Deed of variation

dcems

sorry if this is in the wrong forum but need a bit of advice.

My OH mother died in Feb 2010. To cut a long story short she left everything to my OH's brother.

Its taken over a year for the house to be sold but it was sold 6 weeks ago and my OH is private renting with his brother.

My OH has another brother and after discussions it was agreed that the monies from the sale would be split 3 ways instead of the brother getting all the money.

The executor of the will is my OH uncle. On one hand he has agreed the changes in principle, but they now need to draw up a DOV. The executor is now saying the £180k should be put into s savings bond for 6 months and the rest distrubted out.

My OH brother doesnt want this. So firstly I need to know can the executor have all this control as I thought for a DOV to go through everyone has to be in agreement? Also, once the DOV has been drawn up how long does it take monies to be distrubted?

thanks

Tuesday_Tenor

>>>>>> The executor of the will is my OH uncle. On one hand he has agreed the changes in principle, but they now need to draw up a DOV. The executor is now saying the £180k should be put into s savings bond for 6 months and the rest distrubted out.

This isn't very clear. Possibly because you only have part of the picture.

Is it a complex estate and/or over the Inheritance Tax threshold?
The Executor may be having to put SOME money aside for some good reason, such as paying IHT or outstanding debts. (Though why 6 months?)

However you write as though the main asset was the house worth 180K and the estate is likely to be under the IHT threshold. In which case I don't undertand why the Executor wants to delay distributing the estate, whether this is to 1 brother or to all three using a DoV.

OH brother needs to ask Executor what his reasons are for putting part of the estate into a 6-month bond and delaying distribution.

Can't comment further without understanidng more.

dcems

Sorry its so vague, but I havent really got involved with the will etc until now. To explain more-

The house was sold for £300k approx. No mortgage outstanding. Ibelieve its is therefore under the Inheritance tax threshold.

The will said once house was sold the brother(main beneficary) was to be given £50k. On top of this £180k was to be used for him to buy a house where my OH could also reside.
Then £5k for each of the grandchildren. Anything remaining was used to pay off solicitor fees and paying back relatives that paid for redecoration on the house prior to the sale-carpets, new boiler etc.

No other debts. all household bills were paid by my OH prior to leaving and the solictors required proof this was the case.

The brother doesnt work and is completely withdrawn and unprepared for life,due to being tied to his mothers apron strings for all his life. My OH did everything to do with the sale-viewings,paying bills etc. Neither my OH or brother wish to live together for all eternity, and his brother doesnt want the responsibilty of owning his own home. Eventually he will move in with his own partner and my OH will continue to rent privately.

Hence wanting the DOV.

It is a complex family, in that my OH believes his mother didnt want him to have a penny at all, and appears to have made that clear to the uncle(her brother) His aunt has apparently gone so far as to say they dont feel he can be responsible with the money-although their own view dont feel this judgement has any bearing on a DOV. We feel this is the reason for delaying distrubtion.

All in all extremley stressful, and the uncle seems to hold all the cards. I cant see my OH brother taking any responsibilty in challenging his uncle. Ive explaine dhe needs to get his act together.

Hope this makes it a bit clearer

Mojisola

dcems wrote: »

Anything remaining was used to pay off solicitor fees and paying back relatives that paid for redecoration on the house prior to the sale-carpets, new boiler etc.

Funeral expenses, paying fees and repaying debts has to be done before any money is given to beneficiaries.

If all the beneficiaries agree to a DOV, I don't think the executor can prevent it. If any of them don't agree, it can't go ahead.

Tuesday_Tenor

>>> On top of this £180k was to be used for him to buy a house where my OH could also reside.

This sounds much more complicated. If a house was to be bought 'for' the brother, rather than giving him £180K then it sounds like some sort of 'trust' might have been intended to be set up. '... where my OH could also reside' doesn't sound to me like anything someone can dictate from beyond the grave unless perhaps it's a condition of a 'trust' that owns a property for beneficiary brother (BB).

If a 'trust' is involved: I have no idea whether such an instruction could be changed by a Deed of Variation as I'm not a lawyer. If I was the Executor I would be seeking legal advice as it is the sort of thing I really would NOT want to get wrong. So I completely understand the Uncle being cautious.

It is quite possible that a poorly-thought-through and poorly-written will won't cope well with situations like the beneficiary not wanting the intended benefit/scenario. Also, expecting that the second brother would want to live there is very strange and sounds like wishful thinking.

I have twice been an executor without needing a solicitor's involvement. On something like this though I would DEFINITELY be seeking legal advice.

