After her mother died, our Wills Trusts and Estates Solicitors helped our client, Alice*, take over as executor of the Will from the law firm, WAG Davidson. The law firm unreasonably refused to step down as executor, which caused Alice a lot of financial stress while she was grieving her mother.
Alice’s mother wrote a Will in 2011 and passed away in 2018. She left her property to Alice’s son, and the rest of her estate to Alice. The entire estate was valued at around £832,000.
Alice’s mother had appointed WAG Davidson as the executors in the Will. The law firm estimated their bill to come to around £10,000. However, WAG Davidson hadn’t done any work for Alice’s mother aside from writing her will. Alice also felt the estate was simple enough to administer herself, so she asked the law firm to step down as executors.
WAG Davidson refused to step down, leaving Alive no choice but to try and take legal action against them. This was all happening while she was grieving the recent death of her mother.
Helping Alice Take Over Her Mother’s Estate
Alice got in touch with Heather Roberts in our Will, Trust and Estate Dispute team to help her take over her mother’s estate from WAG Davidson.
Despite Alice’s formal complaints as well as Heather filing a letter of claim, WAG Davidson still refused to step down as executors. This unfortunately escalated the matter to a lengthy court battle.
During the court battle, WAG Davidson accused Alice of fraud. They also made false allegations about Alice’s relationship with her mother.
Heather defended Alice at every turn, pushing for her to remove WAG Davidson as the administrators of her mother’s estate.
At the final hearing, Master Kaye ordered the removal of WAG Davidson as the executors of the estate. They also ordered for Alice and her son to be appointed as joint personal representatives.
Master Kaye and the High Court refused two requests from WAG Davidson to appeal, with Mr Justice Fraser dismissing their final appeal in December 2020.
Seven months after the first hearing, Heather’s hard work had paid off. Alice finally got a Grant of Probate in place, giving her legal authority over her mother’s estate. The court ordered WAG Davidson to pay £25,000 in legal fees.
“We’re delighted to have been able to help our client win their case when she should have been settling their mother’s estate, and we will support them as they can finally begin to move on.” – Heather Roberts, Senior Associate Solicitor
If you need to dispute a Will or an executor, our Wills, Trusts and Estates team can help. Give us a call on 0808 273 1515 or get in touch online.
*Not actual names used
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