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

*meal out gift
(Correction)

Just want to say how lovely your meal out was PamelaJ1 - I'm so sorry for the loss of your dear friend 🧡

If you are one of the beneficiaries, the solicitor will write to you asking you to provide your bank details and documents to verify your identity and address. That is all, you do not have to sign any contract.

If there is no will, the beneficiaries can nominate someone they can trust in writing to act as executor of the estate.

With my husband's cousin estate who die intestate , the biggest beneficiary is the Inland Revenue, followed by the solicitor.

Is the solicitor concerned the executor of the will? If so he is acting for the deceased person's estate. So surely acting for a beneficiary as well is going to be a clash of interests at the least, possibly even unethical.

A will is a public document so a copy should be available. Personally I'd take some free legal advice from CAB or similar

I was an executor of my mother's will. My sister was too. The solicitors firm did what was required (at enormous expense). We didn't have to sign a contract but we're very aware that they wanted us to become clients of theirs. There were offers of lunches out or trips to local events. We declined.

That’s as it should be.

I was a beneficiary in a friend's will and all I had to do was show proof of ID when they were sorting it out.

😊

Germanshepherdsmum gives good make up advice too. 😍😍

Thank you very much Coolgran and sunglow. Much appreciated.

Unfortunately bigmama a search will only reveal a will which has gone through probate as there is no central registry of wills made but not as yet probated. I would be very surprised if a solicitor were asking for a commission to represent the beneficiary of an intestate estate - that would, to my mind, be very unethical. Unless the OP returns with further information it’s impossible to say what this contract is about. All very odd.

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?

Are you sure they left a will?
Asking you to sign a contract smacks of dying without leaving one and the closest living blood relatives are being asked to sign so the solicitors can represent you for a % commission. Have you seen a copy of the will? Depending on when the death was you might be able to buy a copy from the governments probate site. probatesearch.service.gov.uk/
They only cost £1.5o if you decide to investigate. You need to be careful and read what the contract says. Good Luck.
I work as a Probate Researcher and do this all the time x

Having realised from reading this that GSM is a retired solicitor- it is very generous of her to give advice - she doesn’t need to but does it - her kindness in doing so is quite rare so thank you GSM .

GSM I always read your posts and advice with interest. Please continue to do so.
For 25 years I worked in two different legal practices. I know how hard the solicitors work. Often taking work home which kept them busy until the wee hours. The secretaries etc also worked very hard to meet deadlines and support the solicitors. In all those years I never ever saw anything but professional service. Indeed snippy comments have steam coming out of my ears even though I'm now retired 15 years.
Indeed my dh was a police officer and the same applies when I hear snippy comments about the force. Some people don't know what they are talking about.
Once again, thank you GSM

Thank you. Very much appreciated. I always find tarring all solicitors with the same brush very hurtful, though I only acted for commercial clients and not those likely to be posting on GN. Unfortunately many people seem to accept a cheap quote and then complain about the service - as with everything in life, you get what you pay for. Many seem to expect to pay a solicitor what they would pay a plumber, though they have as little idea of legal practice as they do of plumbing. My plumber is excellent. So is my solicitor. Their charges are very different and I know why that is. Do we really expect a solicitor’s hourly rate to be the same as a plumber’s?

I have no reason to dought GSM and the advice given is usually when people ask, this is OK, but on Mumsnet, a solicitors asked people who are not solicitors not to give legal advice, as in most cases it is wrong.
I would never give legal advice as it is not a area I have any experience in GSM does.

I am shocked, but not entirely surprised by the snippy remarks re and to GSM who is under no obligation to offer advice on legal matters but does so out of the goodness of her heart.
As for tarring the whole profession with the same brush you might as well say all grans are grumpy, narrow minded and short sighted.
It’s so easy to snipe at professionals- their fees being a major bone of contention, but how much more dies a person stand to lose when they insist on trying to do their own conveyancing or execute a dodgily drafted will. What next? DIY brain surgery? Dental extractions? Burials?
Get real.

Thank you. Some solicitors are an embarrassment to the profession and to those of us to whom standards of service and integrity are of the utmost importance. They bring the profession into disrepute. I am very much ‘old school’.

Germanshepherdsmum

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.

This is so true! When getting my divorce I had a lovely solicitor who was recommended by someone who used her for his divorce and also by his ex wife who wished she had! Some way down the line my MiL complained to me that my ex was being charged huge amounts and my solicitor was holding things up, costing him a fortune. As my solicitor copied me in to all her emails to his solicitor I knew this was untrue! I'd received emails such as "Please can you reply to our email of the xth inst etc" so I knew it was his solicitor going slowly. In the end I forwarded all relevant emails I received to my ex so that he knew the truth! MiL didn't have a lot to say after that. I suspect she may have recommended said solicitor as he was in her home town and ex was living abroad.

As for GSM's advice, I have often read people's opinions about the law and thought 'I don't think that's right' only to have GSM correct them. It is great to have answers that can be trusted. Thank you GSM!

Unusualfor a beneficiary to be asked to sign up to any contract. Sure it isn't if you are an Executor to the Will, that would be more likely to happen but still no obligation on you to sign up with the solicitor. You can ask any solicitor if you need help as an Executor.

Sewingsusie - you do not mention whether this firm of solicitors is the executor of the will, or not, as far as I can see, which might be relevant.

I suggest you follow Germanshepherdmum's sound advice and phone up and ask them what exactly the contract is about, and get a copy of it and of the will sent to you.

Thank you, that’s very kind.

I think GSM is the only qualified Solicitor on this forum. Correct me if I’m wrong. Strangely enough I read all her replies whether they affect me or not 😂. My lovely Dad was in the legal profession, so I have a soft spot for her 😍

I studied law as part of my degree, but I am not a legal professional. This is why, when ever I respond to a legal query, no matter how sure I am of the answer, I will always refer to later confirmation by GSM

Thank you.

I post on here but only rarely, due to time pressures at present.
I am happy to identify myself as a retired solicitor. I worked in what I guess was the same or similar field as GSM and consider her advice is always accurate and practical.
It is a shame when people snipe at professions and yet often have the benefit of expert advice to prevent posters falling down rabbit holes or being given wrong advice.