We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
Co-Executor of Will Problems
Fenris
Posts: 676 Forumite
Hi all,
Hope this is the right forum for this (found another thread similar in this part of the forum). If not, please move to correct forum.
Right, I'm hoping someone could advise me here. My Aunt (my Mother's sister) was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. She knew it was terminal so she set out her will early. She made my Mother and my Uncle (my Mum and Aunt's brother) co-executors on the will.
My Aunt died in June this year and so began the process of disposing of her estate. I live with my Mum in Lincolnshire and my Uncle lives in Milton Keynes where my Aunt also lived. For the last year or so of her life my Uncle was her sole carer. We know that my Aunt paid him out of her Attendance Allowance but my Uncle did not get carers allowance.
When my Aunt died my Uncle took complete control of everything, form arranging the funeral (which was already paid for by my Aunt) to getting the probate started.
And this is where the problems started. My Uncle is keeping my Mum completely in the dark. He's failed to tell the relevant people that my Mum is a co-executor and he completely rejects the fact that whatever he signs Mum has to sign to, so he's been doing things without first consulting my Mum. For example; he spoke to my Mum about marketing the house, he told her the price the agent had suggested, which Mum agreed to. We waited for several weeks for the paperwork to arrive from the agents so that Mum could sign it. When it didn't arrive Mum phoned them and asked why she hadn't received it yet and was shocked to find out that they didn't know she was an executor! My Uncle failed to tell them. When the paperwork arrived Mum signed to say she was happy with the price the house was to be marketed at and sent it directly to the agent. A couple of weeks later Mum gets an irate call from my Uncle asking where her copy of the paperwork was and Mum told him she'd sent it back to the agent, as you would. He got very angry and said she should have sent it to him for him to send to the agent! He had his own copy to return so he didn't need to see Mum's copy.
Anyway, a few weeks pass and Mum hears nothing from my Uncle so she calls to see what's happening. He tells her that, despite both parties agreeing to the agents market valuation, he's decided to up the price by £30k! He did this on his own, without asking my Mum. The estate agent will only deal with him as it's too much trouble for them to keep Mum in the loop! That's what they said. And of course my Uncle doesn't keep Mum informed so she's always in the dark.
He was even cagey about giving Mum copies of the probate forms to sign and it took him a good couple of months to supply Mum with a copy of the will. She's seen none of my Aunt's personal papers and has no idea of the state of her finances other than one piece of paper that was included in the probate bundle which shows the balance of my Aunt's bank account at her death. However, Mum knows that my Aunt had at least one off-shore bank account, which seems to be hidden from her. We don't know what else my Uncle is keeping away from my Mum, but he goes very quiet when he's asked direct questions about my Aunt's paperwork/financial info.
So, now I've given some info, what we'd like to know is, how can we get all the information my Uncle's not providing? Would the solicitor doing the probate have information regarding my Aunt's off-shore accounts? Is there any way we can make my Uncle provide Mum with all the relevant paperwork? And since he's upped the price of the house without consulting Mum (surely she would have had to re-sign the paperwork to agree to a price hike after agreeing to the original price agreed?) can she do likewise and get the agent to put the price back to that agreed? There's no way that my Mum and Uncle will get the higher price as it's just not worth it! It'll sit there forever, all the while they have to pay all the fees (it's a retirement home) which my Uncle is insisting he won't pay! I'm worried that his behaviour will lead to some kind of action being taken and, as Mum's the co-executor, she'll be liable too and, at 75, there's no way she can cope with that.
Sorry, that turned out longer than I expected!
If anyone can advise we'd appreciate it.
Fen
Hope this is the right forum for this (found another thread similar in this part of the forum). If not, please move to correct forum.
Right, I'm hoping someone could advise me here. My Aunt (my Mother's sister) was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. She knew it was terminal so she set out her will early. She made my Mother and my Uncle (my Mum and Aunt's brother) co-executors on the will.
My Aunt died in June this year and so began the process of disposing of her estate. I live with my Mum in Lincolnshire and my Uncle lives in Milton Keynes where my Aunt also lived. For the last year or so of her life my Uncle was her sole carer. We know that my Aunt paid him out of her Attendance Allowance but my Uncle did not get carers allowance.
When my Aunt died my Uncle took complete control of everything, form arranging the funeral (which was already paid for by my Aunt) to getting the probate started.
And this is where the problems started. My Uncle is keeping my Mum completely in the dark. He's failed to tell the relevant people that my Mum is a co-executor and he completely rejects the fact that whatever he signs Mum has to sign to, so he's been doing things without first consulting my Mum. For example; he spoke to my Mum about marketing the house, he told her the price the agent had suggested, which Mum agreed to. We waited for several weeks for the paperwork to arrive from the agents so that Mum could sign it. When it didn't arrive Mum phoned them and asked why she hadn't received it yet and was shocked to find out that they didn't know she was an executor! My Uncle failed to tell them. When the paperwork arrived Mum signed to say she was happy with the price the house was to be marketed at and sent it directly to the agent. A couple of weeks later Mum gets an irate call from my Uncle asking where her copy of the paperwork was and Mum told him she'd sent it back to the agent, as you would. He got very angry and said she should have sent it to him for him to send to the agent! He had his own copy to return so he didn't need to see Mum's copy.
