Unfriendly executor problem

kaya

So to cut a long story short the executor of my nans will is her son in law, nan is now in care with Alzheimer's and due to the wording of the will neither the executor or his family will get anything. They have become increasingly hostile towards my mum who will benefit from the will and I have a nasty feeling that come the time of nans passing the executor will do everything in his power to ensure things are difficult and drawn out out of pure spite which bearing in mind there is a property to sell could take years. So my question is how would it be possible to dismiss the current executor from the proceedings(if it is possible) . Mum has enduring power of attourney and nans mental health means she is incapable of making any decisions

Crabapple

There are a couple of options that spring to mind.

Your mother as PoA could apply to the Court to amend the Will - the procedure is somewhat complicated but it's a possibility. I believe it is called a statutory Will. In effect the application would be to rewrite the Will but only the Executor would have changed.

After death the Executor can renounce and certainly could be asked to. Whether he would do so is of course a completely different matter, particularly if he wanted to be awkward.

It is also possible to apply to have an Executor removed, but generally only if they are not acting at all, or are acting improperly. So that would mean giving time to see what was happening (or not) and taking action if things weren't going ahead in accordance with the law after a reasonable period.

You should bear in mind that another issue that might arise is the other part of the family threatening to make a claim for a share of the Estate. Whether they would have grounds is another matter, but it's another way people try to make things difficult.

dzug1

I don't believe that the Court would regard the alleged potential awkwardness of an executor as grounds to change a will.


But worth checking out

getmore4less

a couple of questions.

Do you know why was he chosen in the first place

Was he likely to inherit at the time the will was made and have circumstances changed so he no longer get anything(perhaps his wife has died)

With POA it may be in the best interests of nan to liquidate the assets now if the house is no longer needed as it is easier to provide the best care with cash rather than illiquid assets.

Much harder to mall administer if the finances are all in order and in cash and pulled together in one account.

Asking if they(BIL) will renounce so the main residual beneficiary can take over

kaya

There were three siblings and my late grandfather had for some reason decided to favour the executors side of the family and leave everything to one daughter and nothing to the other two children for some unbeknown reason, grandad passed away about 20 years ago and nan changed the will to state the the property would be shared between the three siblings and any savings would be shared amongst the grandchildren. The executors wife passed about 7 years ago leaving only two remaining siblings so the will dictates that the property will be split between them(confirmed by a solicitor) and as nan is in care there are no savings left at all (eaten up by the care home costs). A charge has been put against the property and payments deferred for the care home costs so there may not be any inheritance left anyway. If mum puts the house on the market and sells it (it's currently being rented out to help pay the care home costs) then according to the will any monies from the sale become savings and the two remaining siblings get nothing whatsoever and anything left after the care home is paid gets split between the grandchildren. Since nan was taken Into a home (we had to have her sectioned for her own safety) the executor have become exceptionally nasty and telephoned my mum making all sorts of threats (apparently because after nan was sectioned we went in and cleared the house and they thought it should be left alone) there was nothing in the property of any value and they were offered the opertunity to come and help clear it out if there was anything of sentimental value they were welcome to it, the house was in a terrible state as nan had become incontinent through her Alzheimer's. My mum spent ten years of her life looking after nan watching her deteriorate and it really took its toll on her as you would expect, during this time neither the executors family of the other sibling were anywhere to be found. There is no bad intention on my mums part and she isn't trying to change the will in any way and wants it to be administered as it is written to the letter of the law, I can honestly see the executor doing anything and everything in his power to delay proceedings as much as possible now as neither he or his family will have any financial gain from the proceedings compared to days past when they would have got the lot. Apart from nans mental health she is fit and well so may have many years left yet, I'm just enquiring as I don't want mum to have any more stress and upset down the line through the executor if it can be avoided by some forward planning , thanks for the replies so far

getmore4less

Selling would reduce the stress,

No more managing a property which can be very stressful.
Care fees easier to deal with from a cash pot.

