RainyDay said:Ask him for an estimate now, and remind him that given that he failed in his legal obligation to provide you with an estimate up-front, he needs to make sure the estimate is acceptable to you.
Would you rather have a fight with him now when he reckons you own him €x or wait a few months until he reckons you owe him 3 x €x? I can't see any reason why you wouldn't want to get it into the open how. I understood from this thread that he was obliged to provide you with the quote up front.Chamar said:Do you think its worth potentially rattling his cage for that now given that work started 10 weeks ago? What do I do if I don't like the estimate? Was he legally obliged to give me one? If so its a bit much of him to have expected me to tell him.
ClubMan said:Have you made your dissatisfaction known to them directly yet? After all, if you don't complain then they may thing that you are happy. Don't be afraid to insist on getting a suitable/professional service. I personally would not take the confrontational approach suggested above but I certainly would ask for an outline of the expected charges and make any concerns about the service to date known to them. If the worst comes to the worst you can always decide that you are not happy with the service and seek alternative advice. Can I ask you how/why you chose this solicitor or were they appointed by somebody else (e.g. nominated in the will or is this the job of the executor?)?
ClubMan said:Meant to say - condolences on your loss. I know that my mother found it extremely to deal with estate and financial issues when she was still grieving after my father died a few years ago especially since he was old style and generally took care of that side of things. However it's not just a cliché to say that time is a great healer and that the grieving process, once worked through in whatever way and at whatever length it takes for a particular individual, does come to a logical and gradual "end".
ClubMan said:Do you have to deal with this stuff now? It may not be the best time (as mentioned on the other thread about investment decisions) to be making big decisions right now. If you must deal with it now (I'm not sure about the practicalities and implications of delaying the processing of a will) then do you have somebody close that you can trust to assist you with these matters where you might not be able to rely on your own judgement? I realise that this stuff is off topic from the core financial/legal issues involved but they are practical issues all the same so hopefully you'll find some use in my comments.
MOB said:"What's the form called that solicitors are supposed to give clients containing details of their estimated charges? And does this apply in all cases or just conveyancing?"
Clubman, there isn't a particular prescribed form. There are some template letters in common use. The letter giving fee details is referred to as a "section 68" letter. When taking initial instructions from a client for a fairly straightforward matter, I will jot down notes of the indicative fees and outlays (along with notes of the issues covered in initial advice) and at the end of the meeting I will simply give the client a photocopy of my notes. This is perfectly adequate to meet the "Section 68" requirement.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?