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 affected by costs even if they are not usually a client of the service provider. It would be prudent, then, if firms – particularly where they are also the executor – aimed to provide costs information to residuary beneficiaries at the start of a case, even if they are not technically the client.
Timothy Phillips