More help..

sidefx

BobQ wrote: »

You make too many assumptions. If the aunt has failed in her duty as executor and knows it a letter (particularly from a solicitor) is likely to make her change tack. If she is just ignorant of the law it may make her take legal advice. One letter might be enough.

No. No assumptions. I suspect the aunt is hoping the beneficiaries will not question her.

A letter may do the trick, but a person who is capable of denying their brothers children of their inheritance, is also capable of not 'changing tack'.

In order to fight it, sadly I suspect, it will cost the OP money.

You clearly have more *faith* than me Bob

BobQ

OP

A suggested letter you could write to your aunt. She may refuse a recorded delivery so consider sending two letters and get a certificate of posting for each from different post offices.


Dear (Aunt),

Thank you for the cheque for £2000 which you say is my share of my fathers estate.I have obtained a copy of the Grant of Probate you obtained dated (date) based on an Oath you have sworn in front of a Commissioner for Oaths.

Based on the information contained in the Grant, it would appear that my sister, brother and I should have received approximately one third each of £17,700. Without further information, I cannot accept that our shares of the estate are only £2K each, unless this is only a partial payment, something which your letter does not make clear.

As you will appreciate my brother and sister are not capable of disputing the amount you have paid to them, so this letter is sent on behalf of each of us.

There may be good reasons why the amount paid to us is so low but, without a proper explanation from you as Executrix, I cannot accept that the estate has been administered correctly. As an Executrix you should be aware that you are legally obliged to administer the estate in accordance with the Grant, and that if asked you must render a proper statement of account to us as beneficiaries. I am therefore requesting that you forward this account within 14 days, so that I can see what you have done with my father's estate and understand why the sum paid is so low.

In addition you are obliged to give the beneficiaries any personal property that belonged to our father. You are simply not allowed to retain items such as the medals as keepsakes. I request that you provide us with our father's personal property, in particular the medals.

Recent communications have been a little acrimonious. I would hope that we can resolve the above issues amicably through a statement of account and the provision of his personal property.

If you ignore this letter or fail to respond with the information required within 14 days I shall take legal advice.

Yours faithfully

sidefx

Tradzor wrote: »

Didn't mean for that to come accross blunt mate.


Was just looking at it as in how could she even fight this case with clear copies of the grant and will in front of her.


I will see a solicitor in a few days, and will let you guys know what goes on.


Thanks to everyone who's given me advise, otherwise i would of been clueless to all of this . Much appreciated it.

You didn't, and I really hope you and your siblings get what is rightfully yours

BobQ

sidefx wrote: »

No. No assumptions. I suspect the aunt is hoping the beneficiaries will not question her.

A letter may do the trick, but a person who is capable of denying their brothers children of their inheritance, is also capable of not 'changing tack'.

In order to fight it, sadly I suspect, it will cost the OP money.

You clearly have more *faith* than me Bob

You are right that if someone digs their heals in this could happen, but many people make brave statements but when faced with a solicitors letter or even a threat of one they realise that they might have bitten off more than they can chew.

But it is a judgement the OP must make himself.

Tradzor

Bit of an update, spoke to the solicitor, told him about your letter bobq, he said if i do recieve a cheque its fine to lodge it, anyhow postman has been and gone no sign of this cheque, the solicitor says it is a civil matter but if found she has been stealing from the estate then its a criminal matter, which she already has done by taking my dads medals.


Im going to pay this solicitor £100 to for his time and to send a letter to her and the solicitor dealing with the probate.
Then i will see what she wants to do and go from there as i want to try and avoid further legal costs, even though the solicitor says if criminal acts have been done concering the medals, if it comes down to court cases the solicitor said the judge decides whether or not she has to pay the legal fees or take them from the estate.


crazy

TBagpuss

I agree that it would be sensible to send a letter to your aunt, but I would suggest that you try t put it in plain English, so hat there is as little doubt as possible as to what you are expecting her to do.

