Co-operative Legal Services Limited

Probate instruction – significant procedural and service issues experienced I instructed Co-op Legal Services (CLS) for probate administration on a fixed-fee basis. Early communication was clear and the arrangement appeared straightforward. Over more than a year, CLS undertook substantial preparatory work, including inheritance tax submissions, being fully aware of the estate’s complexity and family dynamics from the outset. Despite this, CLS withdrew very late in the process, citing a “conflict of interest” and “contentiousness” which had been known throughout their instruction. This abrupt withdrawal caused avoidable delays, the need to repeat work, and significant additional costs to the estate. The impact on the beneficiaries has been both financial and emotional high. Without prior notification, there was a significant decline in how the matter was handled after our case was reassigned (without explanation) from a qualified solicitor to a non-legally trained administrator - who failed to perform basic security checks that the person they were dealing with was authorised to do so. Given the estate’s complexity, this change negatively affected progress and clarity of communication. Based on experience, anyone considering CLS for probate should proceed with caution. Ensure all terms, responsibilities, and escalation routes are clearly documented; confirm the qualifications and identity of staff handling the case; and be aware that a late withdrawal; even after extensive progress, can have serious consequences for an estate. After THREE years there is still no probate and the estate is in limbo; a difficult and stressful experience that I would not wish on any bereaved family.

After the death of my brother, my Mather used this service. A very straightforward case of probate. A year on, there’s still issues outstanding. We have seen legal documents with multiple spelling mistakes and typos. My mother’s name has been spelled incorrectly several times, once giving her a surname that has never been a family name. Then following these errors, we get an email saying ‘ I’ve no idea how that happened…. ‘ It’s really been a very trying time. Every single time we nearly get there, there’s a new hurdle that , it seems, wasn’t considered beforehand. And now, a full year in, the case worker has remembered utilities bills. Seems there’s over £400 in credit they only just checked. This was after the final accounts were sent out for approval. It appears that there’s never been anything down simultaneously and every little job was done one at a time. So now, the final accounts that were signed and returned are no longer valid and need re doing. It’s been three months since what we were told was the final bit was ready for signature. And even that didn’t arrive till three weeks after it was promised. Given that probate was granted 8 months ago, it beggars belief that it’s still ongoing. I really cannot recommend it any stronger for you to look elsewhere and use a locally based company as I’ve had no good experiences with the company.

Two years after appointing them for Probate the case was still not resolved. Communication was poor throughout, staff changed constantly with no handover and I had to chase every step. Serious mistakes were made including sharing confidential beneficiary information, incorrect beneficiary payments and calculation errors on final distributions. Even the complaints process failed, missed deadlines, broken promises and no response since Feb 2026 despite repeated follow ups. CLS also failed to properly explain payment discrepancies to beneficiaries leaving me to deal with the fallout as executer. A stressful, exhausting and unnecessarily prolonged experience that I would not wish on anyone. Avoid CLS at all costs.

We paid Co-op Legal Services in full on 23 January for a straightforward will with a discretionary trust. Our instructions were clear, yet our case was changed to a revocable life interest trust, which we never requested or properly agreed to. After almost a year, there are still drafting issues, repeated amendments, poor communication, and unnecessary delays. What should have been a simple process became stressful and frustrating. We have lost confidence in the service and have requested a full refund. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Co-op Legal Services based on our experience.

We now feel this is the case. We were advised by Barclaycard to accept a referral to the Co -Op legal services for Probate. Brian the Consultant (Salesman)who phoned us and promised if we were not happy with a case Handler for the probate of my Brother’s estate we could simply ask for a new Handler “1st wrong response “. This is not the case as we have found out. Personally we don’t have a problem with Priya the case handler as a person. However, we were not told our Case handler would be a Part Time employee and only available Monday to Wednesday. Making it very difficult to have contact when you need it. The next untruth was in an email from Priya, if she was unavailable you could contact the number and any one in her team would help! We have tried several times and told either you have rang the wrong office or you will have to call your Case Handler!!!! If you don’t have an Ext number that Works you can wait for well over an hour. I have given Brian the salesman opportunity to put this right, and he has communicated with Priya and the TEAM LEADER Erin well that has not worked if anything it has got Erin’s back up from the email I received from her. I’ve gone on enough. I do hope if anyone is monitoring feedback they may want to help to solve this problem. I will state, I have informed Brian the Salesman by Email I will do this .