Executors behaving maliciously

konark

Yes the executors' year is not an absolute thing, but once the year is up the executor/s can be legally challenged about their administration of the estate.

Some complicated estates can take many years to administer but the one to which you are a beneficiary seems to be rather simple; Sell a house and split the proceeds 3 ways. It doesn't take 18 months to sell a house in today's market. The executors maybe want to keep the house but haven't got the readies to buy you out.

You mention the house is in London, that would mean Inheritance Tax would probably be due, and that has to be paid within 6 months -and that is an absolute deadline.

Scotty1869

i am new to this but agree with dancing fairy. Think you need to do the research they suggested and then seek legal advice. Personally I would contact 3 or 4 law firms in your locality, who have expertise in wills & probate ( just look at their website). I would send them a concise email of the problem together with your expectation and request an indication of costs. Their speed of response is a good indication of the likely level of service you can expect to receive from that law firm. It will also provide a good indication of how good they are at communicating.
Good luck with a difficult problem.
I know it is not easy but you have to try and set aside the emotional aspect. I know of an estate that took over 20 years to settle !!

konark

Sorry coco I have just reread your last response. They have transferred the house into their own names, but not including yours!

You need to see a solicitor as soon as possible with a view to taking them to the High Court for maladministration of the estate and potential fraud. The executors are not following the terms of the will and are simply helping themselves to the estate.

RAS

coocoo51 wrote: »

In this case there has been no attempt to sell it on the open market and the executors transferred the property into their own names in May 2014...

Time to call in the lawyers in that case.

TBagpuss

I agree that it would be sensible for youto see a solicitor. Look for someone who is a member of STEP and specifically who deals with contentious as well as non-contentious probate (not all do).

Take a copy of the will, the land registry details and any e-mails or letters you have had.

While, as others have said, the 'executors year' is not absolute, it sounds as though your mother's estate was fairly straightforward so the delay does sem unreasonable. It would be interesting also to know what was left other than the house, and whether the other two have eceived any money on account.

Does the £10,000 in expenses include the funeral costs, do you know? If it does, then adding in insurance for the hosue and the costs of a valuation then £10,000 may not be unreasonable. If it does not include the funeral then it seems very high.

If they have instructed a solicitor to deal with the administration of the estate (which as executors they would be entitled to do) then those would be egitimate expenses but in that case I would expect the solicitors to have been in contact with you.

At this stage, it may be appropriate for you to write and specifically state that you do not agree to any home contents being disposed of before you have had the opportunity to attend and that you would prefer any 'drawing of lots' to be done when you are present, rather than by your brother in your absence. Your wishes will not be binding on them but they are reasonable requests and if they are refused this may provide additional evidence of the executors acting unreasonably, in the event that you do have to make a formal claim.

missbiggles1

If the property is in London, surely its value will have increased substantially in the past year?

coocoo51

Hi guys back again with this problem. I consulted a solicitor in May who said I had a case. They put a junior solicitor on the case and charged £300 up front.

The junior solicitor has been a disaster. He has given wrong advice, sent ineffective letters and essentially done nothing to progress the case. I had to complain after he retracted one piece of advice saying he was 'warning me' of what the executors might try to do (charge me for bills to the property that they transferred into their own names as beneficiaries in May 2014)- they had already stated quite clearly that this was their intent so I did not have to be 'warned'..
The Executors have not sent accounts of the Estate more than two years after our mother's death, and the solicitor was supposed to have chased them but did not do so. Basically the guy started to make it sound as if I did not have a strong case saying if I wanted to continue it would cost £1500-2000 + VAT to take the matter forward and the Executors would claim their legal expenses from the estate so I would lose out anyway. I complained to the Senior Partner. This has brought forward a letter backing the junior to the hilt, and saying that he had done £1500 of unbilled time. This I know to be a straightforward lie. It had never been mentioned before the complaint, and their contract specifically says that up to date information about costs will be discussed before they are incurred.. The letter basically says I go away they will not charge me for this spurious time. Now I am £300 the poorer and in exactly the same position as before, and the solicitors have essentially abandoned the case they were so keen to take, and my brother and sister have pocketed the £4k I was supposed to receive. Can anyone tell me know how I can progress the case myself? I do have a bit of legal study behind me so think I could manage the process. It is bad enough having to deal with my brother and sister, but to be ripped off by solicitors as well is just bringing me very low.

TBagpuss

If you are not happy with the response from the solicitor then you can refer to the ombudsman.

However, be aware that them saying that that junior had done a lot of unbileld time is not necessarily a lie. It's not uncommon for solicitors to spend more time on a file than they bill for - are you sure that they are threatening to bill you for that time, or are they simply saying that although you have only been charged the £300 originally agreed, they have actually spent a lot more time on the file, so you have effectively had moe than you have ben charged for?

Did they ever write to the exectuors for you? (I see you say they didn't chase, but did they write in the first instnace, and if so, what (if any) reply did they get?)

coocoo51

Hi ~TBagpuss, thank you for your reply. The solicitor is saying if I go away and take the case to another solicitor they will not bill me for the work. However, when I last spoke to the junior solicitor 5 weeks ago I asked him about costs and he said I was still covered by what I had paid. It is somewhat strange that 'unbilled work' to the extent of £1500 should suddenly be found when I made the complaint. They sent a contract saying they will discuss future expenditure before incurring costs, so there is something very definitely wrong, when this is the first I have heard of it.They have written three letters to the executors and three or four e-mails, but have never once set out the case to them in the same way as they have set out my rights and the executors breaches. The executors have failed to respond to requests for various proofs and the junior just kept repeating the same letter, without giving any time limit or indication of action that could be taken against them. He would not pre-empt very predictable responses from the executors which meant that more correspondence than necessary had to be sent.Neither would he refute allegations that I had caused delays to winding up the estate when all the evidence clearly showed that the executors had been spinning the process out for their own advantage. There seems no question that I have a case, but the solicitors knew that at the start and nothing has changed since they intervened. I feel that the junior was way out of his depth and has really messed up the case for me - how does it look to the executors if I have to instruct another firm? They will just think that it is all bluff and have already accused me of trying to get more money than I am not entitled to, when it is money the will specifically states I should have, and the executors have run the whole process to deplete this payment as much as possible.