has to wait on the Revenue and Probate offices to go through the motions and this takes time.

As for interest, the solicitor may keep some of it to meet administration costs. They can keep up to .75% and other than that all interest on monies held for more than 3 months is paid to the client.

Good luck.

Kate.

i was under the impression that clients account do not earn interest as a rule

They do earn interest most of the time Thomas. Solicitors don't have to account for interest for clients unless they hold the money for more than 3 months.

Actually in years gone by I don't think solicitors were paid much if any interest on client accounts - I think the Banks have become more competitive in recent years!

As i understand it there are two situations under which a solicitor has to pay interest to the client.
1. If the client asks for it.
2. If the interest earned is over €100.
The solicitor doesn't have to pay over the interest s/he earns on the money but has to pay over the interest the money would have earned at the base deposit rate e.g. less than 1%.