My grandfather left me his house in his will. It is out of probate for 3 months now and still not in my name. My father is executor and until the last few weeks was not great with communication with the solicitor. The last couple of weeks he is phoning every few days and not getting proper answers. She actually forgot it was even out of probate. Would it be a lot of hassle to change solicitor at this stage? If she started working on it could it be in my name quick enough? There is no mortgage or any other monies owed on the house
Solicitor advising on probate not returning calls
- Thread starter Jillkd
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I don’t know what you mean by “out of probate”.
You can always change Solicitor, but you may expect the current Solicitor to raise a bill for any work done.
If Probate has been granted, then it’s a simple matter of paying the estate debts and transferring the property. If the Grant of Probate has not been extracted, the bill would be less than it would be if the Grant has been extracted.
It’s not good that the Solicitor is not communicating but August is traditionally a time of year when Solicitors are on holidays as the courts are closed.
You could always threaten to lodge a complaint with the Legal Services Regulatory Authority.
You can always change Solicitor, but you may expect the current Solicitor to raise a bill for any work done.
If Probate has been granted, then it’s a simple matter of paying the estate debts and transferring the property. If the Grant of Probate has not been extracted, the bill would be less than it would be if the Grant has been extracted.
It’s not good that the Solicitor is not communicating but August is traditionally a time of year when Solicitors are on holidays as the courts are closed.
You could always threaten to lodge a complaint with the Legal Services Regulatory Authority.
Brendan Burgess
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T McGibney
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It is.
If so then perhaps the solicitor should communicate that to their client (paying customer).
@Jillkd , maybe ask the current solicitor in writing if they would prefer if you moved to a different solicitor who had the time and/or ability to complete the task.
T McGibney
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Two sides to this story I suspect.
There usually is but the solicitor is the one getting paid so they should be on the ball, so to speak.
T McGibney
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Hard to be on the ball in relation to an estate if the executor is or has been "not great with communication with the solicitor. "
Maybe so.
@T McGibney, we are speculating here. I do know that my solicitor tells me when they won't be available because they are going on holidays. They are also good at giving me the proverbial kick up the posterior when I'm not communicating properly. My previous one wasn't good at that sort of thing. I wasn't satisfied with the overall quality of the service they were selling me so I moved solicitors.
It's the same for the electrician I use and any other service I buy. When I find a service provider I like I keep using them. When I use a service provider (be that a doctor or mechanic etc) that I don't think is sufficiently good at their job I find a different one.
In that context if I was the OP I'd balance the lack of communication against the hassle, potential delay and additional cost of moving and act accordingly.
There's certainly no point in paying good money for bad product or a product that could be perfectly fine for other people but doesn't suit you.
It's the same for the electrician I use and any other service I buy. When I find a service provider I like I keep using them. When I use a service provider (be that a doctor or mechanic etc) that I don't think is sufficiently good at their job I find a different one.
In that context if I was the OP I'd balance the lack of communication against the hassle, potential delay and additional cost of moving and act accordingly.
There's certainly no point in paying good money for bad product or a product that could be perfectly fine for other people but doesn't suit you.