I think you are underestimating the responsibility on the Executor to get this right, when maybe the will is actually a mine-field of problems. No-one in the family should be pressurising him, beyond ensuring that he gets appropriate legal advice.

and the uncle seems to hold all the cards. That's not really an appropriate turn of phrase. The Uncle (alone, it seems) holds ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY for adminstering the estate as per his sister's instructions expressed in her will. A DoV may or may not be possible or appropriate in this particular situation. Again, legal advice will clarify.

If it IS complicated, and Uncle finds it difficult to explain what has been explained to him, then maybe at some point the Executor and three brothers should have it explained to them all together by the solicitor. That should nip mis-understandings in the bud.

dcems

Mojisola wrote: »

Funeral expenses and repaying debts has to be done before any money is given to beneficiaries.
.

That was all paid off when house was sold 6 weeks ago.

Mojisola

dcems wrote: »

The will said once house was sold the brother(main beneficary) was to be given £50k. On top of this £180k was to be used for him to buy a house where my OH could also reside.
Then £5k for each of the grandchildren. Anything remaining was used to pay off solicitor fees and paying back relatives that paid for redecoration on the house prior to the sale-carpets, new boiler etc.

dcems wrote: »

That was all paid off when house was sold 6 weeks ago.

Lucky there was enough left. An executor shouldn't distribute any money until all the debts/expenses had been paid.

It sounds a very complicated will. If I was the executor, I would be involving a solicitor. The uncle has a legal duty to get things right and can get into trouble if he doesn't.

dcems

Tuesday_Tenor wrote: »

>>> On top of this £180k was to be used for him to buy a house where my OH could also reside.

This sounds much more complicated. If a house was to be bought 'for' the brother, rather than giving him £180K then it sounds like some sort of 'trust' might have been intended to be set up. '... where my OH could also reside' doesn't sound to me like anything someone can dictate from beyond the grave unless perhaps it's a condition of a 'trust' that owns a property for beneficiary brother (BB).

If a 'trust' is involved: I have no idea whether such an instruction could be changed by a Deed of Variation as I'm not a lawyer. If I was the Executor I would be seeking legal advice as it is the sort of thing I really would NOT want to get wrong. So I completely understand the Uncle being cautious.

It is quite possible that a poorly-thought-through and poorly-written will won't cope well with situations like the beneficiary not wanting the intended benefit/scenario. Also, expecting that the second brother would want to live there is very strange and sounds like wishful thinking.

I have twice been an executor without needing a solicitor's involvement. On something like this though I would DEFINITELY be seeking legal advice.

I think you are underestimating the responsibility on the Executor to get this right, when maybe the will is actually a mine-field of problems. No-one in the family should be pressurising him, beyond ensuring that he gets appropriate legal advice.

and the uncle seems to hold all the cards. That's not really an appropriate turn of phrase. The Uncle (alone, it seems) holds ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY for adminstering the estate as per his sister's instructions expressed in her will. A DoV may or may not be possible or appropriate in this particular situation. Again, legal advice will clarify.

If it IS complicated, and Uncle finds it difficult to explain what has been explained to him, then maybe at some point the Executor and three brothers should have it explained to them all together by the solicitor. That should nip mis-understandings in the bud.

definately no trust opened up for brother. the intention was the money should be used to buy a house as their mother assumed the pair would spend their naturals together. Of course things change and they dont want to be living together long term.

His mum changed the will orginally set out by their dad when she got ill. It is a very basic will of just over 1 page. This doesnt help.

There is severe lack of communication with the uncle and certainly no pressure has been put on him in anyway. But either way there needs to be communication instead of just hearsay from third parties.

Money was due to the grandchildren has yet to be distrubted.My daughter's is a beneficary. There appears to be a delay which I dont understand, but theres no rush for me. This is all for my OH.

Thanks

dcems

Mojisola wrote: »

Lucky there was enough left. An executor shouldn't distribute any money until all the debts/expenses had been paid.

It sounds a very complicated will. If I was the executor, I would be involving a solicitor. The uncle has a legal duty to get things right and can get into trouble if he doesn't.

There is a solicitor involved, as they wanted the final household bills and proof they had been paid.

Mojisola

dcems wrote: »

There is a solicitor involved, as they wanted the final household bills and proof they had been paid.

In that case, why don't the brothers ask for a meeting with the solicitor and the uncle? Everything could then be explained to everyone involved. The solicitor could go through what's needed for the DOV and should be able to explain why things haven't been settled yet.

Tuesday_Tenor

>>> their mother assumed the pair would spend their naturals together

No right-thinking solicitor would allow such an assumption to get into a will, so I guess it's a 'home-made' one.

In which case the solicitor needs to check that it is actually a valid will as other atrocities may have been committed ...!

It sounds a mine-field and the Uncle has my sincere sympathy.

Edit: I see you say solicitors ARE involved. Thank goodness!