Terms and conditions

1. About us

My Probate Solicitors is the trading name for My Probate Solicitors Limited which is a limited liability company registered in England and Wales at Companies House (number 15337116), registered office Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WR. My Probate Solicitors is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number: 8007072). Any reference to a Partner of My Probate Solicitors means a shareholder, employee or consultant of My Probate Solicitors

1.1 You can find details of the postal address, telephone number and email address of our office on our website at www.myprobatesolicitors.co.uk.

1.2 My Probate Solicitors Limited trading as My Probate Solicitors is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society of England and Wales, our professional body. Our solicitors are governed by Codes of Conduct and other professional rules, which you can access on the SRA’s website at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/ or by calling 0370 606 2555. Our SRA authorisation number is 8007072. All services provided by us are regulated by the SRA.

1.3 Please note that owing to our professional duties as solicitors there are some limits on what we can do to help clients achieve their goals. We cannot, for example, break the law, act in a conflict of interest, mislead the Court or act in a manner deemed ‘unethical’ by our regulator.

1.4 We are registered for VAT purposes. Our VAT registration number is 466 8272 53.

1.5 Where we say ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ in these Terms and Conditions, we mean My Probate Solicitors Limited trading as My Probate Solicitors.

2. About you

Where we say ‘you’ or ‘your’ in these Terms and Conditions we mean the client identified in the Engagement Letter and anyone authorised to give instructions on that client’s behalf.

3. Our responsibilities and your responsibilities

What you can expect of us

Treat you fairly and with respect
Communicate with you in plain language.
Review your matter regularly.
Advise you of any changes in the law that affect your matter.
Advise you of any reasonably foreseeable circumstances and risks that could affect the outcome of your matter

What we expect of you

Provide documents when we ask for them and respond promptly when we ask for instructions or information.
Notify us if your contact details change.
Tell us immediately if your expectations change or if you are not sure you understand what we have discussed.
Inform us of any time limits or objectives that might not be obvious to us.
Notify us immediately if you receive any email or other communication purporting to be from the firm stating that we have changed our bank details or payment arrangements.
Let us know about any other changes that may affect the way we deal with your matter, including any changes that may affect your tax status in any jurisdiction.

4. Scope of our legal services

4.1 The scope of the services we will provide is set out in the Engagement Letter.

4.2 We will provide legal advice and services to you with reasonable care and skill. However, the nature of many types of legal work means that it is not possible to guarantee a particular outcome.

4.3 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, we will advise only on English law.

4.4 We will not advise on surveying, valuation, commercial viability, trading or marketability issues. We only advise on tax when we have expressly agreed in writing to do so. Except as described at section 15 (Financial services), we do not provide financial services or advice.

4.5 If you ask us to obtain advice from another law firm, that firm will be responsible for the service and advice they provide.

4.6 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our advice and any documents we prepare:

4.6.1 are for use only in connection with the specific matter on which we are instructed, can only be relied on by you; and

4.6.2 reflect the law in force at the relevant time.

5. Service standards

5.1 We are normally open between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm on Monday to Friday. We may be able to arrange appointments outside of these hours, in cases of emergency. We are closed on all bank holidays.

5.2 We will update you by telephone or in writing (including by email) with progress on your matter regularly and explain to you the legal work required as your matter progresses.

5.3 We will update you at appropriate intervals on the likely timescale for each stage of your matter and any important changes in those estimates. Whenever there is a material change in circumstances associated with your matter, we will update you on whether the likely outcomes still justify the likely costs and risks.

5.4 We will update you on the cost of your matter at the intervals set out in the Engagement Letter. If appropriate, we will continue to review whether there are alternative methods by which your matter can be funded.

5.5 We are committed to acting in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion in all our dealings with clients, third parties and employees. If it would assist you for our services to be delivered in a different way, please do not hesitate to let us know and we will investigate how we can assist. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our equality and diversity policy.

6. Our liability to you

6.1 Your contract is solely with My Probate Solicitors, which has sole legal liability for the work done for you and for any act or omission in the course of that work. No representative, director, officer, employee, agent or consultant of My Probate Solicitors, will have any personal legal liability for any loss or claim.

