POLITICIANS are urging the head of Scotland's lawyers to investigate a loophole that allows solicitors to keep interest accrued while dealing with inheritance monies.
Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont and SNP MSP Joan McAlpine have criticised the rule that one bereaved son dubbed "a charter encouraging lawyers to commit fraud".
Jim Clarke, 69, of Ayr, believes thousands of Scots whose relatives have died leaving behind money may be affected and his family's case is now to reach Holyrood after he campaigned on the issue.
Guidelines south of the Border where a separate system is in place suggest a £20 ceiling on interest kept, but legal firms in Scotland have been officially told they are entitled to hold on to interest on estates' investments if the payback amounts to less than £100.
Lorna Jack, the chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, has been asked to re-investigate in the new call from MSPs.
Ms McAlpine wrote to Ms Jack: "I wanted to bring this case to your attention as it seems to highlight a worrying issue in solicitors' practices.
"Firstly, they are unlikely to know exactly how much is going to be collected, particularly if a house sale is involved. Secondly, they have no way of knowing how long it will take to wind up the estate and pass on the money to the beneficiaries."
Mr Lamont said: "Clearly the solicitor should be able to charge a reasonable amount for the work undertaken. How- ever, they should not be per-mitted to retain interest earned on their client's money."
The Solicitors' Regulatory Authority in England suggests "some firms may wish to apply a de minimis by reference to the amount held and period for which it was held, for example, providing that no interest is payable if the amount calculated on the balance held is £20 or less ... any de minimis will need to be set at a reasonable level and regularly reviewed in the light of current interest rates".
Scottish solicitors are permitted by a rule from around the same time to keep "small amounts" of interest from money left with their firm's client accounts.
Stewart Sheddon, solicitor and member of the Law Society of Scotland's Guarantee Fund Committee, insisted: "A full costing of opening, servicing, balancing and closing an 'other funds' account would mean that for most purposes – were solicitors to charge for that work – it would be likely to exceed the amount of interest earned."
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