Anyway, a few weeks pass and Mum hears nothing from my Uncle so she calls to see what's happening. He tells her that, despite both parties agreeing to the agents market valuation, he's decided to up the price by £30k! He did this on his own, without asking my Mum. The estate agent will only deal with him as it's too much trouble for them to keep Mum in the loop! That's what they said. And of course my Uncle doesn't keep Mum informed so she's always in the dark.
He was even cagey about giving Mum copies of the probate forms to sign and it took him a good couple of months to supply Mum with a copy of the will. She's seen none of my Aunt's personal papers and has no idea of the state of her finances other than one piece of paper that was included in the probate bundle which shows the balance of my Aunt's bank account at her death. However, Mum knows that my Aunt had at least one off-shore bank account, which seems to be hidden from her. We don't know what else my Uncle is keeping away from my Mum, but he goes very quiet when he's asked direct questions about my Aunt's paperwork/financial info.
So, now I've given some info, what we'd like to know is, how can we get all the information my Uncle's not providing? Would the solicitor doing the probate have information regarding my Aunt's off-shore accounts? Is there any way we can make my Uncle provide Mum with all the relevant paperwork? And since he's upped the price of the house without consulting Mum (surely she would have had to re-sign the paperwork to agree to a price hike after agreeing to the original price agreed?) can she do likewise and get the agent to put the price back to that agreed? There's no way that my Mum and Uncle will get the higher price as it's just not worth it! It'll sit there forever, all the while they have to pay all the fees (it's a retirement home) which my Uncle is insisting he won't pay! I'm worried that his behaviour will lead to some kind of action being taken and, as Mum's the co-executor, she'll be liable too and, at 75, there's no way she can cope with that.
Sorry, that turned out longer than I expected!
If anyone can advise we'd appreciate it.
Fen
0
Comments
-
Consult a solicitor. Executors can be removed from post for acting improperly. A letter before action may focus your relatives attention.0
-
What solicitor ?
Who has employed a solicitor ?I do Contracts, all day every day.0 -
Hi all,
Hope this is the right forum for this (found another thread similar in this part of the forum). If not, please move to correct forum.
Right, I'm hoping someone could advise me here. My Aunt (my Mother's sister) was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. She knew it was terminal so she set out her will early. She made my Mother and my Uncle (my Mum and Aunt's brother) co-executors on the will.
My Aunt died in June this year and so began the process of disposing of her estate. I live with my Mum in Lincolnshire and my Uncle lives in Milton Keynes where my Aunt also lived. For the last year or so of her life my Uncle was her sole carer. We know that my Aunt paid him out of her Attendance Allowance but my Uncle did not get carers allowance.
When my Aunt died my Uncle took complete control of everything, form arranging the funeral (which was already paid for by my Aunt) to getting the probate started.
And this is where the problems started. My Uncle is keeping my Mum completely in the dark. He's failed to tell the relevant people that my Mum is a co-executor and he completely rejects the fact that whatever he signs Mum has to sign to, so he's been doing things without first consulting my Mum. For example; he spoke to my Mum about marketing the house, he told her the price the agent had suggested, which Mum agreed to. We waited for several weeks for the paperwork to arrive from the agents so that Mum could sign it. When it didn't arrive Mum phoned them and asked why she hadn't received it yet and was shocked to find out that they didn't know she was an executor! My Uncle failed to tell them. When the paperwork arrived Mum signed to say she was happy with the price the house was to be marketed at and sent it directly to the agent. A couple of weeks later Mum gets an irate call from my Uncle asking where her copy of the paperwork was and Mum told him she'd sent it back to the agent, as you would. He got very angry and said she should have sent it to him for him to send to the agent! He had his own copy to return so he didn't need to see Mum's copy.
Anyway, a few weeks pass and Mum hears nothing from my Uncle so she calls to see what's happening. He tells her that, despite both parties agreeing to the agents market valuation, he's decided to up the price by £30k! He did this on his own, without asking my Mum. The estate agent will only deal with him as it's too much trouble for them to keep Mum in the loop! That's what they said. And of course my Uncle doesn't keep Mum informed so she's always in the dark.
He was even cagey about giving Mum copies of the probate forms to sign and it took him a good couple of months to supply Mum with a copy of the will. She's seen none of my Aunt's personal papers and has no idea of the state of her finances other than one piece of paper that was included in the probate bundle which shows the balance of my Aunt's bank account at her death. However, Mum knows that my Aunt had at least one off-shore bank account, which seems to be hidden from her. We don't know what else my Uncle is keeping away from my Mum, but he goes very quiet when he's asked direct questions about my Aunt's paperwork/financial info.