6.2 Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, in writing:

6.2.1 we do not owe, nor do we accept, any duty to any person other than you; and

6.2.2 we do not accept any liability or responsibility for any consequences arising from reliance on our advice by any person other than you.

6.3 We are not responsible for any failure to advise or comment on matters falling outside the scope of our instructions, as set out in these Terms and Conditions and the Engagement Letter.

6.4 Our maximum liability to you (or any other party we have agreed may rely on our services) in relation to any single matter or any group of connected matters which may be aggregated by our insurers will be £3,000,000 including interest and costs unless we expressly state a different figure in the Engagement Letter.

6.5 We will not be liable for any of the following (whether direct or indirect):

6.5.1 losses not caused by any breach of contract or tort on the part of the firm;

6.5.2 loss of revenue;

6.5.3 loss of profit;

6.5.4 loss of or corruption to data;

6.5.5 loss of use;

6.5.6 loss of production;

6.5.7 loss of contract;

6.5.8 loss of opportunity;

6.5.9 loss of savings, discount or rebate (whether actual or anticipated); and

6.5.10 harm to reputation or loss of goodwill.

6.6 We will not be liable for:

6.6.1 losses that were not foreseeable to you and us when this contract was formed;

6.6.2 losses not caused by any breach on the part of the firm; and

6.6.3 business losses, including losses sustained by any individual not acting for purposes of their trade, business, craft or profession.

6.7 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or restrict our liability in respect of:

6.7.1 death or personal injury caused by our negligence;

6.7.2 fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;

6.7.3 any losses caused by wilful misconduct or dishonesty;

6.7.4 any other losses which cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

6.8 Please ask if you would like us to explain any of the terms above.

7. Our charges and billing

7.1 You are liable to pay legal costs as set out in the Engagement Letter, which also states the arrangements for billing. We will usually discuss this with you at the outset of your matter.

7.2 We may deliver our bills to you electronically. Please let us know if you have any particular requirements for the delivery of our bills.

7.3 Our bills become due for payment immediately after you receive them.

7.4 Please inform us if you would like a third party to be responsible for paying our bills or any part of them. We must approve this in advance and we will need the party’s name, contact details and any other information or identification documents we request. It is your responsibility to pay our bills even if someone else has agreed to pay some or all of them and our bills will still be addressed to you. If someone else does pay some of our bills, you are responsible for paying the rest.

7.5 We may charge interest on overdue bills on a daily basis at 3%.

7.6 We may cease acting for you if an interim bill remains unpaid after 30 days or if our reasonable request of a payment on account of costs is not met.

7.7 You have the right to challenge or complain about our bill. Please see section 18 (Complaints) for details of how to complain about our bill.

7.8 You have the right to challenge our bill by applying to the court to assess the bill under the Solicitors Act 1974. The usual time limit for applying to the court for an assessment is one month from the date of delivery of the bill.

8. Fixed fee work descriptions & definitions

Our pricing is set out on the basis that:

There is an original, valid, uncontested Will and all executors are applying; or
If there isn’t a Will and the intestacy rules apply, there is a surviving spouse, and the estate is below £322,000;
The application qualifies for online submission; and
All of the estate’s assets are based within England and Wales

* Please note there will be a surcharge for estates above £2 million *

8.1 “Simple Grant only” – this will consist of us applying on your behalf for the Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Grant of Letters of Administration (if there is no Will), only in estates where a full inheritance tax account is not required. In advance of us making this application, it will be your responsibility to contact the relevant organisations about the deceased assets and liabilities within the estate and gather the relevant documentation for us. Once the Grant of Probate/Grant of Letters of Administration is received by us and sent to you, you will need to handle the estate administration; no other work will be undertaken by us for this fixed fee from £950 plus VAT.

