Our executor's lawyer is slow. He said he wants to wait a month in case a $5k liability appears, which is not really necessary. He's in Queensland, but the estate is in NSW and his NSW lawyer is also slow. We found the will a few weeks ago, and they have been working on the estate for many months, so they should have everything they need. But they still haven't lodged the "Notice of intent to apply for probate". To me, that Notice gets the ball rolling. They have 14 days after lodging that Notice to do the application, so why haven't they done the Notice? They are just not in any hurry for some reason. But it seems that once you sign their contract, they know that it's too much hassle to change lawyers or anything. Is there anything I can do or does anyone have an idea how I can communicate without making them dig their heels in further? BTW, this whole probate process is a joke. Someone should streamline the whole thing.
Is there any way to make a slow laywer speed up?
- Thread starter CliffWalker
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Dear CliffWalker,
A lawyer would appreciate feedback from a client in honest non-judgmental communication. Treat them as you would like to be treated. Be calm no judgment and don’t waste someone’s (don’t repeat yourself, ask questions by email first then phone call, be clear you are not satisfied with the pace of the service and request someone else in the firm to take charge of this case if delay continues. It is also really helpful (not necessarily in your case but I speak generally) be open-minded and accept the possibility that delay may not be their fault or may be something outside of control. Keep emotion out of it.
Having said that, if you are not happy with your lawyer you can always try to find another. You need to not be afraid of hassle to get better service (that is true for all shopping, getting better bank/insurance deal etc) either you make the hassle or you will have to accept delay if they do not respond to you further. If they haven’t lodge any notice of intention etc as you say frankly it is still in a stage where it is quite possible for you to change lawyer. Once lodged and the application is in court system it may be even more difficult.
However, I am seeing all sorts of flags in your post that are suggestive. “Wait a month in case a $5k liability appears” (what type of liability? How is it restricted to $5k?) “which is not really necessary (? Are you disagreeing with your owner’s legal advice? Any particular reason why?) “He‘s in Queensland””estate in NSW and his NSW Lawyer is also slow” (so is the estate is cross-state or multi-state? How many jurisdictions?)“working on estate for many months and should have everything they need“ most things they prepare would need to be supplied by you e.g. death certificate information eg deceased’ status witness who saw the body etc are they slow or are you or people they are waiting for contributing to the slowness?!? “Haven’t lodge the notice of intention to apply for probate” (there are many reasons it makes legal sense to delay this - is this likely to be contested? Is there problem that require addressing?!?)“this whole probate process is a joke … streamline”(don’t really disagree but it is much more streamlined in Australia compare with US, UK so not much you can do about this as it could be worse…).
Good luck!
-Nighthelyn
A lawyer would appreciate feedback from a client in honest non-judgmental communication. Treat them as you would like to be treated. Be calm no judgment and don’t waste someone’s (don’t repeat yourself, ask questions by email first then phone call, be clear you are not satisfied with the pace of the service and request someone else in the firm to take charge of this case if delay continues. It is also really helpful (not necessarily in your case but I speak generally) be open-minded and accept the possibility that delay may not be their fault or may be something outside of control. Keep emotion out of it.
Having said that, if you are not happy with your lawyer you can always try to find another. You need to not be afraid of hassle to get better service (that is true for all shopping, getting better bank/insurance deal etc) either you make the hassle or you will have to accept delay if they do not respond to you further. If they haven’t lodge any notice of intention etc as you say frankly it is still in a stage where it is quite possible for you to change lawyer. Once lodged and the application is in court system it may be even more difficult.
However, I am seeing all sorts of flags in your post that are suggestive. “Wait a month in case a $5k liability appears” (what type of liability? How is it restricted to $5k?) “which is not really necessary (? Are you disagreeing with your owner’s legal advice? Any particular reason why?) “He‘s in Queensland””estate in NSW and his NSW Lawyer is also slow” (so is the estate is cross-state or multi-state? How many jurisdictions?)“working on estate for many months and should have everything they need“ most things they prepare would need to be supplied by you e.g. death certificate information eg deceased’ status witness who saw the body etc are they slow or are you or people they are waiting for contributing to the slowness?!? “Haven’t lodge the notice of intention to apply for probate” (there are many reasons it makes legal sense to delay this - is this likely to be contested? Is there problem that require addressing?!?)“this whole probate process is a joke … streamline”(don’t really disagree but it is much more streamlined in Australia compare with US, UK so not much you can do about this as it could be worse…).
Good luck!
-Nighthelyn
Nighthelyn, Thanks for that detailed reply. Yes, non-judgemental communication is a good idea, but I admit that I probably lack that skill. I talked to the QLD lawyer and he said he will follow the advice of the NSW lawyer and that he didn't want me contacting the NSW lawyer. I also emailed the QLD lawyer about speeding up the Notice of intention, using Supreme Court website to prove my assertions, but he simply didn't reply.
About half of Probate applicants do the Notice of intention within a few months of the death, and the court says you should apply within 6 months. Our laywers missed that deadline. Also, it's a straightforward case - one house, two bank accounts, and some superannuation and it's all in NSW. And they have everything they need having worked on it for many months already and the executor said the lawyer has everything. So I see no reason to delay once the original will was found, which was the last piece of the puzzle.
I think the $5k liability is about council rates. Waiting for that liability is not necessary because the executor's affadavit (Form 118) only requires an estimate of outstanding liabilities:
“The liabilities of the deceased of which I am presently aware are as follows… Estimated or known amount…”
I don't see how delaying the Notice has any benefit, especially since you have to wait 14 days after that to apply for probate. The Notice helps to flush out people who want to contest the estate and it flushes out liabilities too. In fact, flushing out creditors is one of the stated purposes of the Notice of intention:
"The purpose of publishing your notice of intended application is to allow the deceased's creditors an opportunity to make a claim on the estate..."
Regarding streamlining, it would be easy to do. Just create templates for all the basic executor letters and forms, e.g. bank letters. Then follow the Supreme Court website, which already has a "Probate Checklist". That's a great basis for a streamlined process. There's a business opportunity for a lawyer to create such a process and include a money-back promise. But the bottom line is that other lawyers get this stuff done quickly. My mum's Notice was done within 1 month of her death, and probate happened 2 months later. But that was through an energetic suburban lawyer. I suspect that lawyers who specialise in wills and probate have a more bureaucratic personality.
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