Can use the cash pot to enhance grans comforts which is not possible at the moment

No more worry about inheritances, the grandkids get what's left if anything

Mojisola

kaya wrote: »

nan changed the will to state the the property would be shared between the three siblings

The executors wife passed about 7 years ago leaving only two remaining siblings so the will dictates that the property will be split between them

A charge has been put against the property and payments deferred for the care home costs so there may not be any inheritance left anyway.

If mum puts the house on the market and sells it (it's currently being rented out to help pay the care home costs) then according to the will any monies from the sale become savings and the two remaining siblings get nothing whatsoever and anything left after the care home is paid gets split between the grandchildren.

Apart from nans mental health she is fit and well so may have many years left yet, I'm just enquiring as I don't want mum to have any more stress and upset down the line through the executor if it can be avoided by some forward planning

Who is paying for the upkeep of the house now? Wouldn't it be easier to get it sold now and let any money that is left after the care bills are paid go to the grandchildren?

It would relieve your Mum's stress immediately because the will wouldn't be anything to do with her, it could change the executor's attitude as he won't be the only one who doesn't inherit and you and any siblings can always give your share to your Mum after the estate is settled (unless you're getting means tested benefits).

kaya

The upkeep of the house is paid for from the rent income and the letting agen "manages"the property so its minimal stress at the moment. Mum has no money and never really has had so I don't want her to sell the property and destroy any small chance she has of a comfortable retirement as she is in her mid sixties now. Aside from the two grandchildren who have become alienated through this everybody else would happily sign an agreement stating that they have no interest in the wills proceeds and give mum the chance to sell the house as mentioned by a previous poster and keep any inheritance she is due. Everybody else in the equation is financially comfortable aside from mum who struggles and selling the home at the moment wouldn't make nans care any more comfortable , she can't even string a sentence together any more and only recognises mum. The care home she is in are very good and we are all very happy with the care she receives there so having a pot of money wouldn't change that. Beside which at the moment the property is gaining value as prices increase and the rental income helps towards nans care home fees so selling wouldn't be sensible from a financial viewpoint.

growler834

I agree with everyone's advice - sell the house, let the LA have their share for the Care Home fees already paid & pay future fees from the savings until nan's savings reach the lower limit where the LA will take up the payments again (if nan lives that long). Any savings will then be left to her grandchildren & they can do what they like with it (ie. helping your mum out perhaps). The stress of the upkeep of the house with tenants & all the financial work that causes your mum (with POA) and the stress of waiting for executor to sell it etc isn't worth it. Having had to sell a house for MIL when she went into care & consolidating all her savings etc I now find it less of a headache as everything is in one place & easier to sort out. The executor may still not be happy but he has less hold over the family when the time comes & less excuse not to deal with the will in a timely fashion if there is no house to sell.

growler834

Our posts crossed Kaya. I can see your arguement but I still think selling now is the best option. Although house prices are rising etc who is to say how long the executor will take to sell the house & whether he will get the price it's worth - as executor he must but if he doesn't, you may lose money in all the financial wrangling with him. I personally wouldn't let him near dealing with the most valuable property your grandparents worked hard for - he doesn't appear to be thinking of nan's best interests only his own.

kaya

growler834 wrote: »

Our posts crossed Kaya. I can see your arguement but I still think selling now is the best option. Although house prices are rising etc who is to say how long the executor will take to sell the house & whether he will get the price it's worth - as executor he must but if he doesn't, you may lose money in all the financial wrangling with him. I personally wouldn't let him near dealing with the most valuable property your grandparents worked hard for - he doesn't appear to be thinking of nan's best interests only his own.

I agree that he shouldn't be having anything to do with the property which was the point of my initial posting enquiring if he could be somehow struck off and replaced, have to bear in mind it was my nans wish that her property be left to her children also which isn't going to happen if the property is sold, as I said the agents look after most of the day to day running of the property so that in itself isn't too stressful at present and after two years we have finally got the local council to do their bit and sorted their end out. So we come back to the OP again regarding having him removed as executor