8.1.1 If an estate should not fall into the definition of “Simple Grant only,” then the fee for this work will be more than £950 plus VAT and My Probate Solicitors will provide a fee quotation to attend to this addition work. Examples of such additional work that could be required include:

8.1.1 (a) Preparation of a deed of renunciation – £100 + VAT
8.1.1 (b) Serving notice on an executor having power reserved – £50 + VAT
8.1.1 (c) Preparation of an Affidavit or Witness Statement required by the Probate Registry – £125 + VAT
8.1.1 (d) Paper application required (for instance where an attorney application is being made, intestacy application by a child (where more than one child in the family are able to apply) – £300 + VAT
8.1.1 (e) Application to prove a copy Will (requires a detailed witness statement and paper application) – £500 + VAT

8.2 “Complex Grant only” – this will consist of us preparing and submitting Form IHT400 and any relevant supplementary schedules to HM Revenue & Customs, and thereafter applying for the Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Grant of Letters of Administration (if there is no Will) on your behalf, only. In advance of us making the Grant of Probate/Grant of Letters of Administration application, it will be your responsibility to contact the relevant organisations about the deceased assets and liabilities within the estate and gather the relevant documentation for us. It will also be your responsibility to make the relevant IHT payment to HM Revenue & Customs and you need to ensure this is paid by six months after the end of the month of death, otherwise you will have to pay interest penalties. Once the Grant of Probate/Grant of Letters of Administration is received by us and sent to you, you will need to handle the estate administration; no other work will be undertaken by us for this fixed fee from £1,495.

8.2.1 If an estate should not fall into the definition of “Complex Grant only,” then the fee for this work will be more than £1,495 plus VAT and My Probate Solicitors will provide a fee quotation to attend to this addition work.

8.3 “Grant plus Simple Administration” – this will consist of us applying for the Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Grant of Letters of Administration (if there is no Will) along with collecting in and distributing up to 10 assets (including the assent of 1 property based in England or Wales but this does not include the sale of any property or if there is more than 1 property) and transferring assets up to 5 beneficiaries only.

8.3.1 “Simple Administration” as outlined above means:

There is a valid Will
There are no disputes in relation to the Will and/or between Executors and/or Beneficiaries
There are no claims made against the estate and no dispute
All of the assets in the estate are within the jurisdiction of England & Wales
There is no more than 1 property passing into trust or to beneficiaries (AS1 / TR1 to be completed) OR there is one property only which does not need to be sold
There are no more than 10 financial institutions
There are no more than 5 beneficiaries in total
There are no other intangible assets or assets abroad;
There is no inheritance tax payable from the estate and the executors do not need to submit Form IHT400 and any necessary schedules to HMRC
All liabilities comprising the estate are based in the UK

8.3.2 Please also note the following in excluded from the price for “Simple Administration” and shall be added as an additional professional fee or as a disbursement if required:

Completion and submission of IHT400 to HMRC
Formal valuations of properties
Sale of any property or business in the estate
Advice in connection with any dispute concerning the estate
Assets abroad
Income tax returns/CGT tax returns/other tax returns; and
Trust registration

8.3.3 If an estate should not fall into the definition of “Simple Administration,” then the fee for this work will be more than £1,750 plus VAT and My Probate Solicitors will provide a fee quotation to attend to this addition work.

8.4 “Grant plus Complex Administration” – This will consist of applying for the Grant of Probate (if there is a Will) or Grant of Letters of Administration (if there is no Will). Collecting in and distributing up to 15 assets (including 2 properties based in England or Wales) and transferring assets up to 10 beneficiaries. (Assets does not include additional properties). This also includes advising on Trusts within the Estate, but not the preparation of any required Deeds.

8.4.1 “Complex Administration” as outlined above means:

There is a valid Will
There are no disputes in relation to the Will and/or between Executors and/or Beneficiaries
There are no claims made against the estate and no dispute
All of the assets in the estate are within the jurisdiction of England & Wales
There is no more than 2 properties passing into trust or to beneficiaries (AS1 / TR1 to be completed) OR there are 2 properties only, which do not need to be sold
There are more than 15 financial institutions
There are no more than 10 beneficiaries in total
There are no other intangible assets or assets abroad;
There is inheritance tax payable from the estate and/or the executors need to submit Form IHT400 any necessary schedules to HMRC
All liabilities comprising the estate are based in the UK

8.4.2 Please also note the following are excluded from the price for “Complex Administration” (and shall be added as an additional professional fee or as a disbursement):

Formal valuations of properties
Sale of any property or business in the estate
Advice in connection with any dispute concerning the estate
Assets abroad
Income tax returns/CGT tax returns/other tax returns; and
Trust registration

8.4.3 If an estate should not fall into the definition of “Complex Administration” then the fee for this work will be more than £4,495.00 plus VAT and My Probate Solicitors will provide a fee quotation to attend to this addition work.

9. Payment of our fees

9.1 You must make payment of our full fee for the “Simple Grant” & “Complex Grant” at the point of which we have prepared the application for the Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration when our invoice will be raised and presented to you. We will not submit the application to the Probate Registry until such time as payment has been received from you. If you believe you will be unable to pay the fee at this stage, then you will need to choose the option for “Grant Plus Simple Administration” or “Grant Plus Complex Administration” and we shall defer payment until you are in funds from the assets received into our client account.

10. Money Back Guarantee

10.1 Our money back guarantee applies to the “Simple Grant” price plan only and is based on us having the application for the Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration prepared and submitted to the Probate Registry within 6 weeks of us receiving your complete instruction. As it is your responsibility to contact the relevant organisations about the assets and liabilities within the estate and gather the relevant documentation in advance of us making this application, this 6-week period will not commence until we have all of this information from you and your complete instructions.

10.2 This money back guarantee does not mean that we guarantee to have received in the actual Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration within these 6 weeks. Once the application is submitted, we are then subject to waiting for the Probate Registry to deal with the application which we have no control over. The estimated time for the Probate Registry to have the Grant ready according to the guidance on GOV.UK is within 16 weeks of submitting your application. Please note that this time period could vary depending on the Probate Registry.

10.3 Please note that if this 6-week period is delayed by you failing to pay us our fee for the “Simple Grant” on time or at all, then this will render the “money back guarantee” void in this instance.

10.4 If you qualify for the Money Back Guarantee, then you will receive our legal services for the “Simple Grant” service for free, however you will still be required to meet any disbursements incurred (such as the Probate Court fee for which we will send an invoice to you for payment prior to submission of the application).

11. Confidentiality

11.1 We will keep your information confidential, unless:

11.1.1 you consent to the disclosure of that information;

11.1.2 disclosure of the information is required or permitted by law or regulatory requirements that apply to us; or

11.1.3 these Terms of Business state otherwise.

11.2 Examples of organisations we may be required to disclose your information to include:

11.2.1 the National Crime Agency;

11.2.2 domestic and international tax authorities;

11.2.3 regulatory authorities.

11.3 Unless you instruct us otherwise, email will be our default method of communication. We deploy a range of information security measures, but we cannot guarantee the security of information or documents sent by email. If you do not wish us to communicate information by email, please let us know.

11.4 Sometimes we ask other companies or people to assist with typing or accounts on our files to help us deliver efficient, cost effective legal services. We ensure all outsourcing providers operate under service agreements that are consistent with our legal and professional obligations, including in relation to confidentiality. Information on outsourcing in relation to your personal data is set out in our Privacy Policy —see section 12.3.

11.5 External organisations such as the Information Commissioner’s Office or Lexcel auditors and the SRA may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice from time to time. They may wish to audit or quality check your file and related papers for this purpose. We will require that these external organisations maintain confidentiality in relation to any files and papers which are audited or quality checked.

11.6 Your files may also be reviewed in a due diligence exercise relating to the sale or transfer of all or part of our business, the acquisition of another business by us or the acquisition of new business. If you do not wish your file to be used in this way, please let us know as soon as possible.

12. Privacy and data protection

12.1 We use your personal data primarily to provide legal services to you, but also for related purposes such as administration, billing and record keeping and to inform you of our services and events that we think may be of interest to you.

12.2 Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) other relevant UK legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.

12.3 We take your privacy very seriously. Our Privacy policy contains important information on how and why we collect, process and store your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data. The Privacy policy is available on our website but please contact us if you would like us to send a copy to you or if you would prefer us to explain our Privacy policy verbally.

12.4 We may record telephone calls and monitor emails for training, regulatory and compliance purposes.

12.5 We use third party service providers (including ‘cloud’ service providers) to help us deliver efficient, cost effective legal services. This may include document/information hosting, sharing, transfer, analysis, processing or storage. We ensure all third party service providers operate under service agreements that are consistent with our legal and professional obligations, including in relation to confidentiality, privacy and data protection. If you instruct us to use an alternative provider for storing, sharing or exchanging documents/information, we are not responsible for the security of the data or the provider’s security standards.

12.6 We may use your personal data to send you updates (by email, text, telephone or post) about legal developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions or new services or products. You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications at any time, by:

12.7 contacting us by email;

12.8 using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails or ‘STOP’ number in texts; or

12.9 updating your marketing preferences by sending us an email.

13. Banking and related matters

13.1 Our client account
Unless agreed otherwise, we hold client money in various accounts with UK banks regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

13.2 Changes to our bank details
We will never tell you about changes to important business information, such as bank account details, by email. Please inform us immediately if you receive any email or other communication purporting to be from the firm stating that we have changed our bank details or payment arrangements.

13.3 Payment of interest

13.3.1 We will pay a fair sum of interest to clients or third parties on client money we hold on their behalf.

13.3.2 We will not pay interest:

(a.) on money we are instructed to hold outside a client account in a manner that does not attract interest, eg cash held in our safe;
(b.) where the amount of interest is less than £20;
(c.) where we agree otherwise, in writing, with you or the third party for whom the money is held.

13.3.3 Please ask us if you would like to see our written payment of interest policy.

13.4 Bank failure and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

13.4.1 We are not liable for any losses you suffer as a result of any bank in which we hold client money being unable to repay depositors in full. You may, however, be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

13.4.2 The FSCS is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of banking institutions. The FSCS can pay compensation up to £85,000 if a banking institution is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it.

13.4.3 The limit is £85,000 per banking institution. If you hold other personal money in the same banking institution as our client accounts, the limit remains £85,000 in total. Some banking institutions have several brands. The compensation limit is £85,000 per institution, not per brand.

13.4.4 The FSCS also provides up to £1m of short-term protection for certain high balances, eg relating to property transactions, inheritance, divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, unfair dismissal, redundancy, and personal injury compensation (there is no financial limit on protection for personal injury compensation). This is called the temporary high balance scheme and, if it applies, protection lasts for a maximum of six months.

13.4.5 The FSCS (including the temporary high balance scheme) will apply to qualifying balances held in our client account. In the unlikely event of a deposit-taking institution failure, we will presume (unless we hear from you in writing to the contrary) we have your consent to disclose necessary client details to the FSCS.

13.4.6 More information about the FSCS can be found at https://www.fscs.org.uk.

13.5 Receiving and paying funds

13.5.1 Our policy is to only accept cash up to £500. If you try to avoid this policy by depositing cash directly with our bank, we may decide to charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary to establish the source of the funds and this could also cause delays.

13.5.2 If we receive money in relation to your matter from an unexpected source, there may be a delay in your matter and we may charge you for any additional checks we decide are necessary.

13.5.3 Where we have to pay money to you, it will be paid by cheque or bank transfer. It will not be paid in cash or to a third party.

14 Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing

14.1 To comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements, we are likely to ask you for proof of your identity and we may conduct searches or enquiries for this purpose. We may also be required to identify and verify the identity of other persons such as directors or beneficial owners. If you or they do not provide us with the required information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

14.2 You agree that we may make checks using online electronic verification systems or other databases as we may decide.

14.3 You must not send us any money until we have told you these checks have been completed.

14.4 We will charge you for these identification and verification checks—we will confirm the cost in our engagement letter.

14.5 We may ask you to confirm the source of any money you have sent us or will send us. If you do not provide us with that information promptly, your matter may be delayed.

14.6 Any personal data we receive from you for the purpose of preventing money laundering or terrorist financing will be used only for that purpose or:

14.6.1 with your consent; or

14.6.2 as permitted by or under another enactment.

14.7 We are professionally and legally obliged to keep your affairs confidential. However, we may be required by law to make a disclosure to the National Crime Agency where we know or suspect that a transaction may involve money laundering or terrorist financing. If we make a disclosure in relation to your matter, we may not be able to tell you that a disclosure has been made. We may have to stop working on your matter for a period of time and may not be able to tell you why.

14.8 Subject to section 7 (‘Our liability to you’), we shall not be liable for any loss arising from or connected with our compliance with any statutory obligation, or reasonable belief we may have, to report matters to the relevant authorities under the provisions of the money laundering and/or terrorist financing legislation.

15 Financial services

15.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, solicitors are able to provide certain financial services incidental to their legal work while regulated by the SRA. We are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance distribution activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register. Further information would be provided to you in advance of such work on our part, including providing you with a statement of demands and needs.

15.2 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in relation to consumer credit services. However, because we are regulated by the SRA, we may be able to provide certain limited consumer credit services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you. This is because we are members of the Law Society of England and Wales, which is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

15.3 We are also not authorised by the FCA to provide investment advice services. If you need advice on investments, we may refer you to someone who is authorised by the FCA to provide the necessary advice. However, because we are regulated by the SRA, we may be able to provide certain limited investment advice services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you.

15.4 The SRA is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against lawyers. If you are unhappy with any financial service you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with the SRA or Legal Ombudsman. See the Complaints section below for further information.

16. Professional indemnity insurance

16.1 We have professional indemnity insurance giving cover for claims against us. Details of this insurance, including contact details of our insurer and the territorial coverage of the policy can be provided on request.

16.2 It is a condition of our professional indemnity insurance that we notify our insurer and/or broker of any circumstances which may give rise to a claim against us. In doing so, we may disclose documents and information to our insurer, broker and insurance advisers on a confidential basis. Our insurers and brokers are contractually obliged to keep all information we pass to them strictly confidential.

17. Unregulated services

17.1 All services provided by My Probate Solicitors are regulated by the SRA and covered by:

17.1.1 our professional indemnity insurance—see section 16 (Professional indemnity insurance); and

17.1.2 (if you are eligible) the SRA Compensation Fund—this is a discretionary fund for making grants to people for loss caused by dishonesty, hardship caused by a failure to account for money, or an uninsured loss (which should have been covered by professional indemnity insurance). Obviously, we do not anticipate any such problems arising in your matter but if you would like to learn more about the SRA Compensation Fund you can do so in the SRA website: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/consumers.page

18. Complaints

18.1 We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided you should inform us immediately so we can do our best to resolve the problem.

18.2 In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you would like to make a formal complaint, please request a copy of our complaints procedure. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your matter.

18.3 What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

18.3.1 We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. Generally, this applies if you are an individual, a business with fewer than 10 employees and turnover or assets not exceeding a certain threshold, a charity or membership organisation with a net annual income of less than £1m, a trustee of a trust with an asset value of less than £1m, or if you fall within certain other categories (you can find out more from the Legal Ombudsman). The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your matter. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman is there to deal with concerns about the level of service, including our charges which a client has received.

18.3.2 Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
a. within six months of receiving our final written response to your complaint;
and
b. no more than one year from the date of act/omission; or
c. no more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

18.3.3 If you would like more information, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:
a. visiting www.legalombudsman.org.uk
b. calling 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00
c. emailing enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
d. writing to Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

18.3.4 Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. If we agree to use such a scheme we will inform you when notifying you of our final response to your complaint.

18.4 What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

18.4.1 The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
18.4.2 The SRA’s website contains information raising concerns about solicitors and law firms. The website address is www.sra.org.uk

19. Terminating your instructions

19.1 You may terminate our appointment at any time by giving us notice in writing. Subject to any applicable data protection rights which may apply, we can keep all your papers and documents while there is still money owed to us for our charges or disbursements.

19.2 We will only decide to stop acting for you with good reason, e.g. where we feel that the relationship has broken down, if you do not pay a bill, if you provide us with misleading information, or if you act in an abusive or offensive manner. We will give you reasonable notice before we stop acting for you.

19.3 If you or we decide that we should stop acting for you, we will charge you for the work we have done and, where appropriate, for transferring the matter to another adviser if you so request. This will be calculated on the basis set out in the Engagement Letter.

19.4 We are not responsible for reminding you about important dates and/or any deadlines after our appointment has been terminated.

19.5 In some circumstances a ‘consumer’ client (but not a business or an individual instructing us in a business capacity) may have a right in law to cancel our agreement without becoming liable for our fees. Such rights may arise if we take instructions from you outside of our offices or at a distance. If the cancellation rights apply then we reserve the right to not start work on your matter until 14 days from the date of entering into this agreement i.e. until after the ‘cooling off’ period has passed. If you do not wish to wait this long then you can instruct us to proceed within the cooling off period but you will then be liable from that point for our fees whether you wish to cancel within 14 days or not. In appropriate cases we will provide you with full instructions on how to exercise your right to cancel as an annex to your ‘client care letter’.

20. Storage and retrieval of files

20.1 We may create and hold client files in hard copy (paper), electronically or a combination of both.

20.2 We normally store client files (except any of your papers you ask to be returned to you) for six years after we send you our final bill. Unless you instruct us to the contrary, we will store your file electronically only and will destroy our paper file. We will not destroy original documents such as wills, deeds and other securities that we have agreed to hold in safe custody but we may, on reasonable notice, send them to you for safekeeping.

20.3 We will not charge for this storage. If we prepare a will for you we will store it free of charge.

20.4 If we retrieve your file from storage (including electronic storage) in relation to continuing or new instructions to act for you, we will not normally charge for the retrieval.

20.5 If we retrieve your file from storage for another reason, we may charge you for:

20.5.1 time spent retrieving the file and producing it to you;
20.5.2 reading, correspondence, or other work necessary to comply with your instructions in relation to the retrieved file; and/or
20.5.3 providing additional copies of any documents.

20.6 We will provide you with an electronic copy of the file unless it is inappropriate to do so.

20.7 Our Privacy policy contains more information about how long we keep personal data for—see section 12

21. Terms of Website Use

These terms of use govern your use of our website

21.1 Please note that our privacy policy forms part of our terms of use.
Our website, and all of the material within it, has been prepared with the sole aim of providing key information only for the benefit and use of our clients and does not constitute legal advice in relation to any particular situation. While we aim to ensure that the information is correct at the date on which it is added to the website, the legal position can change frequently, and content will not always be updated following any relevant changes.

21.2 We will use all of our reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information on our website is accurate. However, you acknowledge and agree that My Probate Solicitors Limited trading as My Probate Solicitors and its directors, partners and employees accept no liability whatsoever in contract, tort or otherwise for any loss or damage caused by or arising directly or indirectly in connection with any use or reliance on the contents of our website, except to the extent that such liability cannot be excluded by law.

21.3 We have no control over, and therefore accept no responsibility for, the content of any third party website. You agree not to misuse our website such as to reverse engineer, hack, decompile, copy or adapt any software or other code or scripts forming part of our website nor attempt to transmit to or via our website any information that contains a virus, worm, trojan horse, or other harmful or disruptive component.

21.4 Material contained in our website is © My Probate Solicitors Limited trading as My Probate Solicitors except where otherwise stated.

21.5 You may download, view and print extracts from our website for personal use, but must not otherwise copy, reproduce or re-distribute the contents of these pages in whole or in part without our prior written consent. All other rights are reserved.

21.6 Our website relates only to the laws of England and Wales except where expressly stated otherwise. These terms of use shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales in respect of any disputes which may arise in relation to our website.
If you have any queries about these terms of use, you should contact us.

21.7 Completing an enquiry form on our website does not create a solicitor and client relationship, i.e. it does not form a contract of being legally instructed to act for you. A legal instruction is only confirmed with My Probate Solicitors once we have sent you our letter of engagement and our terms of business and you have accepted this by signing it and returning it to us.