Forrester Sylvester Mackett Solicitors Reviews 5

This account reviews the admin of a will. The testator died in a care home on 23 September 2024. The three executors were FSM and two people aged 76 and 77 who instructed FSM to undertake the entire admin of the will. The estate comprised UK bank/building society accounts. Its value was well below the inheritance tax threshold, there were no property or other assets to sell or chattels to disburse, no loans to repay and the beneficiaries were all descendants of the deceased. Proving the identities of beneficiaries required them to download a third-party app and upload a video and other info to it, to supply bank details and subsequently receive cold phone calls from FSM about them.

The fee to FSM was between £9000-10000. Probate was obtained on 5 March 2025. The proceeds were distributed to the beneficiaries over a couple of weeks comprising the end of August 2025 and beginning of September. Two working days after receiving payment, one beneficiary was asked by FSM to return some of the money given to them.

Overall I felt the fee was excessive for a simple estate, the disbursement of funds took a long time despite some chivvying of FSM and the means of identifying beneficiaries unacceptable.

Update 2 February 2026. I received a letter saying I and other beneficiaries had been underpaid, with a cheque to correct the error. Thus the beneficiary who had been asked to return money had actually received the correct amount.

Trying for 5 weeks to get hold of power of attorney that Sylvester Macketts completed for my parents and stored for them. Awful customer service don’t return calls or action request to access documents

I used the Trowbridge office for both my sell and purchase and found them to be professional, thorough and communicative. It was a pleasure to work with Hiba as she explained the processes involved and dealt with some complexities which arose and I felt she had my back. I would highly recommend them.

I used the Frome branch for my move. The timing was at one of the most difficult times in the housing market for decades.
I had a few quotes from different companies and FSM were slightly cheaper than the other quotes whilst at the same time giving me great customer service vibes so I chose them.

I wasn't disappointed. I had a house to sell and a house to buy at the same time. This is one of the most stressful things you can do, and it did get very stressful. However, FSM were always so professional, always, ALWAYS did the things that needed to be done promptly. They were transparent with their fees, I never had to chase them for things that they should have done weeks ago. They were patient with me when I got upset. They called back when they said they would. They went above an beyond to solve problems. They chased the other solicitors when they dragged their heals. They were friendly and kind and all the things you need and look for in a solicitor when you move house, they were.

I am so grateful for all their hard work and can not recommend them enough.

I did see a review on here prior to writing this today who said they charged him too much for searches. I'm sorry but they are very clear how much searches cost, and the searches are expensive. I can only assume that reviewer did not read his paper work correctly as the cost of searches are entirely out of fsm's hands.

When moving house, there is a huge amount of legal paper work to do, and some of that is paid to other parties. It really is up to us to read our paper work properly.

Please be careful with these guys, they will charge more money for the work which it is not done.

I tried to purchase a property last year Oct 2022 and due to various reason it did not go well but I initially paid £400 and they said £110 is searches fees which is fine and they asked £392 more for the work which they did not do, I challenged how £392 is calculated as there is just one email sent from seller solicitors and they said like they charge £360/hour for conveyencing which they did not mention anywhere.

Intresting part is this conversation happened last year October 2022 and when I challenged £360/hour is way to high and there is no reply to that and they woke up after a year and sent a email on Aug 2023
and said me to pay £392 otherwise you will face penalities.

Bunch of jokes.