Many thanks for the reply.
The Executor is not a family member; he was my late father’s solicitor.
We do realise that 117 costs come out of the estate of the deceased.
Yes we the beneficiaries have each received direct correspondence from the solicitor of the person claiming the 117. I see your point about contacting a solicitor, but I still do not understand why the beneficiaries should have to. We have no knowledge of my late father’s business, what’s left is his will, it speaks from the grave and that is what the executor has to work with and anyone else who receives a copy.
Who pays the costs of discovery, the estate perhaps but not the beneficiaries?
If there are costs involved in a 117 then it is the named beneficiaries who loose out of their share of the estate, but they shouldn’t be threatened for information that someone thinks may be out there.