Help with not leaving a will please

diane118

Please help me to help my friend. A friend of mines mum has died 3 months ago without leaving a will and my friend and his sister will have her small estate of £4.000 divided between them both, at the moment my friends has his late mum money as he is the administrator of the estate, his sister fell out with there mum and him over 20 years ago and she might not even know that her mum has even died. My friend is not going to contact his sister and give her her share of there mums estate unless she contacts him first i wondered how the law stood on him not distributing his mums estate.

g6jns_2

diane118 wrote: »

Please help me to help my friend. A friend of mines mum has died 3 months ago without leaving a will and my friend and his sister will have her small estate of £4.000 divided between them both, at the moment my friends has his late mum money as he is the administrator of the estate, his sister fell out with there mum and him over 20 years ago and she might not even know that her mum has even died. My friend is not going to contact his sister and give her her share of there mums estate unless she contacts him first i wondered how the law stood on him not distributing his mums estate.

The administrator is legally obliged to distribute the estate according to the rules of intestacy and he has sworn an oath to do so. He remains liable to any relatives who are entitled. He should be reported to the Probate Office. What a despicable way to behave.

Flugelhorn

Has he been formally appointed as administrator of the estate - as under a certain figure the bank will have just sent him the money on sight of a death cert and evidence of being a near relative

diane118

Hi i dont think he has sworn an oath he just had to sign something at the bank to get his mums money transferred to his account he said he would give his sister her share if she came to ask about it ect

SevenOfNine

I think he should at least start by writing to tell her their mother has died. He isn't entitled to simply 'keep' this money & if it all hits the fan it would be better sooner while he still has it, than later when he may well have spent it but still have to cough up what should be her share one way or another.

I've got a family member holding on to what should be a shared inheritance - not from greed, but it is creating a worry for me. Does he really want it hanging over his head for 2k. He can get into trouble, it sounds as if they know where each other lives & you'd be surprised how 'word' can travel.

Do this all properly.

g6jns_2

diane118 wrote: »

Hi i dont think he has sworn an oath he just had to sign something at the bank to get his mums money transferred to his account he said he would give his sister her share if she came to ask about it ect

If he has obtained letters of administration then he has signed an oath. He needs to be reminded that it is a criminal offence not to act correctly in this matter. It is a breach of trust.

Mojisola

g6jns wrote: »

If he has obtained letters of administration then he has signed an oath. He needs to be reminded that it is a criminal offence not to act correctly in this matter. It is a breach of trust.

He won't have needed to get LOA for an estate of £4k.

g6jns_2

Mojisola wrote: »

He won't have needed to get LOA for an estate of £4k.

How can he be an administrator without LOA? Without probate or LOA he has no legal authority?

M_J_H

Estates total value under £5k do not go to probate therefore no letter of administration. Effectively anybody can become a personal representative where there is no will.

This is a bit of a limbo situation that is not clear to bank staff etc as there is no official piece of paper.

Contact the probate service for more information but maybe there should be some form of sworn affidavit to present to banks etc.

In all cases, anybody dealing with an intestacy situation must abide by the law, so the money must be shared between surviving children in the first instance. You are entitled to cover consequential costs, funeral, etc out of the estate.

g6jns_2

M_J_H wrote: »

Estates total value under £5k do not go to probate therefore no letter of administration. Effectively anybody can become a personal representative where there is no will.

This is a bit of a limbo situation that is not clear to bank staff etc as there is no official piece of paper.

Contact the probate service for more information but maybe there should be some form of sworn affidavit to present to banks etc.

In all cases, anybody dealing with an intestacy situation must abide by the law, so the money must be shared between surviving children in the first instance. You are entitled to cover consequential costs, funeral, etc out of the estate.

The question of small estates is still a grey area. Glib replies from certain posters have not helped much. Perhaps someone can provide a verifiable cite as to how, and who, has genuine legal authority to administer a small estate in these circumstances. This may be quite different from what happens in practice.