When you have read mf1's link, you need to sort out a couple of things:
1. You should decide who, among you, is to play a lead role (note that a grant of administration is normally given to an individual who, in your family circumstances, should be you or one of your siblings).
2. You need to ascertain how far the solicitor has advanced matters, and arrange for a handover of material if a new solicitor is to be appointed.
Whether the current solicitor or another one is to work on the estate, you should recognise that the solicitor is technically working for the administrator. I am not suggesting that whoever is the administrator should interfere a great deal, but he or she is entitled to know what is happening. That one person should be the channel between family members and the solicitor.
You should also be realistic: even though your father was, as you say, a very private man, it is likely that family members will have more chance of discovering things than a solicitor who is something of a stranger to the family.
Two things in what you say about the solicitor who is currently involved disturb me.
First, it seems he gave you to believe that your deceased brother's children had no entitlement, and then changed his position. The rights of your nieces/nephews is so clear in law that there never should have been a doubt about it, and if you thought otherwise either your solicitor was wrong or your understanding of what he said was wrong.
Second, you have the impression that the solicitor might be shutting you out. That might be justifiable if one of your siblings is the chosen administrator and the solicitor is dealing with him or her, but you give the impression that every family member is being shut out. If that is so, that is not right.
You should read again what mf1 has said. You might not like the forthright style, especially if you are feeling a bit raw, but he is a well-respected poster here for good reason.
1. You should decide who, among you, is to play a lead role (note that a grant of administration is normally given to an individual who, in your family circumstances, should be you or one of your siblings).
2. You need to ascertain how far the solicitor has advanced matters, and arrange for a handover of material if a new solicitor is to be appointed.
Whether the current solicitor or another one is to work on the estate, you should recognise that the solicitor is technically working for the administrator. I am not suggesting that whoever is the administrator should interfere a great deal, but he or she is entitled to know what is happening. That one person should be the channel between family members and the solicitor.
You should also be realistic: even though your father was, as you say, a very private man, it is likely that family members will have more chance of discovering things than a solicitor who is something of a stranger to the family.
Two things in what you say about the solicitor who is currently involved disturb me.
First, it seems he gave you to believe that your deceased brother's children had no entitlement, and then changed his position. The rights of your nieces/nephews is so clear in law that there never should have been a doubt about it, and if you thought otherwise either your solicitor was wrong or your understanding of what he said was wrong.
Second, you have the impression that the solicitor might be shutting you out. That might be justifiable if one of your siblings is the chosen administrator and the solicitor is dealing with him or her, but you give the impression that every family member is being shut out. If that is so, that is not right.
You should read again what mf1 has said. You might not like the forthright style, especially if you are feeling a bit raw, but he is a well-respected poster here for good reason.