Rights as a beneficiary

[dingbat]

Hi,

I have a few queries on an estate of which I am a beneficiary.

The executor of the will is also the solicitor of the estate and married to one of the other beneficiaries of a relatives estate.

Single asset house & lands, solicitors charges ex VAT are coming in at over 10% of the estate value, when queried on the charges was told that the executor has the power to sign off on the solicitor fees (Same person) and that as a beneficiary I have no right to see broken down accounts. Is this correct?

There was a considerable time lapse, eight years between the Date of death and the Date of probate, this has left the estate liable for CGT of the difference in value between those dates, the valuation that the Executor/Solicitor retroactively got for the estate, was one third of the final sales price & I do not believe was a correct valuation, can I challenge this low DOD value?

As the Solicitor is the Executor or the Executor the Solicitor, do I have any means other than the High Court to challenge the fees, or is this a black hole in our laws that allows Solicitors to run wild with their charges?

I have a bunch of other queries, but that will do for now!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Allen]

Have you checked the Legal Services Regulatory Authority website?

 

[thedaddyman]

The attached from the Probate office may help

Rights of the Beneficiaries - Probate.ie

Rights of the Beneficiaries Who chooses the estate solicitor? In the administration of an estate, a solicitor is normally appointed by the person in charge of looking after the estate. When there’s a Will, this person is normally the Executor. If there is no Will, this person is normally the...

www.probate.ie

10% based on the information provided sounds like a rip off and I would seriously consider reaching out to the Law Society to see if you have grounds for a complaint. The threat of doing so may put manners on the solicitor

Why did the sale take so long?