Will be held from probate

WELLSIANA1962

i first posted this Dec 2016 so people can check the original post if they wish , but basically my wife's dad passed away January 2016 , he left a will with an estate which mainly consisted of a Town house and a 3 acre piece of land plus small items , My wife , her two sisters and brother were all named executors in the will , basically to be wound up and split equal ways after and debts paid. One sister has since become ill and is going through Cancer treatment , but her brother moved his daughter into the house to pay rent which paid the mortgage of the sick sister as she can no longer work and is having to sell her house as her husband has also left her. Her sister will not be given a council house so has to rent or move back into her passed fathers house , i have no problem with that but its nearly two years since he passed and the will has still not been sent to probate , it is locked in a cabinet inside the house , of which new locks have been put on the door , so she can no longer access the dwelling and even if she did , she does not have the key for the metal cabinet to access the will , her elder sister does and refuses to grant access , my wife has requested the will and requested it goes to probate , but nothing ever happens , she is ignored . January next year her dad will have passed two years and technically , the system does not even know and his debtors not been paid, She has no idea what to do and the other executors (her sisters & brother) just either argue or ignore her , any ideas greatly appreciated

Yorkshireman99

If the executors refuse to act they can taken to court to force them do so or hand over the will to an executor appointed by the court. That is, of course, the very last resort. The threat of it might concentrate the executors minds bearing in mind they would have to pay all the costs.is the estate likely be subject to IHT? If so the executors are likely to face large penalties for not paying the IHT plus interest at, If I recall correctly, of around 8% The prospect of that might concentrate their minds.

WELLSIANA1962

Hi , i would not at this stage think it would be IHT , but property is rising fast here , i would estimate around 250k , i have seen you can ask probate registry to request a court order to get it produced , may make some inquiries about this as its going no where , and around £60k owed to HMRC , i instructed them of his passing thinking they would want their money hence flush out the will naturally , but heard nothing .

Yorkshireman99

What is the money owing to HMR&C for? I think you need to go and see a solictor and ask what the way forward is?

WELLSIANA1962

It seems the owed money to HMRC is in remission and it seems they are not now chasing it other than it openly is given too then, i have that from their office , so basically now we have around 200-250k assets which he left 1/4 to each child , but can not be executed because two children have secured the will away and changed the locks and put one child daughter in to rent it . I am aware of the solicitor route but £250 an hour , who they hell can afford them ?

Yorkshireman99

WELLSIANA1962 wrote: »

It seems the owed money to HMRC is in remission and it seems they are not now chasing it other than it openly is given too then, i have that from their office , so basically now we have around 200-250k assets which he left 1/4 to each child , but can not be executed because two children have secured the will away and changed the locks and put one child daughter in to rent it . I am aware of the solicitor route but £250 an hour , who they hell can afford them ?

Given that you stand to gain a substantial sum and if successful the other two will have to pay the costs what choice do you have? Applying to the court to force production of the will and appoint another executor should be quite straightforward.

getmore4less

Well as you have no idea if there is will you could just apply to administer the estate.

Tuesday_Tenor

We have no idea what the motive of the obstructive sibling is.
I can only thing of:
- the will is not as you expect
- something else going on in that person's life, doesn't want the hassle now
- they are a bit mentally unhinged

Whatever the reason, the impasse needs to be addressed. The best course of action would be for your wife to apply for Letters of Adminitration to deal with the estate as if there is no will. The ultimate result of the intestacy rules would be the same as you are currently expecting: one quarter of the estate to go to each of four children.

If you don't currently have access to the records, then the application for LoA would all have to be estimates. That's OK. Talk to the probate office, who will support you.

The appliction should 'flush out' any existing will, as that would need to be produced by others to stop your wife's LoA going ahead.

If no other will is produced, your wife becomes Administrator which gives her the right to change the locks, enter the property, deal with the banks, deal with lodger, sell property etc. [If she's a named executor on the will, she already has these rights and responsibilities, but without a copy of the will it's hard to prove this, so go for LoA].

Just suggesting this to the other 3 siblings might get things moving with the will, if it exists. If not, go ahead with the LoA route.

Tuesday_Tenor

I see I gave exactly the same information on your other thread back in Dec 2016.

Why have you/your wife not contacted the Probate Office for advice and support?

The required forms are here:
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/applying-for-a-grant-of-representation