Inheritance in will

jeanybeany

Hi Its me again. This time I am after some advice in relation to my granddaughter who is 14 months old. She has been left some money in a Will and grant of probate has been issued on 3rd June this year. My question is that not one of the executors of this Will has notified my daughter of it existence or that her daughter has been named in it. There are two executors, the firm of solicitors and a member of the family (who are not speaking to my daughter). My daughter had to pay for a copy of the Will as she had been told by the deceased (before passing obviously) that her daughter had been left something. How does she go about receiving this sum for her daughter if no one lets her know and do they have a right to inform her. Also how long does probate take.
Many thanks in anticipation.

mgdavid

I'd start by phoning the solicitor and asking what the process is for passing an inheritance to a minor.

getmore4less

The inheritance has to be held in trust, the current executors will most likely be the default unless the will says otherwise.

They can hand over the administration of the trust to the parents but don't have to.

The default age she gets the inheritance is 18 the will may have specified a different age.

They don't have to tell anyone.

G6JNS

jeanybeany wrote: »

Hi Its me again. This time I am after some advice in relation to my granddaughter who is 14 months old. She has been left some money in a Will and grant of probate has been issued on 3rd June this year. My question is that not one of the executors of this Will has notified my daughter of it existence or that her daughter has been named in it. There are two executors, the firm of solicitors and a member of the family (who are not speaking to my daughter). My daughter had to pay for a copy of the Will as she had been told by the deceased (before passing obviously) that her daughter had been left something. How does she go about receiving this sum for her daughter if no one lets her know and do they have a right to inform her. Also how long does probate take.
Many thanks in anticipation.

Write a polite letter to the solicitor who is the executor asking who the trustees will be and what arrangements will be made for changes of addresses, on both sides, will be made to ensure that the child receives their inheritance in due course. I was left a substantial sum when I was ten and had to chase the solicitor trustee when I became 21 to get the funds. I would expect the executors to notify the beneficiary's parents when they have completed probate. It would be bad practice by the solicitor not to do so.

jeanybeany

thank you all for your replies. There is no age mentioned in the Will other than that she will receive 1 share of the funds.

jeanybeany

How long can Probate take?

Mojisola

jeanybeany wrote: »

How long can Probate take?

If there's a house to sell, it could be a long time.

As others have said, contact the solicitor to ask how things are going.

There's no legal need for the executor to contact beneficiaries until the estate is ready to be paid out so don't assume your daughter is being cut out of her inheritance.

theoretica

I inherited a small sum from an elderly relative and heard nothing from the executors until they had everything sorted, and then they sent me a cheque. I believe they have no requirement to keep beneficiaries informed, and if a solicitor is involved this would add up charges too.

RAS

If solicitors are executors they are likely to take 6 months at least from the issue of probate to start distributing and estate.

That is IF they do not first have to sell a property or other assets.

And then they will look at setting up the trust.

So it could be several months before they notify beneficaries. That would be normal.

g6jns_2

RAS wrote: »

If solicitors are executors they are likely to take 6 months at least from the issue of probate to start distributing and estate.

That is IF they do not first have to sell a property or other assets.

And then they will look at setting up the trust.

So it could be several months before they notify beneficaries. That would be normal.

Unless there is a property sale it should not take nearly as much a six months to distribute the estate. The solicitor is dragging their feet if it takes more than three months from obtains probate.

Shelldean

g6jns wrote: »

Unless there is a property sale it should not take nearly as much a six months to distribute the estate. The solicitor is dragging their feet if it takes more than three months from obtains probate.

Unless DWP get involved then it may take longer.

We had probate granted early June. Still can't distribute as DWP are investigating a possible (actually quite probable) benefits overpayment.

They requested all documents in by 5 August. They was, and we're still waiting. Advised us not to distribute until they complete investigation.

No property involved just bank accounts.

So we're 5 months after probate with no end in sight.



Also a friend was contacted by their hunters, everyone had been traced and estate was ready to be paid out. Payment should've been weeks rather than months. Dwp got involved and it took 18 maths.