confidentiatity

It does seem odd that a solicitor would send out a copy of your mother's Will without seeing a copy of the death certificate.

Do you know whether an interim death certificate was issued by the coroner? In cases where an inquest is required an interim death certificate is often issued to allow the Executors / family members to deal with the estate whilst the inquest is carried out. Is it possible that the person who requested the Will presented an interim death certificate to the solicitor?

Do you know the identity of the person who received a copy of the Will, was he or she a co-executor or beneficiary.

You would not automatically become a client on your mother's death unless you had formally instructed the solicitor to act for you or you already have a retainer. However the solicitor should not have released a copy of the Will without seeing a death certificate.

I hope this helps but if you can provide some further information I may be able to assist you further.

Hi Gerad

thank you very much for your respone.

I doubt that there would hacve been time for the person in question to obtain an interrim certificate as my mother died on the Thursday I informed the person in question that eveing, and by saturday morning they were reading a copy of my mothers will to me over the telephone.

The person that the will was sent to was a co-executor and also a beneficiary of the will.

I have now requested that my mothers solicitors provide me with a copy of their complaints proceedure on a number of occasions. The first time I asked the receptionist I was told that they did not have one. On my second time of asking I was given a copy of the firms terms and conditions and on subsequent occasions my request has been either ignored or I have been told that they will not provide me with one as I am not a client and not entitled to make a complaint against the firm.

You need to ask your co-executor if he produced an interim death certificate to the solicitor, if so then as a co-executor he is entitled to see a copy of the Will.

If an interim death certificate was not produced to the solicitor then technically there may have been a breach of confidence.

As to your question of whether you can make a complaint to the solicitor via their internal complaints procedure or about the solicitor I would point you to the Legal Complaints Service website:

http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/faqs.page

 Am I right in assuming that you do not get on well with your co-executor? I also take it that the solicitor who held the Will is not dealing with the administration of the estate?

Thank you again Gerard

You are quite right, I do not get on with my co-executor, stupidly enough neither did my mother they did not speak for the last 5 years. I will telephone the coroners office tomorrow and ask if an interim certificate was issued. Although because of timescales and the fact that the the co-executor lives about 70 miles away I doubt that this would have been the case.

As for the Legal complaints service, I telephoned their help line on friday, I'm not sure if it was the time of day (4:30pm, they finish at 5pm) but the woman I spoke to sounded quite disinterested and told me to write to them, pointing out that I might be dissapointed on a compensation level! When I tried to point out to her that this is not about compensation but about people upholding the law and doing their jobs properly all she had to say was that the service was there for compensation reasons only. I will however check their FAQ and see what I can find.

The firm of solicitors involved are now refusing to answer any questions at all that I ask. I am now considering trying to make an appointment with the solicitor involved and asking him directly why he felt it was OK to give my mothers will out without proof that she had passed away. 

I have unfortunately had dealings with this firm before and know that they do not play by the rules. The problem seems to be that this is a small town and they are the biggest firm of solicitors here. I have actually sat in a court room (representing myself in a family law case) and watched while the judge swapped first name pleasantries with the solicitor that I was opposing.

If all else fails I will depend upon my freedom of speech and the power of the internet to show this firm for what I believe them to be. All I ever wanted was for my mum to have dignity in death, but unfortunately the actions of this firm put paid to that.

This does sound like a very unfortunate situation indeed. I think that your suggestion of trying to meet personally with the solicitor is probably the easiest way of trying to resolve the situation.

You may have an action against the solicitor for the common law tort of breach of confidence but this is a complex area of law and generally the claimant needs to show that he has sufferred some form of loss as a result of the breach of confidence. Such an action would be very expensive and it may be difficult for you to show that you are the claimant (although you are one of your mother's executors) and that you have suffered a loss.

In the circumstances it may be that the solicitor should simply meet with you to explain why he released the Will without sight of the death certificate (if that is the case).