Will issues.

Mojisola

me_again wrote: »

Its my partner who is also named as executor but they are not upto the task themselves.

Although i am doing all the arrangements if anything needs to be signed i send it off in her name and she signs for it.

It's fine for an executor to have someone else do the work and just sign as and when necessary - however the responsibility for any problems will be hers.

Shelldean

me_again wrote: »

Its my partner who is also named as executor but they are not upto the task themselves. I know i could be the administrator but i just want the easy option.

Although i am doing all the arrangements if anything needs to be signed i send it off in her name and she signs for it.

Mojisola wrote: »

It's fine for an executor to have someone else do the work and just sign as and when necessary - however the responsibility for any problems will be hers.

Currently dealing with an estate and this is how we are dealing with it. My OH is the executor but I do all the paperwork, filling chasing things. I type letters and he signs. I organise meeting but he attends.
just easier as I am at home and have the spare time, whilst OH works

TBagpuss

As long as the executor is clearly identified then the fact that it gives her maiden name not her married name is not a major problem, althoug she will need to be able to show she is the same person, so if applying for probate she might need to out something like "Jane Doe formerly or also known as Jane Smith" and may need to produce a copy of her marriage certificate.

As PPs have said, the sister who was a witness is not entitled to receive the share left to her under the will. Does the will say who gets the residuary estate? If so, that person or people can chose to gift back to her what the will said she should have. You may need to get some advice about the wording.

The brother's ex wife has nothing to do woth anything. If she and brother have not yet had a final fiancial order then anything he gets will become part of his assets, and she may have a claim against *him* for a share of those as part of the divorce settlement, but she has no direct claim against your FIL's estate. I would sugegst that the executors send her a brief, one-line letter simply stating that she is not a beneficiary under the will and that as such, you will not be entering into any further communication with her in relation to the estate.

me_again_2

Glad the will is not that much of a problem then.

As i mentioned they all get on well so all agree an equal share is the right way to go.

Brothers ex wife divorced many years ago. He moved away and had no contact with her or his children. Sad but his life i guess.

Can you clarify one thing for me? If she wants to see the will, Can i say sure just get your solicitor to write to me?

rpc

me_again wrote: »

Can you clarify one thing for me? If she wants to see the will, Can i say sure just get your solicitor to write to me?

You can say "it's none of your business" and send her packing.

If it went to probate, the will would be a public document and she could get it herself. If you don't obtain probate, the only compulsion that I could see would be in some sort of discovery exercise prior to or during mediation/court.

me_again_2

No mention of anyone other than the mum (deceased) and daughters in the will so they can whinge as much as they like.

Just me thinking should i be awkward and make them jump through hoops to get a look at it.

Now its been cleared that the executor names are OK, And the witnesses signatures are OK then its all good i think.

I can just say you witnessed it so are excluded from any payout. But the others want to share with you anyway.

Everyone is happy. Except the ex. Never met her but she needs some lessons in how to speak to strangers. She was moaning at me because the rest of the family seem to exclude them.

Whats that got to do with me?

Anyway. More stuff to sort.

A big thank you to all that helped.

rpc

me_again wrote: »

I can just say you witnessed it so are excluded from any payout. But the others want to share with you anyway.

You need to be a little careful with the will wording.

If a bequest fails, as happens for the deceased spouse and witness, then one of two things usually happens:
- There is a residue clause and this defines what happens to the failed bequests (the failed bequest could be part of the residue, that's OK)
- The will is partially intestate

If it has been written properly, the first should be the case. If there is a partial intestacy then the brother would probably have to be included too.

If the will just leaves everything in equal shares to X, Y, Z then that should be fine even if X cannot inherit. If the will makes the bequests separately, which is unusual but I've seen it, then you need to look for the residue clause.

Assuming that the end result is that each sister receives an equal share then, for the sake of clarity, I suggest that each entitled sister receives a share and then pays the witness out of their own money. If you, as executor, pay a share from the estate to the witness then there could be a claim for maladministration from any disgruntled people around.

Mojisola

rpc wrote: »

Assuming that the end result is that each sister receives an equal share then, for the sake of clarity, I suggest that each entitled sister receives a share and then pays the witness out of their own money. If you, as executor, pay a share from the estate to the witness then there could be a claim for maladministration from any disgruntled people around.

Or they do a formal deed of variation.

rpc

Mojisola wrote: »

Or they do a formal deed of variation.

Would that work?

Wouldn't the witness still be a witness and unable to inherit? Or would the witnesses to the DoV supersede the original witnesses to the will?

Mojisola

rpc wrote: »

Would that work?

Wouldn't the witness still be a witness and unable to inherit? Or would the witnesses to the DoV supersede the original witnesses to the will?

The inheritance of the witness fails because she was a witness.

What would have been her share will be distributed either evenly between the other beneficiaries or to the residual beneficiary depending on the will. Any of the beneficiaries can make a DOV passing part of their share to the witness (or anyone else, if they want).