Choosing a Solicitor/Getting a Car Valued?

[Queenie]

Has anyone here ever had to get legal advice from a solicitor? To cut a long story short, someone in my family is trying to have my grandad's Will changed and having heard the changes they want, it seems to be cheating my mum out of a substantial amount. We all think that she should at least see a solicitor and get them to read over the proposed changes and see where she stands. I have the name of a solicitor (a family friend of my friend's parents who is now a Judge) but I'd like some "real life experience" advice before saying yes definately. It's to do with a car so I've suggested she get the car valued too as this is directly linked to the changes in the Will (she's trying to get the details of the car for me today.) Anyone know how to go about getting a car valued for something like this?

We don't want to cause strife in the family if possible but at the same time I'm not willingly letting my mum get cheated out of a few thousand quid! If anyone's been through anything similar to this please let me know what you did. PM if you'll feel better, I'll be checking the board regularly this next week. It's so annoying, it's all been going so smoothly I thought we might be able to get all the legal stuff sorted without much hassel but now this has happened. Nevermind eh?

Thanks.

 

[Hilary]

You should be able to access a copy of the Legal Services Directory through your local Library / CAB, etc. From that you can find a solicitor who specialises in this field. However good a friend any contact may be, if he doesn't specialise in the appropriate area, he may be no more clued up than you! It's a bit like asking a brain surgeon to have a look at your ingrowing toenail - he may be medically super-qualified, but if it's not his area he won't have the detailed up-to-date knowledge of the best was to deal with it.

Also, please be very wary of treading on toes (it sounds as though you are anyway), as wills are such a minefield it's sooooooo easy to upset people and cause family rifts. I spent my teens, twenties and thirties having no contact with my only aunt and uncle because of an upset over my granddad's will. Thankfully, my dad and uncle patched things up a few years before my dad died, but they still missed all those years together

 

[Queenie]

Well the solicitor's name I have is an expert on Wills and the assorted legal issues around them. If I'm not happy with his reference from my friend's parents I'll take mum down to the CAB.

We're paranoid about upsetting the other group but then again we've never really spoken to them before all this and we're not going to accept being cheated out of money just to keep them happy. Especially the amounts we're talking about here.

 

[Clare D]

Queenie check out the Parkers Guide. Readily available form WH Smith and can be found in the magazine section. 100's of cars listed with valuations based on A1 - Fair condition and is used by those in the trade.

Good luck

 

[Ware Bears]

I also recommend the Parkers Guide for valuing the car, it costs about £3.50 and you can buy it in Asda as well as WH Smiths. Its updated every month.

Your mum will have to take legal advice even if she decides to go along with the other parties wishes. My aunt's late husband's children from his first marriage contested his will. They had been the main beneficiaries anyway but wanted the lot and thought my aunt should not be left anything. My aunt took pity on them and was willing to go along with what they wanted, mainly to save any unpleasantness but the solicitors who were proving the will insisted she had independent legal advice to prove that she was not being forced into anything against her will. She saw two different solicitors who both advised her to do nothing. The children dropped their case, we think they were just trying it on to see what my aunt would do and had no intention of going ahead through the courts, probably because they realised that the few thousand they were after would only get swallowed up by legal fees. This other party might be the same, so call their bluff and sit tight. However, it would certainly help for your mum to be prepared with legal advice.

Good luck, let us know how she gets on.