Just in the last 5 years, our agreements have been to court 4 times (not because some one is trying to get out of or to challenge them), one of those courts it the highest in the land, The House of Lords. The agreement has also been seen by several lawyers, including a QC how was asked to give us a legal opinion on the existing agreement, our practice and any possible improvements.
As part of our ISO requirements we have a fully documented procedure, that is followed in all cases. The contract is for the supply of information, and does not have any grounds for a firm to show its expenses or costs. Obviously when billing on a time spent bases then a full brake down is required.
To make matters clear, the current contract used by most firms is 1 page of single sided A4, written in plain English, there is no small print or hidden clauses F&F use a font size of 12 or 13. I don't think the agreement could be any clearer. We suggest that if an heir want they should take independent legal advice. when a contract is signed on the spot, a second cancellation form is signed by F&F and left with the heir this is in the same font size as the agreement (by law). for every document signed or taken away a carbon copy is also left.
I am not trying to say that there is no room for improvement in the way we work but the you would be hard pushed to come in a pick huge holes in our operation or to challenge the legality of an agreement.
I'm not suggesting F&F are doing anything illegal. I am talking across the whole industry.
I'm thinking more when someone has signed up to an agreement, with a quite large commission. At the time they do not know how much the may inherit, but may be thinking, as I'm sure many do, that say 60% of something is better than nothing. At a later date they find out the estate is quite large. OK 60% of a large settlement is even better than 60% of nothing, but then realise the heir hunter fee which could easily be 6 figures if, for example, the estate involved selling a house.
At this point is is well past the cooling of period, Had the beneficiary known of the potential size of the fee they would liely have negotiated, the least they would expect a clear breakdown of why the fee is so high.
In many cases the heir hunter will know the size of the estate before asking people to sign agreements. Their research in tracking down the beneficiaries may show property for example, if they have been appointed by a solicitor or if the deceased is living in Scotland where estate values are still published. These are the agreements I would be concerned about, if not illegal, certainly mis-balanced.
Show Posts