Will and Sol fees

H

hon3ymonster

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A member of my family passed away and we are in the process of getting the solicitor to execute the will. The persons house has to be transferred in the name of his wife as well as other financial assets.

The solicitor hasnt given an upfront fee and has stated it will be a percentage of the value of the property and savings but he isnt sure how much.

Is this normal practice for a will? Is there any where I can get some advice on this? This sounds very suspect
 
Yes, normal practice.

Ah, % of asset fees, don't you just love them?? Great for the sol when house and share prices were rising.

If the sol is named as the executioner, then I don't think there is much you can do.

In my case, I made sure my parents did NOT put their sol down as the exectioner. I will deal with the probate myself.


You seem to be choosing a sol? This suggests that a sol is not named as the executioner?
 
Protocol said:
... If the sol is named as the executioner, ..
Click to expand...
I knew times were tough with the conveyancing conveyor-belt seizing up, but I didn't know the legal profession had resorted to this extreme measure to earn a crust. Still its all in the spirit of An Bord Snip Nua; instead of having "Judge, Jury & Executioner" we'll now have "Solicitor & Executioner" saving the state the cost of 12 good citizens and true...

(sorry, I can't help myself) :eek:
 
Re: Sol and legal fees for a will

This is standard. It can depend on how much work is involved, but in your case it seems to be straightforward. In which case a solisitor may invoice you for less (apparantly it happens), however the industry standard is 2% on the first 10k and 1% thereafter. Open to correction.
 
Re: Sol and legal fees for a will

Not standard. Actually now very unusual. In a very straightforward case, it would be easy to give an idea of fees.

OP should insist on a S. 68 letter - this is a letter from the solicitor to the client setting out the proposed fee structure. OP should ask that no work be done on the file until this has issued. The solicitor is obliged to issue this letter to all clients. At the earliest possible opportunity.



mf
 
All assets which were in both names automatically transfer to surviving spouse, no need to include this in Probate. Only assets which were in sole name of deceased spouse are the issue. When my father died we did not take out Grant of Probate, it was only when my mother passed away that we then applied for Grant of Probate.

Secman
 
I have recently had a similar experience where, after pressure to provide an estimate of costs, the solicitor quoted as a % of the estate. I shopped around, took references and appointed a solicitor at 25% of originally quoted cost!

Some solicitors seem to expect big money for old rope.
 
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