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

This thread is getting increasingly acrimonious. I know from reading GN that GSM is a solicitor and have seen the expert advice, offered freely and with good will, that must have helped a lot of contributors but it is just possible that KeepingQuiet did not know this. I have also seen responses on here (NOT from GSM) that are absolutely incorrect.
To Hello I say just follow GSM's advice.

I discovered recently that an ex-boyfriend of mine, a Chartered Accountant, has since served a prison sentence for fraud and has been involved in further frauds. It really took me by surprise, he seemed so straight and honest when I went out wirth him.

Every profession has bad apples, care workers, doctors, solicitors, painters and decorators, but if you are going to go tgeough life not trusting anyone, then you are going to have a pretty miserable life.

One just uses sensible caution and then trusts people, and yes, I have been let down now and again, but mainly all the people whose expertise I have trusted in have justified that trust.

Thanks Norah.

OldFrill

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

They could.

Veiled nasty barb, though as it certainly Not true GSM is a liar. She is quite helpful when people ask legal questions.

There are bad apples in the profession. In the 80s my then firm had to take over the files of a local solicitor, previously well thought of, who had been found guilty of mortgage fraud. On looking through the files it was clear he had acted appallingly. He had been introduced to clients in Hong Kong who wanted to buy property in the UK - he really gave them no advice at all, simply sent them documents to sign. I don’t condone such behaviour or pretend that it doesn’t happen.

Germanshepherdsmum

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

You can’t really blame some people for being suspicious, GSM. One who lived only two doors away from us was not so long ago banged up for fraud and money laundering.

In general I do have all due respect for the profession, though.

Ah well, at least you can prove the cheque was cashed. He probably steamed the stamp off the sae and reused it …

Jaxjacky

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

I was executor for my Mum but even though I dealt with it all in a timely fashion and sent accounts and cheque and a SAE to acknowledge receipt of it all, a family member refused to do so although he was in the Bank the day after he received the cheque.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks Smiles.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 …

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.

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.