Will beneficiary - solicitor wants me to sign a contract with them’

This sounds most odd. As a beneficiary you should not have to do anything. Just wait until the estate assets have been turned into cash and then you should get a cheque for your legancy.

Is their anything special about the legacy? Is it a share of a house or some other asset rather than just a sum of money?

Without details of what the contract is to cover, it is difficult to know whether there will be fee - and agan how this affects your beneficial rights.

A lot of the information will be in the will and if you haven't already received a copy, ask the solicitor for one. Then read it in detail and see what it says.

I am sure GSM will find this thread and give some informed help.

You should still inherit the money regardless. They are just fishing for money which they are very good at, making you think you are better off with their services as opposed to someone else's.

It sounds very odd to me if the OP is just a beneficiary of the will. She needs to ask the solicitor for a copy of the will and exactly what this contract is all about, and its ramifications.

That’s really not what solicitors do keepingquiet. We are bound by professional ethics.

The solicitor will make sure the executor distributes the will according to the deceaseds wishes, what it entails depends on the contract you sign. If you trust the executor I don’t really see the point, if there is trouble in the family it might be useful.

Germanshepherdsmum

That’s really not what solicitors do keepingquiet. We are bound by professional ethics.

Solicit-to ask for, often sexual favours.

I have enough experience to know they produce vast amounts of paper at great cost for very little discernible purpose.

I didn't say it was professionally unethical.

Harsh, keepingquiet, and highly coloured by your own experience. Another definition is "to approach with a request or plea", which is what most people do when approaching a Solicitor, is it not?

keepingquiet I think your remarks are offensive, especially immediately after a reply by a member who is known to be a solicitor and has given so much help and advice freely to members in the past.

Words have many many meanings and the meanings of a solicitor is a qualified legal professional who provides specialist legal advice on different areas of law and is responsible for representing and defending a client's legal interest.

In the same way that many people have the qualification that enables them to call themselves doctors, but if something is described as having been doctored it means that someone has ^changed the content or appearance of (a document or picture) in order to deceive. Are you suggesting that this is what medical doctors do to all your medical notes.

I’ve recently been contacted by a local firm of solicitors who informed me that my friend had left me a small sum to go out for a meal at a restaurant that we both enjoyed.
I had to send proof of ID to their office or pop into our local branch and indicate how I would like to be paid. No contract.

Thank you MOnica. I have yet to meet a solicitor who produces vast amounts of paper ‘for very little discernible purpose’. If keepingquiet can’t discern the purpose that is, of course, another matter …

Germanshepherdsmum

Thank you MOnica. I have yet to meet a solicitor who produces vast amounts of paper ‘for very little discernible purpose’. If keepingquiet can’t discern the purpose that is, of course, another matter …

It was , of course, tongue in cheek but my experiences are all I have to go on.

One example: when buying a house we wondered why we had not received the scheduled papers in the post after a week or so. This was before e-mail. When we asked why the solicitor informed us he had sent the papers to the house we were buying! Yes, everyone can make mistakes.

MOnica- I do not know the person you are referring to and receive all kinds of advice from various people on here whose qualifications to give that advice I don't know.But I appreciate your robust defence of said person.

Keepingquiet I thought everyone on GN knew thatGermanshepherdsmum is a solicitor. She so often identifies herself as such and gives people very helpful advice.

Clearly nor everyone on Gransnet knows this. I am sure she does her best to offer good advice. I am also sure there are many other professional people here who don't tell people how qualified they are to give advice, including solicitors or ex or retired solicitors etc.

If someone is professionally qualified to advise they should make that clear. I have seen many instances of posters stating quite emphatically the legal position regarding a query but giving entirely incorrect advice. How is someone asking a question to know who is and who is not qualified to give professional advice if the advisor doesn’t state their qualification? I have yet to come across another retired solicitor on GN. We do have a retired GP.

With all due respect anyone can claim to be anything on here.

When my mothers estate was dispersed each recipient just had to acknowledge, by email, receipt.

I don't know about other people on GN, but GSM is a qualified solicitor whose expertise is generously given to anyone who asks for it.

I hope you’re not suggesting I lie about my professional qualifications OldFrill.

Thanks Smiles.

Sewingsusie2

Hello
I’ve been named as one of the beneficiaries in my uncle’s will but I don’t understand why I have been asked by his solicitor to sign a ‘contract’ with them agreeing to them acting on my behalf. If I sign will I be asked for a fee and if I don’t sign and cancel the ‘contract’ will I still inherit any money?

I wouldn't sign a contract for anything I didn't understand. It seems to me anyone can make a will with any solicitor, but that solicitor can ask nothing from you until they need to send you something, at which point I suppose they could ask your address to receive mail.

Well I have had cause to be grateful for GSD’s advice. In fact her sensible reply to me was in connection to my previous post on this thread.

As a beneficiary I have been asked for my bank details and then to acknowledge receipt of the bequest. No contract.
I am still dealing with my husband’s will as executor. My solicitor advised what needed to be done and where he could help and gave me a list of charges. I did Probate myself, but needed to use his services for some related matters. The cost was transparent from the outset. He was not pushing for work and was very frank about what I could easily do myself and where a solicitor would be advisable or necessary.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/wills/
Whilst we are on the subject of wills, here is a link to Citizens Advice, with lots of useful information, though it does not answer the OP’s question.
On this particular board, if I offer any information ( rather than an opinion) I normally support it with a CAB link. I am not a solicitor, as GSM is. Whilst we can all speak from our own experiences, it is always useful when expertise can be shared, rather than sometimes spurious information given as fact.

Thanks Pamela.

That’s a good solicitor you have Cabbie, and that’s as it should be. A good solicitor doesn’t push to do things you can do yourself. Your advice as regards benefits is always good and reliable given your links to the CAB. It is indeed the case that spurious information is sometimes trotted out as fact.

OldFrill

With all due respect anyone can claim to be anything on here.

Have you not read enough of *GSM's posts and advice on GN over the years, to be willing to trust her?

I assume you will never post a thread on GN wanting to find about the law on anything, I do not mean as an alternative to proper legal advice, but just out of curiousity.