Solicitor Has Lost Will

[chris858]

My Mother passed away recently,and it now transpires that the solicitors have lost the will.They still have the draft copy of the will but they are now proceeding as if there is no will.In my mothers will she had left me the flat we lived in.But now my sister believes she will get half of the flat.Is there no way i can get my mothers wishes adhered to?I live in scotland,so I understand the laws of probate are slightly different.

[woofgang]

ok, either they are the executors of your mother's will as written OR she died intestate and they can't be her executors. If they are presenting a copy of the will and the bank is accepting it, it sounds like they are behaving as executors. Either way, get proper legal advice NOW.

[EdgeofDarkness]

I smell bandits. As has already been said, if there is legally no will, then what the hell is the estate to do with these solicitors. The letter from them to admit that they lost the will is for you a powerful document. On conclusion of this, don't forget to report the solicitors to the Ombudsman (Law Society is usually a waste of time because they all stick up for each other) and go on sites such as solicitors from hell.

[Canary42]

I would be tempted to go to the police.

[Peter Pedant]

um then they are proceeding as if there IS a will

and NOT as if there is no will ..... see your OP
You probably need to see the solicitor ( who's lost the will) and find out what he is doing - it looks as tho he is proceeding as BM has said

The issue I think is that at some time your sister is gonna say there is no will and under the rules of intestacy...etc
but I think you have to wait for that to happen

[chris858]

I've had legal advice this week,apparently they can continue as executors.One solicitor said the draft can be presented to court to be accepted as a replacement for the lost will,another solicitor said the estate is intestate.Confusing.

[murraymints]

Contact law society in Scotland for advice....

http://www.lawscot.org.uk/home

[chris858]

Update time,It's a copy of the will they have not a draft.It's been signed by my mother.Also the executor has withdrawn and I am applying to court to take over as executor.

[maggiebee]

Great news chris. Maybe things will move on now. Good luck.

[factor-fiction]

Glad to hear it was a misunderstanding. I would agree that it's unnecessary to pay a solicitor to be an executor in most cases, but will you have to apply to be accepted as an executor if, as I understand you, the copy will names the solicitor as executor

[factor-fiction]

Sorry, i missed the fact that you are applying to the court. Is there a chance your sister may want to be an executor too?

[murraymints]

A simple matter to appoint yourself executor if the original withdraws...I did it for Fil...a matter of taking appropriate paperwork to chancery....in sheriff office in Scotland....pay the fee ....done !

[factor-fiction]

It can be simple, murraymints, but I'm not sure what happens if there are siblings or others who could also want to be executors

[murraymints]

I had similar circa....oh' s brother wanted to get in on act....he'd been systematically stealing from his dad for years....I got in first and executed Will as per...within days....doesn't really matter though as whoever is executor they have to do as will says !

[Cazzboo]

I have just come across this on the internet and would just like to share with you all that my brother Chris is not the innocent person that he is making himself out to be. My Mum died of a large tumour that rendered her bedridden for over two years and in all that time my brother visited her three times as he said he was unable to travel etc and he only visited her because I drove him there and back. When I went to see the solicitor on my own because Chris wasn't up to it (which I know now is all lies) they informed me at that point they had lost the Will and would have to treat it as an intestate death with a Deed of variation written in exercising my mothers wishes. When I explained this to Chris and advised him that as an intestate will it would be treated as a 50/50 split he verbally threatened me by saying I would never get my hands on my mothers flat as he would take me to court before he allowed me to finish. He had my mum brainwashed for years making her believe that as she had moved us to Scotland from England this was why his life was so sad. He hasn't worked for at least 15 years that I know off and my mum supported him financially in fact after I obtained her bank accounts etc after her death I was able to see exactly how much money he had stolen from her and had been ferreting away in his stash. I visited and did all the running around for my mum while she was hospitalised for over 2 years , I organised the funeral etc as my brother has had us all believe that he was mentally incapable of such tasks but miraculously he is now able to put my mothers flat up for sale deal with solicitors and all manners of people , travel to England and then arrange removals etc my mother left him the flat as she believed he wouldn't be able to do these things as he couldn't communicate well with people , couldn't come to visit her etc , was unable to work. He has never claimed benefits as he didn't need to he lived of my mum both while she was at home and at hospital. I am sad to say that he brainwashed my dear mum all these years. My brother has painted me on here as an evil sister (lol) I just wanted to set the record straight

[factor-fiction]

Thanks, but it's unlikely anyone will see this as old threads don't appear on Latest Posts- I only saw yours because I subscribed to the thread back in March.