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Messy probate situation with children fighting with stepmother!
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The reference to £5000 is anachronistic. There is no longer any such threshold. Mention of it must cast doubt on the rest of the information offered by the poster ....
Re; the asserted need for probate before trustees are fully trustees. What about the situation where the entire estate consists of say £20k, released from an institution which did not require probate for this. There is no other need to get probate, so it is not obtained. The will puts it all in a DT. The trustees full authority to act surely comes from the will. I've never seen the existence of a DT listed as one of the triggers for needing probate. Is it?
But, OP, W's attempt to sell off property that was not solely hers to sell is mind-bogglingly out of order and begs the question whether W has the capacity to understand the basics of the legalities, never mind the undeniable complexities of this situation.
I feel this bit needs clarification. She has a lot of land. Most of it is bloody useless and just needs mowing. Up in one far corner, there is a bit that juts out that adjoins a neighbour. He asked if she would sell it to her. She would be happy to as it's just useless scrub land to her and not part of something she wants to try and maintain at her age.
She suggested to D1 & D2 that the land be sold off and the money split between them. They refused outright without even giving any reason. This is what galls W so much - whilst they have this level of control, she is unable to choose what to do with the property she's living in. It requires more and more maintenance now her husband is gone and it's damn expensive for her to keep paying handymen to do it as she's currently doing out of her monthly pension (not the DT before anyone asks). We're talking 3 acres or so here, not just a large back garden.
They have also complained about her getting the property re-rendered (even though it was arranged by their father and solved a massive and long-standing damp and mould problem) and some trees being pruned that were overhanging a neighbour's property and, again, had been promised it would be dealt with by the deceased.
Bear in mind that D1 & D2 have been actively preventing probate being applied for for almost a year by sitting on and refusing to release F's deed of renunciation as an executor. They have admitted they have done so as they knew that once probate was granted, they would be facing an IHA act claim that they knew would affect them adversely. All that time they were trying to find a way to get more control and did so in the end by some creative writing in their claim form to get W removed as an executor.
D1 & D2 , far from being the victims in all this as Yorkshireman would have you believe, are active protagonists.
In post #28 you said D1 &2 'got wind of' the proposed sale, which doesn't fit with you now saying she suggested the sale to them openly. The latter suggests W acted reasonably, the former doesn't.
I can't see the wood for the trees here, so this is my last post on this thread.
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The issue is with the solicitors.
It is also becoming clear that this property is totally unsuitable and rather than messing about the primary objective should be to move forward to sell it off and get something more suitable.
Without the full will, codicil, other docs along with the relevant legal interpretation or the terms( as these may be what lay people think) it is going to be hard for anyone but your legal team to see how this would be achieved.
Bear in mind that D1 & D2 have been actively preventing probate being applied for for almost a year by sitting on and refusing to release F's deed of renunciation as an executor
Did no one bother to phone F and get them to send another one.
Although the real issue would have been D1/2 could have just refused to proceed
It should never have got to W being removed leaving D1/2 there was an impasse all or none.
I speculate F knew there were issues(D probably warned them) and kept out finding a plausible excuse( I moved) rather than tell the truth it's going to get messy leave me out of it.
What would F have got from acting?
if there was nothing then another reason to keep clear.
Why did W not attend the court madness when you are about to have your executorship ripped from you and have no counter claim in to do the same.
...........I recognised you immediately with the new alias, seems I wasn't the only one.
My understanding of DT's is more than sufficient, my husband & I both have one within our Wills, know exactly why we wanted them, what the advantages & possible disadvantages are, how they will be set up & run & EXACTLY when they kick in. Post probate is not it. Please do some better research.
£5000??? Where on earth did you get that figure. Better tell Santander, they gave us the contents of our son's bank account, over £18k, on production of the death certificate, several weeks before the Grant was issued.
MSE appoint forum moderators for a reason, self appointed ones are not appropriate.
A very fair observation. :beer: