No Advice to Will Beneficiaries

Sandcat

Apologies for a wordy first post but could anyone advise me on what may be a couple of basic / common queries?

Elderly aunt A died in March 2015 and probate was granted to aunt B in July 2015. Because of her age and the distance to where aunt A lived, both in the UK, administration of the estate has been passed to a solicitor local to where Aunt A lived.

Administration is proceeding slowly as it involves the sale of aunt A’s house. No takers so far.

I have a copy of the will, bought officially online when it became public.

Amongst the beneficiaries are myself and 12 other of my aunt’s nephews and nieces. She had no children. Aunt B was named as executrix and trustee.

My basic queries are:
1. When should the solicitors acting for aunt B advise the beneficiaries that they are actually named in the will? As far as I know none has been advised to date. I know that aunt B gave all current nephew and niece addresses to the solicitors.
2. Are there legal timescales the solicitors should abide by? I understand from reading other posts that regular updates should be provided to beneficiaries regarding the management and financial position of the estate, e.g house sale delays, etc.

I know estate administration can drag on for quite a while – I just believe it would courteous, if not actually a legal requirement, to advise people that they are named in a will. After all it was the 'will' of aunt A.

Many thanks for any shared wisdom on the above.

Yorkshireman99

The solicitor needs a rocket. The standard rule is that the executor has one year to administer the estate. If the house has not sold. After that time then the asking price is too high. The trouble with keeping al those beneficiaries notified is the extra costs it would incur.