I don’t normally like scrappy threads, but to OP, you know the money is fairly owed and the discount is a big hit for the solicitor…you know it should be paid, £700 is fair acceptance from their side they cocked up!

I’ve never sided with cynic-al in puiblic before,… but…

I have seen a solicitor be prepared to pay up the entire purchase price because he balls’d up. Rare, but it does happen.

Caveat Emptor.
I suppose the best thing for the Solicitor to do was not pay the duty that the OP’s Mum was liable for as the result of a house purchase. His dear old Mum could then have HMRC chasing her for the money and they don’t mess around as they have more methods of getting over due invoices than any other entity.
The solicitor screwed up and Mum is £700 better off than she should be.
Result.

2 people have cocked up here, the buyer and the solicitor.

The solicitor does not even get involved until the sale price has been agreed, at which point the tax due has also been agreed.

Personally I would never spend £250k + without knowing how much exactly it would cost me, and for all those above saying it is the solicitors fault , then sorry you are bloody mad if you will spend that kind of money without knowing the costs involved.

ok the solicitor made a big mistake when handing the tax over to HMRC, but they have apologised and compensated. The OP’s Mother is now better off that she would have been before the solicitor got involved, because when she put her bid in she would have worked out how much tax she had to pay.

Someone paid 10% of the actual price at a local bikeshop to me after the employee keyed in the figure wrong. They contacted the buyer who said ‘tough’. Legalities ensured.

My point is surely your Mum must have at least thought ‘oh thats low but they know best’.

When told a decent human being does the right thing. Posting the topic suggests you want to wriggleout of your responsibility? (At least you have thought it).

A simple calculation error doesnt make the Solicitor incompetent. Everyone can make an error on a calculator. The bikeshop owner (from above) didnt, it’d be the Solicitors junior staff that did the admin/docs.

Caveat Emptor.

Are you suggesting that ignorance of the law is an alibi?

so much lol

The £700 discount is a good deal, I would go with that.

when in Rome, konabunny, when in Rome…..

update…

It turns out the solicitor wanted the money paid into her personal account. my Step father went to another solicitor who was incredulous that she asked for the money to be paid in to a personal account (he said he would sack one of his staff if they did that)

He advised writing to the owner of the firm, expressing concern about the miscalculation, and more importantly the request to pay thousands of pounds into a personal account. my mum did that 3 weeks ago. No word back as yet…

Personal account??? Are you sure that is seriously odd and needs explaining. Solicitors have two business accounts, clients and office. It is a breach of the rules to put client funds into office unless to pay a drawn up bill. It is a breach to put the solicitors own money into client or to allow client account to go overdrawn. The only logical” innocent”explanation is if the Solicitor has paid the stamp duty with her own personal cash to tide over /conceal their error and now wants “her” cash back without it going through the firm books and disclosing her error.

You or your mum are still artificially ahead on the stampduty you have not paid though.

The reply will be interesting.

The only logical” innocent”explanation is if the Solicitor has paid the stamp duty with her own personal cash to tide over /conceal their error and now wants “her” cash back without it going through the firm books and disclosing her error.

yeah, this is what has happened. it’s very muddy, muuddied further by the fact that the solicitors is closing very shortly…

All sounds a bit dodgy now. Trying to use client’s money to hide ‘creative accounting’?

Teeth grinder other way round tried to use own money to hide error . Now wants to get back own money. Or used own money to get result for client now wants client to reimburse. I did hear alarm bells earlier on in this but they have been silenced . So far the only person out of pocket is the solicitor .