Using Bob's letter as a starting point, I'd suggest something like:


Dear (Aunt),

Thank you for the cheque for £2,000 on account of my share of my fathers estate.

Please can you tell me when [brother and sister and] I can expect to receive the balance of my share, and Dad's personal items such as his medals?

I have seen a copy of Dad's will and the Grant of Probate you dated [date ]

Based on the information in the Grant, it seems that Dad left about £21K, and that after the costs of the funeral the net estate was £17,700. Based on this, we should each receive about £5,900. I know that you have sent £2,000 to sister. I have not yet received anything.

Of course I understand that there may be good reasons why the amount paid to us is so low but I'm sure you will understand that I need to understand why there is so big a difference between the amount Dad left, and the amount you have paid out so far.

As [brother and sister] are not able to deal with these matters themselves, I am making these enquiries on behalf of all three of us.

As I expect you know, as the executrix of the estate, you have a legal duty to distribute the money in accordance with the will, and to provide proper accounts showing how this has been done (which would of course also show the payments which you have made for things such as a funeral)

I am therefore requesting that you forward this account within 14 days, so that I can see what has been done with the money Dad left, and understand how you have reached the sums you have, for the payments to us as beneficiaries.

I am also concerned that you have apparently decided to keep Dad's medals and other personal items for yourself, as keepsakes. These items are part of Dad's estate and are not yours to keep or dispose of. Can you please make sure that these are forwarded to me as soon as possible. As they have great sentimental value, please send them recorded/insured [or you could propose to collect them in person]

I hope that we can resolve the above issues amicably, and I look forward to hearing from you with the statements setting out details of the estate and the costs incurred, and with Dad's personal items.

If I don't hear from you within the next 14 days, or if you are not willing to provide the information I have asked for, I will, unfortunately, have no option but to take legal advice. I hope this will not be necessary.



Yours sincerely.

In terms of what will happen if you do have to go to court, it is direct that the Judge would get to decide who paid any costs. This allows the judge a certain amount of discretion, as in some cases, an executor might be in the wrong but through ignorance or misunderstanding rather than malice - I think that if your aunt was found to have deliberately misled you and your siblings, or to have stolen from the estate, hen it is likely that she would be ordered to pay your costs, however, you would still be liable to your own lawyers, so could end up out of pocket if your aunt cannot afford to pay any costs ordered against her.

TBagpuss

PS - does either of your siblings have a social worker or other professional person involved in their care who might be willing to make enquiries on their behalf? It may be that your aunt would be more forthcoming to (say) a social worker than she is to you.

It is of course also possible that you aunt made a mistake in the original grant, ans that the value of the estate was less then she originally said, but if that is the case, there would be no reason for her not to provide evidence of this.

Tradzor

As much as I appreciate and think that letter is really well done from BobQ and yourself, I'm going to see what happens threw the solicitor, especially after being told to leave her alone after 1 telephone call just to see whats going on, I could not even say she has misled me or my brother and sister, because she simply has not told me anything ( me being the only one capable ). I had to find out there was a will and grant myself and get copies, she still doesn't know i have these. They cleared out my dads flat months ago aswell and she did not tell me about anything, aswell as saying keeping the medals for keepsake.. so theres theft already..

Tradzor

Another question guys, my mum told me i should contact the solicitor who my dad made the will with, as there is a solicitors name at the bottom of the grant, CAB advised me not to go threw them for some reason.. but i figured my dad may of used a different solicitor.


So i called the solicitor to see if my dad made the will with them and he did, the receptionist then asked me was something wrong, i told them the executor is not following the will and im thinking of filing a complaint against there office just to see what she would say, she then replied saying the solicitor would of been going by the executors instructions, but she cant really comment as shes the receptionist.. the solicitor in question is available tomarrow, any advise here folks? If my dad paid this solicitor to make his will back in 1996 should he sort it out?

Tradzor

Ignore the above message, they weren't the ones my dad made the will with, should i still speak to the executors solicitor and tell him whats going on? or is that a bad idea?