"i havent heard anything back from my solicior yet and its now 8 months , is that normal??"
In the circumstances you describe, this does not seem entirely normal. I think you should schedule a meeting with your solicitor and get detailed advice on the up to date position. It is possible that you have a slightly awkward choice to make. On the one hand, if your solicitor is also the solicitor who made your mother's original will, then it is possible that this solicitor could ultimately be a witness in whatever proceedings you are bringing. If this ends up in court, then in my opinion, you would be better served by having different legal representation, so that the solicitor who prepared the original will can testify (if the need arises) without conflict. However, if it is very likely that this case will settle, and if progress in this direction is already underway, you might not want to incur the substantial extra cost of bringing another legal team on board at this stage. If I were the solicitor, I would already have referred you out to somebody else, though I candidly admit that this would be more out of concern for my interests than yours. None of this should be taken as a criticism of your solicitor - this is not a situation where there is one option that is clearly right and others that are clearly wrong.