How do you find the solicitor who drafted a will

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Dub4Sam

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My mother in law passed away 18 months ago and my brother in law came forward after 6 months claiming to be the executor. No grant of probate has yet issued still and when we queried it he said my husband was left £1200 and that was it. We haven't received that money and aren't in a hurry to. My MIL absolutely doted on and adored my children, her only grandchildren and was constantly mentioning little trinkets and things she wanted to leave in her will to them. She had also said to me about a year before she died, that she had made financial provision for my daughter to do a particular educational experience she wanted to support us with. This will the executor is talking about appears to have been made before the grandchildren were born and I find it impossible to believe that she didn't make a new will to leave anything to them. Also about 6 months before she died she told my husband verbally that she had made a new will and was going to "take care of him".

My question is this... The executor has still not lodged any will with the probate office. We are fairly sure a recent one exists but do not have access to her property to search for it. It may have been less favourable to the executors interests (He lives in my MILs former home) than the will he is speaking of (if that even exists as he hasn't produced it to anyone, and I understand that if he is really the executor he has no legal obligation to do so). Here finally is my question... Assuming she engaged the services of a solicitor to draft the will (she was quite litigious and had the services of many during her lifetime) how do we figure out which solicitor might have a copy of the will in their office? Do we write to them all in the county? Is there a publication where such an advert may be listed for a fee? Right now the executors inaction is in our favour, while we try to find the recent will.
 
Ask the executor for a copy of the will.

You will probably see from that which solicitor, if any, drafted the will.

Then you can ask that solicitor if there was an updated one.

Brendan
 
And this is where our system fails.

We should have a central registration of wills, basic details (name, address, date of will, executor, witnesses) to be accessible by immediate family following testators death. If there's no registered will, then intestate rules would apply.

To answer the OPs question, generally speaking the executor is expected to have processed the probate application within a year. You can start a legal action if you wish, though I would caution against that given the amounts involved. Have you asked for a copy of the will?

If you know the trinkets are of low value and still available, you could ask to have them as momentoes for your children.

When a relative passed away, I invited all family & friends to call and take any book, picture, cd etc that they might like to have to remember the deceased.
 
A tough one unfortunately.

Neither the executor nor the solicitor(s) who acted for the deceased is obliged to communicate the content of any will or details of their dealings with a client to any 3rd party. All dealings must be through the executor.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Ask the executor for a copy of the will.

You will probably see from that which solicitor, if any, drafted the will.

Then you can ask that solicitor if there was an updated one.

Brendan
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We did ask to see it and he said "the solicitor" sent us a copy a week after the testators death by registered post and that I must have torn it up. The man is not well. He was my MILs carer and she his in a way. His relationship with us could be characterised as hostile especially since he has assumed this role of power. But he has produced nothing to anyone to back it up. My husband stumbled across cherished childhood toys in a second hand shop within weeks of her passing.
Brendan Burgess said:
Ask the executor for a copy of the will.

You will probably see from that which solicitor, if any, drafted the will.

Then you can ask that solicitor if there was an updated one.

Brendan
Click to expand...
We did ask and were refused any details at all. Suffice it to say that the executor is hostile and quite enjoying his power. We are considering launching a caveat against probate to give us some time to either find the will we suspect he has hidden or destroyed and/or challenge his capacity to carry out the duties of executor. It’s been 18 months and he has done nothing. He had her cremated without informing anyone and just announced it then. He dumped her ashes in a nearby river. She was adamant she wanted to be buried with her father. The property he lives in In worth in the region of €300k. That is his likely motivation.
 
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if it was 'accidentally torn up' then there should be no difficulty in solicitor sending you another copy.
 
Ravima said:
if it was 'accidentally torn up' then there should be no difficulty in solicitor sending you another copy.
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We have sent a solicitors letter to "the solicitor" asking if he is acting on behalf of the estate or the executor and whether he is the one handling these affairs and received no reply. He didn't send us anything and we tore nothing up. I suspect the only one who may have torn up her recent will is the one who is supposedly executing this 1990s will which nobody has seen.
 
I'm amazed you persuaded a solicitor to write to another posing those questions. There was only one likely outcome to such a communication IMO and you've seen it.
 
mathepac said:
I'm amazed you persuaded a solicitor to write to another posing those questions. There was only one likely outcome to such a communication IMO and you've seen it.
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You don’t persuade solicitors you instruct them. I had a similar situation a while back, but it was resolved when I instructed my solicitor to give my brothers solicitor 24 hours to deliver up the will or I‘d start proceedings for a grant of letters of administration.
 
mathepac said:
I'm amazed you persuaded a solicitor to write to another posing those questions. There was only one likely outcome to such a communication IMO and you've seen it.
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What is so unusual in asking a solicitor if he is handling a particular matter on behalf of an estate? If he is, then he is also acting on behalf of any beneficiary, which is us.
 
If instructed by the executor, a solicitor acts exclusively on behalf of the executor *not* the beneficiaries. Responding to threats of litigation against a client is very different to answering random questions about who s/he might or might not represent or work s/he might / might not have undertaken in the past.
 
I'm a bit shocked at this. The solicitor who drew up my will has gone out of business since, and I *assumed* that the will was registered somewhere. I have a copy - but I assumed this wasn't the only copy!
 
Gordanus said:
I'm a bit shocked at this. The solicitor who drew up my will has gone out of business since, and I *assumed* that the will was registered somewhere. I have a copy - but I assumed this wasn't the only copy!
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Find out who they sold the practice to , they will have your will
 
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