Advice badly needed

littlelady

We need help with this please.

Mother passed away beginning of 2011

Brother and sister are executors.
They have done nothing what so ever regards mums estate.

They don't have nothing to do with three of us siblings.
We have approached them to ask about mums estate but we are blanked.

Executors have locked up mums house ,put an alarm on and told other family members that mums house is never going to be sold.

100% sure mum left a will she always talked about it.
Have contacted solicitors I heard mum spoke about but to no avail.

If she never left a will surely we would still be beneficiaries ?

How long can this go on.?

When is it considered unreasonable?

Can we make an application to our local court to force them to give us some information regards mums estate and if so would it be achievable for us to do our self instead of using a solicitor because of costs?

Please don't ask to write to them or try and talk to them ,we have tried all avenues they plainly don't want us to inherit anything at all.

.

daska

If there is a Will then the executors have to deal with the estate, how do you know they are executors and you are not? If there is no Will then there are no executors and the estate should be divided according to the rules of intestacy (which sounds as if it would be equal shares for the siblings).

You can find out whether they've applied for Probate by contacting the Probate Service: 0845 30 20 900 but AFAIK there is no time limit for applying for Probate. The helpline can't give specific legal advice but they can help explain how the various processes work and give you information on what steps can be taken by you.

Is it likely to be over the IHT limits. There is a six month deadline for paying tax etc which they may have fallen foul of, in which case HMRC may give them a much needed kick up the backside and start the process off.

littlelady

Mum told us they were executors some time before she died.

It is under IHT threshold .

Family are split,other half of siblings are saying they dont want house sold they want to keep it has a shrine.

Thing is on many occasions mum said that when she dies the house should be sold and children would have proceeds.

But executors are doing things their way,towards the end of mums life they began to bully her and they became quite forceful and intimidating and she relied on them because they lived just around the corner..

daska

In which case is it possible they may have influenced her to change her Will?

Your first step is to find out whether they have gone through the process of applying for Probate. If that's been granted then the Will is public and you'll be able to check the details. Give them a ring tomorrow on the number I posted above.

(Beneficiaries aren't entitled to see the Will prior to probate, doesn't mean they can't but does mean any request can be refused.)

littlelady

Most definitely they would have tried to influenced her to change her will.

But has her child I cannot just walk away and leave this.
They are not going to carry out her wishes.

I would like to make them accountable to carry out my mums wishes and believe the only way to do this is through the courts.

I would like to be a self litigant to save on costs but need to find information to undertake this for me and two siblings.

getmore4less

As has been said the first step is to establish if probate has been started.