Executing a will

[lesleyt01]

My uncle died 2 years ago. In his will he left his half of the house to his widow who was his second wife and the remainder of his property to his immediate family. His widow has since sold the house and has taken her money but we have only had an interim payment from the will. The solicitor has said that the shares certificates he had are lost and hse has had problems getting them replaced.

Do we have grounds for complaint against her and how do we go about this as his will was made with and English solicitor and we are in Scotland?

[Barmaid]

I am assuming the deceased was domiciled in England, and thus the use of english solicitors. If that is so, your whereabouts should have no impact on the situation.

Replacing share certificates does not happen anymore. All he needs do is write to the company registrars and confirm the holdings - everything is now held on the paperless Crest system. Indeed, sounds to me as if he is struggling with this so I would be inclined to suggest he gets a stock broker to sort it out.

As for the wife - she was left a specific gift of the house. Specific gifts are always paid out before the residue (which is what you get, I think) and she has the right to sell it or retain it as she wishes.

It can take several years for an estate to be sorted out. Mind you, this does not sound unduly complicated so it is possible that it is the solicitor who is dragging his heels.

Write to the solicitor and ask him for an update on the present position. Leave it 28 days. If he does not respond, write a letter asking him if he is still instructed by the executrix and explain that in view of the delays and lack of info you are considering applying to the Probate Registry under s25 Administration of Estates Act 1925 for an inventory and account and holding his client personally responsible in costs. I've never known a letter threatening that not to have the right results.

[lesleyt01]

Thanks Barmaid. I suspected that was the case about share certificates.

I've written on several occasions on behalf of the family members and been fobbed off with excuses. The last time was in July and was told that she was still waiting for a response from Equitini about the shares and she had registered a complaint about the handling of the replacements. She said that she would "diary it for 6 weeks and then update us". As yet nothing received.

We suspect that as she is not the solicitor who drew up the will but lives in the same village as my late uncle that his widow has used her as she may be a family friend. She never answers her calls or returns messgaes left and on the occasion when she has answered is very snippy and says she has to write to all 5 of us individually so is costing us money.
I will write, as you suggest, stating the process for replacing shares etc and hopefully this will hurry things along.

Thank you again so much for the advice.

[themas]

1. Is she a solicitor? [I've known someone pass themselves off as such when they weren't.] Check with the Law Society.

2. She doesn't have to write to each of the 5 individually. She simply sends each of you a copy of the same letter. Big deal in cost terms - 4 more stamps & 4 more photocopies & 4 more envelopes!

3. Either she's snowed under with work and can't be bothered to give this the attention it should have, or she's incompetent. Follow Barmaid's advice.