Solicitors

[ChrisWren]

Is it right that lawyers can earn more in one hour than some people earn in a month? Worse than that is the fraudulent claim that they are doing such highly complex work that no mere mortal could possibly attempt it!

Today I helped a widow that was going to be charged around £2000 by solicitors to obtain probate! Her bank advised that this was a typical figure! It is a very simple case because everything from her husband goes to her. It seems so sad that at a time when she is so vulnerable, the unscrupulous take advantage. Shame on them!

[Woody]

A top london solicitor was driving along a busy road. Suddenly, a 38-tonne lorry came out of a side street and straight into his brand new BMW.
The police soon arrived to assess the situation and find the solicitor jumping up and down shouting "My car, my car!"
"Sir", shouted the policeman, "Don't worry about your car, it can be replaced. Look at your left arm, it's been torn off and mangled."
With that, the solicitor looked down and started shouting, "My Rolex, My Rolex!"

[Red Herring]

Chriswren, let me educate you.

Firstly, Solicitors chargeout rate is not what they earn but what the company earns.

Secondly, the bank may well have suggested that £2000 is a ball park figure however once a solicitor actually discusses the matter with the lady in question it will become very clear very quickly that probate won't cost anywhere near that much due to it being very simple and everything going to her as the widow and if it really as simple as everything passing to the widow then you may not even need probate!

Thirdly, the cost may be because the solicitors are appointed as executors of the will in which case they will charge a fee to adminster it. That is the choice made by the deceased who could have appointed a relative for free.

Fourthly as i am married to a solicitor let me explain just how hard they work to even qualify. First of all they need very good GCSE's and A' levels in order to get into a good University, then 3 years of study for a degree, followed by 1 year at Law School at a minimum cost of £9k! Then they have to endure 2 years of training on the job at a shite wage when they have to start paying their debt. In fact my wife was in £24k worth of debt when she started work and she lived at home through uni and law school imagine the debt otherwise!

Whilst people see lawyers as an unnecessary expense unfortunately people need lawyers and are actually worthy professional advisers to people and businesses.

[normalbloke]

Chriswren, let me educate you. snip,snip,



Fourthly as i am married to a solicitor chop,chop how hard they work .. etc etc

HTH

[flipty]

I've also encountered this. My father passed away in February of last year. My mother approached the solicitor who drew up their wills, sorted out house moves etc and was quoted, AFTER the initial assessment discussion, a fee of between £2,500 and £3,000 for dealing with the probate. Thankfully she rang me before signing anything and I told her to return home and that I would be over later that day as I had dealt with my father-in-laws estate the year before.

The probate in this case was simple, as she was the sole beneficiary of the will. From memory, it costs £90 to file probate yourself as an individual. The completed forms (which the Probate Service will help you complete, they even provide a helpline that you can call), together with a death certificate and the will, plus the fee, get sent to the appropriate office. The applicant attends for a single interview, where they may be accompanied if they wish, then the request is assessed. The whole process took approximately 4 weeks, but can take up to 8 weeks.

In the case of my mother, her solicitor basically wanted in the region of £2,500 for not much more than filling in a form (the probate fee is actually only £40 I believe when a solicitor applies on behalf of a client). And they wonder how they get themselves such a poor reputation in some circumstances....

[Woody]

Very useful info flipty.. Thanks

[Peter101]

We used a solicitor to deal with power of attorney and a probate matter recently. She quoted us £3000. the actual bill was £7000 with no warning of an increase on the estimate. She wrote unnecesary letters, made unnecesary phone calls. One letter was to inform us of a cheque she had recieved for £7 (a dividend from an investment) she charged about £25 for the letter! Shysters the lot of them!

[annemcmahon2]

I dont think people see solicitors and lawyers as unnecessary expenses. I do believe that when the need arises most individuals are willing to pay for their knowledge and experience and expect to pay a fee. What we dont really appreciate is the unscrupulous ones taking 5 letters instead of one to deal with something or even some one who in this day and age of high technology is willing to respond to an email for speed but insists on making an appointment charging out at around £150 an hour.

I do have a solicitor I use for house purchases and other matters that have always adopted a very common sense approach ie one off quick chat with my husband over a drink rather than formal appointment and costly fee, and have even refunded costs when an error was made with out me even asking. This is Polsons in Botley they are very good and reasonable.