solicitor fee for distribution of estate

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lorr01

Registered User
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197
hi,
I just want to enquire on behalf of a family member about a english solicitor charging 23,000 sterling for distruibuting of a relations estate and it taking 2 years to do this, is this a crazy amount of money or is this normal, i have the statement of accounts and it seems to be all phone calls to various people and im just curious as to peoples views on this,

thanks a mill
 
They must have been long phone calls. Were there any premium-rate numbers listed?

On the bare facts as posted, it sounds a bit extreme.
 
No they didnt specify tel numbers or length of calls either!!, Is there anything i can do about it to find out if they charged to much? Maybe show the law society the bill or something, but its an english solicitor so the law society mite not deal with it..

an example on one of the invoices was; from jan -march
Professional services in administration of estate including correspondence with Mr. x solicitor in ireland and telephone attendance and correspondence with ms. y relation and mr, y relation and charges to date are 1670 sterling

could this be right?
 
lorr01 said:
...english solicitor charging 23,000 sterling for distruibuting of a relations estate and it taking 2 years to do ...
Click to expand...
Who was the executor / personal respresentative of the deceased person (the testator)?

The solicitor concerned will only interact with the executor as the executor is the client. No-one else was the client, no-one else can complain, no-one else is involved so its between the solicitor and the client.
 
I'd imagine the 23K is a percentage of the estate. If you said the estate was worth 50K and the fees were 23K then I'd say that was not normal but if it was a 2 million estate then it wouldn't sound like a lot. Also depends on the complication of the work involved. The English Law society (not sure what it's called) would be your best bet for information on English probate fees.
 
Bronte said:
I'd imagine the 23K is a percentage of the estate. If you said the estate was worth 50K and the fees were 23K then I'd say that was not normal but if it was a 2 million estate then it wouldn't sound like a lot. Also depends on the complication of the work involved. The English Law society (not sure what it's called) would be your best bet for information on English probate fees.
Click to expand...

I had an elderly relative die a year or so ago and the solicitor involved said he no longer charged a percentage of the estate as soaring property prices meant disproportionate fees as a property was ususally the main part of the estate. He said he now charged a flat fee which seemed fair to me. I think the 23K fee is probably a percentage and that the UK solicitor is legally right to take it - but morally you've got to wonder. If for example there was one asset ( a house) worth 2 mil there can't be much more work involved than an estate where the only asset is a house worth 250K - yet on a percentage basis he could charge 8 times the fee.

Probably worth querying the fees but as with a lot of services fees should have been discussed and agreed up front (you'll probably find they were and are in a letter he sent at the beginning)
 
Bronte said:
I'd imagine the 23K is a percentage of the estate. If you said the estate was worth 50K and the fees were 23K then I'd say that was not normal but if it was a 2 million estate then it wouldn't sound like a lot. Also depends on the complication of the work involved. The English Law society (not sure what it's called) would be your best bet for information on English probate fees.
Click to expand...


Bronte,

The relation who died didnt have a house as he was in a flat and paid rent, he just had savings.. to me by looking at the breakdown of costs it looks all phone calls to both solocitor in ireland and to the executor..

thanks
 
FredBloggs said:
I had an elderly relative die a year or so ago and the solicitor involved said he no longer charged a percentage of the estate as soaring property prices meant disproportionate fees as a property was ususally the main part of the estate. He said he now charged a flat fee which seemed fair to me. I think the 23K fee is probably a percentage and that the UK solicitor is legally right to take it - but morally you've got to wonder. If for example there was one asset ( a house) worth 2 mil there can't be much more work involved than an estate where the only asset is a house worth 250K - yet on a percentage basis he could charge 8 times the fee.

Probably worth querying the fees but as with a lot of services fees should have been discussed and agreed up front (you'll probably find they were and are in a letter he sent at the beginning)
Click to expand...

fredbloggs,
There was no house as he lived in a rented flat he just had savings, maybe the uk solicitors did tell the executor who is 88 years old how much they would charge but she sure didnt tell the rest family involvoled. Like the irish solicitor charged 2k in same length of time so i was shocked to see the price the uk solicitors charged.. Maybe it is normal for distrubution of estate i dont know.

thanks
 
The Solicitors Regulation Authority are the independent regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. Their website is here.