So, now I've given some info, what we'd like to know is, how can we get all the information my Uncle's not providing? Would the solicitor doing the probate have information regarding my Aunt's off-shore accounts? Is there any way we can make my Uncle provide Mum with all the relevant paperwork? And since he's upped the price of the house without consulting Mum (surely she would have had to re-sign the paperwork to agree to a price hike after agreeing to the original price agreed?) can she do likewise and get the agent to put the price back to that agreed? There's no way that my Mum and Uncle will get the higher price as it's just not worth it! It'll sit there forever, all the while they have to pay all the fees (it's a retirement home) which my Uncle is insisting he won't pay! I'm worried that his behaviour will lead to some kind of action being taken and, as Mum's the co-executor, she'll be liable too and, at 75, there's no way she can cope with that.
Sorry, that turned out longer than I expected!
If anyone can advise we'd appreciate it.
Fen
she needs to try to get a proper agreement with the brother.
point out that he would be acting illegally if he sells the house without her written consent and that she needs full details of the total estate : every assett and bank account, pension etc.
also point out that if solicitors get involved, everything will take twice as long and involve both in considerable costs.
if that doesn't work then she does need legal advice on how to protect her interests0 -
Hi,
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
Having just been talking to my Mum about this and have passed on the comments. However, she's just told me that my Uncle plans to put all the funds from the house sale through his personal bank account. I read elsewhere that for the purposes of probate a separate account needs to be created so all the funds can be put into that once probate has been granted. Is this correct?
I'll be honest, I almost hit the roof when Mum told me this! I'm livid he thinks he can keep Mum in the dark all the time and get away with having all the money go through his account!
Also, regarding getting him to play ball, is there any way I could get involved or does it have to be Mum solely? I always try and help her with paperwork when I can, but I can see how this might be difficult as I'm not an executor. Just want to help her as much as I can.
Thanks!0 -
-
Your mother should consult her own solicitor.0
-
When we had to do this, between 3 of us, we agreed one would do it.
That one applied and signed to be the executor and just signed a form to say it was OK with us others that it'd be just them. We never received any notification nor were we ever asked to sign anything.
Our sibling was entirely trusted and we just let them get on with it all and they did. We never had to sign a thing.
If, say, mum'd died without us knowing we'd never know at all that anything had occurred and the sibling who went to get the form signed (at a solicitors) and sent off for probate COULD have wrapped the whole thing up and done a runner without us knowing a thing.
Just saying .... it can all occur without you ever knowing a thing, never being asked to sign anything, just because the executor filled in the form and ticked the box to say everybody knew/was OK with just one doing it.0 -
Stinks to high heaven. Why should money be going through the Uncle's bank account? Surely it should be paid to the late Aunt's bank account. (Maybe they had a joint account but the use of the words "his personal bank account" didn't suggest an ex-joint one.)
Why did your Aunt have offshore accounts?
What does the Will say? If it says that all/most of her assets are going to her husband / the Uncle anyway (which would be normal) then frankly I would be much less inclined to interfere and would keep my involvement (and liability) to the bare minimum. If on the other hand other family members are due substantial legacies then unfortunately it's time to get legal.
My first instinct would be to wash my hands of it, but it sounds as if your mother has left it too late to resign as co-executor as she has already "intermeddled" (lovely word) by dealing with the house sale paperwork.0 -
Hi,
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
Having just been talking to my Mum about this and have passed on the comments. However, she's just told me that my Uncle plans to put all the funds from the house sale through his personal bank account. I read elsewhere that for the purposes of probate a separate account needs to be created so all the funds can be put into that once probate has been granted. Is this correct?
I'll be honest, I almost hit the roof when Mum told me this! I'm livid he thinks he can keep Mum in the dark all the time and get away with having all the money go through his account!
Also, regarding getting him to play ball, is there any way I could get involved or does it have to be Mum solely? I always try and help her with paperwork when I can, but I can see how this might be difficult as I'm not an executor. Just want to help her as much as I can.
Thanks!
Get her to consult a solicitor asap.0 -
Where there are multiple executors named, all executors have to sign to complete high level transactions (such as sale of assets).
If one executor is acting on their own without the consent of the other executors then they are committing fraud. So, it is vital to seek legal advice from a solicitor now.
Inheritance fraud is a high risk area. Previously trusted family members do often go on to defraud other family members when it comes to large sums of money. I have seen it many times over the years. Just last year, almost an exactly same scenario you describe occurred where one son of the deceased parent emptied the bank accounts and sold the property and kept all the money for themselves and did not distribute anything to the other siblings.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 350.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.8K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.2K Spending & Discounts
- 243.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 597.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.5K Life & Family
- 256.1K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards