Susan H.
1/5
I feel it is appropriate to share my experience of Veta Law.
This firm was appointed by my Ex Partners daughter to write a new will ( one already existed) just a few days before he died under palliative care in a hospice, and under heavy pain relieving sedation. The consultation, as far as I am aware, was conducted via video link as he was in Canada and they were in the UK.
The executor and/or the law firm managing an estate are duty bound to keep the beneficiaries informed on progress. Whilst there is no absolute obligation to detail all matters arising or do so very frequently, a duty of care is required. On this point alone Veta Law have palpably failed to meet this professional standard.
Having drawn up the will, they now claim there are jurisdictional complications to excuse the fact that the will has not been executed almost 6 years after death. In drawing up the will, one expects the appropriate due diligence to have been conducted, such that the will reflects such anticipated complications. His situation was known to them at the time so to adopt an ‘we never saw this coming attitude’ beggars belief. When asked specifically what the complication is, the reply is vague and patronising. The latter point reflects the inadequate explanations, inferring one should be happy with just an ‘it’s complicated’ answer. As the reader might appreciate - it’s not acceptable.
Sticking with the subject of communication, there have been just three unsolicited communications in that time. Any other communication has been the result of being asked specific questions by the beneficiaries. And indeed those replies have been remarkably lacking in any detail as to why matters have now drifted 55 months. 12 months can pass without any information being volunteered. And at this juncture there is still no indication that matters will conclude shortly. While the beneficiaries have had to wait all this time, one wonders whether this firm is also awaiting payment. I very much doubt it. Indeed one can reasonably deduce that lengthy timescales are rather remunerative. If one does not have to await payment for time consumed, the incentive to conclude matters quickly simply does not exist.
I must confess to a small chuckle at times, as this probate case resembles Jarndyce versus Jarndyce - ref Bleak House made real. Who knows? …. Maybe when it unwinds, the monies will be absorbed by costs! Little wonder Charles Dickins sought to highlight such matters in his book.
To summarise, my personal experience has been underwhelming to put it mildly. I have asked repeated questions, and one would think this firm would, at the very least, pick up that the beneficiaries were not at all happy, and look to generating regular feedback. Another beneficiary sought to question matters and even submitted a caveat. Despite this and my own written questions, the response is both economic in the extreme and invariably tardy. It begs the question- are the complications genuinely very difficult, or is this firm out of its depth? Not impressed on any level.