Their code of conduct is [broken link removed]

Check if the solicitor concerned is governed by this body. There is a link on the website.


Even better there is a complaints handling website, [broken link removed]

Apparently there are time limits for a complaint about a bill:

"Time limits on complaints: Are there any? What are they? There are time limits for

  • making a complaint about poor service
  • reporting a solicitor's conduct
  • applying for a remuneration certificate
It's important for you to contact us before these deadlines. If you leave it any longer, we may decide not to investigate your complaint.
Poor service

If you want to complain about poor service, you must contact us

  • within six months of the end of the work the solicitor did for you, or
  • within six months of finding out there was a problem
Whichever is later
Solicitor's conduct

If you want to report a solicitor's conduct, you must contact us within six months of the conduct having taken place.
Solicitor's bill

When your solicitor informs you of your right to apply for a [broken link removed] (many solicitors do this in a statement printed on the back of the bill), you have one month to apply to your solicitor in writing for a remuneration certificate.
If your solicitor doesn't inform you of your right to apply for a remuneration certificate – and they have already taken their costs from money they are holding for you – you have three months from the date you receive the bill to apply to your solicitor in writing for a remuneration certificate. Call our helpline – 0845 608 6565 – if you're concerned about meeting a deadline."
 
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You're making the mistake of thinking that a phone call is nothing, normally solicitors would bill by the time spent, they probably have an hourly rate and an hour of their time on the phone is the same as an hour spent doing paperwork or advising clients. I've worked in American and English practises and the bills were unbelievable, they even charged their evening take away meals to the clients accounts when they worked late which was every night. I'd say the solicitor has a log (timesheets) of all the work done. What was the value of the estate?
 
Dachshund said:
The Solicitors Regulation Authority are the independent regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. Their website is here.

Their code of conduct is [broken link removed]

Check if the solicitor concerned is governed by this body. There is a link on the website.


Even better there is a complaints handling website, [broken link removed]

Apparently there are time limits for a complaint about a bill:

"Time limits on complaints: Are there any? What are they? There are time limits for

  • making a complaint about poor service
  • reporting a solicitor's conduct
  • applying for a remuneration certificate
It's important for you to contact us before these deadlines. If you leave it any longer, we may decide not to investigate your complaint.
Poor service

If you want to complain about poor service, you must contact us

  • within six months of the end of the work the solicitor did for you, or
  • within six months of finding out there was a problem
Whichever is later
Solicitor's conduct

If you want to report a solicitor's conduct, you must contact us within six months of the conduct having taken place.
Solicitor's bill

When your solicitor informs you of your right to apply for a [broken link removed] (many solicitors do this in a statement printed on the back of the bill), you have one month to apply to your solicitor in writing for a remuneration certificate.
If your solicitor doesn't inform you of your right to apply for a remuneration certificate – and they have already taken their costs from money they are holding for you – you have three months from the date you receive the bill to apply to your solicitor in writing for a remuneration certificate. Call our helpline – 0845 608 6565 – if you're concerned about meeting a deadline."
Click to expand...

Dachshund.

Thank you very much for looking into that for me, your very good..

lorr
 
Bronte said:
You're making the mistake of thinking that a phone call is nothing, normally solicitors would bill by the time spent, they probably have an hourly rate and an hour of their time on the phone is the same as an hour spent doing paperwork or advising clients. I've worked in American and English practises and the bills were unbelievable, they even charged their evening take away meals to the clients accounts when they worked late which was every night. I'd say the solicitor has a log (timesheets) of all the work done. What was the value of the estate?
Click to expand...


Bronte;

I would rather not say exactly what amount the estate was esp on a forum but it was a 6 figure amount..And i obsiously know the phone calls are not nothing when they are charging 23k sterling for it bronte!!! as on the statement of accounts it seems all phone callsbut i do think they are making a mistake charging that amount and i would like to see log sheets of times of phone calls and anything else they are charging that price for esp when the irish solicitor did the same amount of work in same time frame and charged a normal enough price..
lorr
 
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