Costs to beneficiary of intestate estate

[TimothyPhillips]

rachel2, you are not required to give any costs information to a residuary beneficiary - but the Law Society says it is “good practice” and the Legal Ombudsman says “it would be prudent”.

I quoted the advice of the Law Society and a report from the Legal Ombusdman at greater length in this post in another thread:

Providing costs information

Section 71(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 has not changed; it still gives “any person interested” (such as a residuary beneficiary) a right to challenge a solicitor’s bill. Advice from the Law Society says It is good practice for solicitors to provide residuary beneficiaries with relevant client care information at the outset, together with costs estimates and any later revisions. A report from the Legal Ombudsman says service providers should consider that beneficiaries are directly affec…

The consensus seems to be that you should give costs information at the outset to all residuary beneficiaries - whether or not they want it.

Timothy Phillips