Lawyer in Scotland be warned rant coming, no need for replies just need to rant.

Felice, if once everything is sorted and you are still unhappy with the way the solicitor has handled things, you can always contact the Law Society for advice.
www.lawscot.org.uk/for-the-public/client-protection/complaints-against-solicitors

I hope you find a resolution.

You did not need this. I am not a great fan of solicitors in any sphere. Sorry you have had this hassle.

Have a glass of ? with the Mac n cheese.

,,,^
Thnaks x

felice, many condolences on your loss.

I am sad to say this is a problem often encountered these days in Scotland. Most people went to their local corner shop firm to have their wills handled, and the quality of private client and executry work done by such firms is exceptionally variable and at the sharp end, very poor as you are sadly finding out.

Marydoll is right to direct you via the Law Society if after all this shakes out, you want to formally complain. Complaints are now handled by a separate body, the Complaints Commission - see www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk/making-a-complaint/complaints-process.aspx and perhaps have a look at the site more generally to get a feel for matters.

I would say that you would be horrified at how long an uncomplicated testate succession can take if the firm has poor case management and is not being prodded frequently by the executors. It absolutely should not be required of you to prod, but I would counsel you to do so to make sure matters are concluded in a reasonable time frame.

The estate of a relative took five years to wind up, despite being of very modest size and entirely uncomplicated, due to the heirs’ reluctance to occasionally put a rocket up the firm’s backside. Please also do not feel reluctant to put your views via letter. It is somewhat more difficult to ‘misplace’ correspondence from the file than to ‘forget’ to make a file note of a phone call.

My condolences Felice I remember your posts about the difficulties with your mother’s care home
I hope you can get everything sorted before your knee op
xx

You just don’t need this op! My condolences at the loss of your mum and why can’t these people just do their jobs!

Keep ranting , Felice .
I'm sorry that you've lost your Mum , xxx
Hobbling with a sore knee and now having to sort all this out whilst living abroad must be making you pull your hair out . Big hug x

Thanks everyone, to make matters worse I went to make my normal fortnightly phone call to my birth Mother last night only to find her phone is dissconnected.
No one else in the family knows of our relationship so if anything has happened to her it would not probably occur to them to try and contact me.
DBF is trying to find out more for me today.

Condolences Felice the last thing you need when your in the first throws of grief is all this trauma. I hope you get your mother’s estate sorted and that you hear good news from your birth mother.

My pennyworth.

I went to a solicitor to make alterations to me will. Was recommended by someone who works in the Law society offices.

Years pass then I get a letter from the solicitor who dealt with family affairs.

Said solicitor who drew up my will was struck off!

In any barrel of apples there are always bad uns

I think this is mainly lethargy and 'out of sight, out of mind'.
I was concerned at the time that a junior would be doing a lot of the work, but everyone has to learn, and I assumed she would be overseen at every stage.
The fact that the Solicitor I employed has been on holiday off and on for 7 weeks since the 17th of July seems to mean there has been no supervision at all.
Well, if things are not tied up within 14 working days I will involve the Notary here and any fees ensuing will be paid by the Solicitor in Scotland.
I have informed them of this and as the forms were sent with tracking I know they signed for them at 13.57 today.
No confirmation yet from them that they have received them.
I am going to be bald by the end of this.

Nearly a week on and still no word from Solicitor, the high heid yin is back tomorrow and I have a carefully worded letter to her to be sent both by email and recorded delivery.
My DBF an accountant is copied on all the emails and I forward any sent from them to him, a cousin(on my Fathers side) has offered to go into the office but without a POA he cannot do anything, although perhaps it might shake them up to know someone is around.
DD is getting fed up of me moaning about it and SO keeps telling me how it is done here, not really very helpful.

I feel they are probably seeing me as a greedy person who just wants the money, but it is not a huge amount and I need to get it sorted out before I go into Hospital in January, they know I am going in.

I got in touch with my birth Mother, Sky had for some reason dissconnected her phone when she did not want to take a new internet package with them. She does not use the internet, just phone and TV.
Now with Virgin and all sorted, I had 5 days of hell worrying about her. My brother eventually got round to giving me her new number, he does not know he is my brother so wasn't rushing about it.
Thanks for letting me have another rant folks.¨

Those lawyers will be charging by the hour and will deduct their fee from the estate. The fewer the hours necessary the better. I suspect a lowly paralegal will be doing all the work but you'll be charged for a seniors time. Bitter memories!

As the senior told me she would be out of the office and the junior would be doing the work the bill will reflect that. If not there will be fireworks.
My first impession probably did not come over well, I had been traveling for 2 days due to delayed flights and then the airline had lost my luggage. I was wearing my 'traveling clothes' not exactly business atire.
The junior also has not been very circumspect in her emails actually admitting to telling lies and not reading my emails properly.
We are still in the EU so I have no problem engaging the Notary I recieved all the information from to sort it out.
They also saw me as the grieving daughter not knowing that my mother actively disliked me and we had little or no loving relationship. I loved my father and he loved her so i did my duty.
One of the reasons I am surprised she left everything to me.

Still bashing my head of the wall, had an apology of sorts from the senior lawyer, and a promise that all the problems will be taken into account when they send me the bill. I want to see it before it is deducted from the estate.
Now been told they are going to send everything to a Law Accountant, I have checked this out and it is normally only used if there is a dispute over the costs.
As I have no knowledge of the costs yet I assume they are covering their backs. Trouble is I will have to pay the Law Accountants fees.
My Mother must be spinning in her grave, she would be so angry. The whole business is making me ill, I am stuck in the house, and just getting more and more depressed.
Not helped by good friends leaving Belgium soon, one of those things here, people move with work all the time.
Moan over, thanks folks.

One day you will receive the residue of the estate and this unpleasantness will fade in your memory. Have a think about what you might do with any money you might receive. Make a plan for something to look forward to.

Thanks Jane, I have quite a list to be honest, as I am on invalidity benefit here i can only keep a certain amount in the bank after 6 months of receiving it.
So a spending spree is on the cards. Again i am boring DD with what i plan to buy, Ikea first then Media Markt, I have one of those TVs which is huge at the back, probably more than 20 years old.
I just hope it is sorted before i go into hospital in January as I want to buy a tablet instead of lugging this elderly laptop in with me.

I thin this is quite normal from small town law firms.Many years ago when we were selling our first flat we discovered the lawyer who had done the work when we bought it had made a huge error ,our attic conversion wasn't actually legally ours? We had to pay to have the plans approved and the building work checked and the extra costs of the people who were now buying the flat.When we asked the lawyer if compensation would be considered his reply was no chance SUE ME !! We didn't we were young and worried about racking up costs we couldn't afford so we just never used him again .Instead we used a city lawyer whose fees were 5 times the old boys at home .Our next purchase went through in jig time with no problems at all and we've used the same firm for the last 36 years .Loads of folk just use whoever is handiest and quite often thats the guy in the high street .Hope you get it sorted soon .

I think that is part of the problem Paddyann, I did not have the time or the energy to hunt around for another lawyer. I just used the one my Mother had used to write up her will and the POA.
I have actually pointed out that I live in Brussels not Ulan Bator, although having friends from there the service would probably have been better .
My accountant is Scottish and UK based so he knows the law in Scotland with regard to estates. He is as frustrated as I am. He is also my BF.