the facts:
so in November 2011 I sold a flat. there was money outstanding (£3k) owed to the freeholder (council) relating to repair work that I was contesting liability for. in the interests of getting the sale through I accepted that the monies would be paid and my solicitor retained an amount to be paid when the money was requested. this was always just implied and never formed part of the contract of sale. the buyer of the flat was sent an invoice by the freeholder but didn’t pass that on to me. the council aren’t chasing the amount and therefore this money is sitting in limbo in my solicitor’s account… and he’s shrugging his shoulders.

I want it back as 1. it was over 2 years ago 2. I don’t think I was liable for the costs (a retaining wall in a communal garden fell down)

Does anyone know whether I am within my rights to have this money due to the passage of time? How long do I have to wait before I can say ‘I never had an invoice, I don’t have to pay you’?

The difficulty is if we chase it with the council/ buyer they’ll just send the invoice.

7 years.

😥
is that a fact or a guess?

this was always just implied and never formed part of the contract of sale.

I’m very surprised by this. If it’s really right then agree with hels.

it is a surprise but then the buyer’s solicitor was/is rubbish.

another part of the story…
the buyer’s solicitor contacted my solicitor 6 months ago saying “you owe us money, please send us £100 to settle this now”. my solicitor sent a cheque for £100 saying “here you go, can we consider this settled?” and has since had no response.

Does this change things?

Sounds like you’ve got £2900 to spend on a new bike 😀

the money should also be held in your solicitor’s client account, to your order. So you can take it back whenever you like (with interest)

The solicitor cannot release funds from a client account without the permission of the client concerned. So although he has the money he cannot do anything with it and it is as good as useless to him so no reason not to return it to if you so request (it is in a separate client account isn’t it? If it’s gone into his general account he’s breaking all sorts of rules)

He’s your solicitor.

Can you just ask for it back/ tell him to give it back ?

If he has some form of legally binding contract that says he can keep it for a certain period of time, no doubt he will show it to you.

Otherwise it’s yours.

it’s almost like a I need to hire a solicitor to advise me on what I can do!

Just ask him what on what legal basis he can keep your money from you ?

Simple enough question for a legal type to answer ?

I guess.
He’s a nice guy and I’ve just dropped him a line every few months to see if there are any updates.
Maybe I need to up the ante and annoy him so he just gives me it back…