Estate Distribution Timeframe

peachyprice

Hi, I wonder if someone can help me out with a family member's will of which my parent is a beneficiary, I have no knowledge of how and when things are supposed to happen, but my parent is getting concerned. Sibling 1 is executor, estate is to be split equally between siblings 1 and 2 (my parent). I have sketchy details as my parent gets a bit confused, but the time line goes like this:

Family member died Nov 2014
Probate granted May 2016
House sold Dec 2016
All debts settled Jan 2017
Parent signed something to say they agree to pay HMRC £1400 out of their share Mar 2017- IHT maybe? Solicitor was keen to get this signed before end of last tax year
Parent hasn't heard anything since from either the solicitor or sibling.

Does all this seem like a reasonable time frame? My parent is getting anxious that they haven't received their inheritance yet, they don't want/need it for themselves but they verbally agreed with the deceased that they would distribute amounts to the children of the family which they want to do asap.

Jenniefour

Your mother could contact the sibling who is the executor and ask for a time indication. If I'm reading this correctly, the sibling executor has engaged a solicitor to assist or do the whole job. Solicitors do like to make sure everything is dealt with before handing out the money or all of it. Your mother could also give the solicitor a call.

Since probate wasn't applied for until last year that obviously has set things back a bit. But nothing to worry about in itself.

Your mother needs to make sure she's not handing out any money to her detriment (e.g. if she needs care in future does she have the means to pay herself without possibly running out). Legally the money belongs to your mother. I think you need to talk with your mother about this and come back on here if you/her are not sure of the implications. It's a great pity that the deceased sibling did not see fit to write a new will to reflect the wishes conveyed to your mother. That's what wills are for, and they need to be replaced with a new will, if necessary.

What does seem odd to me is that your mother needed to sign something to do with paying inheritance tax out of her share. Inheritance tax is paid out of the estate before distribution.

peachyprice

Thanks, so timewise it all seems ok.

I've told her time and time again to ask her sibling or even drop a line to the solicitor, but TBH her sibling is a bit of a bully and she is afraid to rock the boat.

It may not have been inheritance tax, mum was a bit vague as to what is was only that it had to be dealt with before the end of 16/17 TY, she agreed to it coming out of her share and she seems to think it's somehow messed up her tax for last year as she hasn't had her 16/17 assessment through. Is there anything else it could be?

Mum has enough in her own right if she needs care, she's not too worried about that, but she did say to me today that she's worried that if anything happened to her now before the estate was settled, what would happen to her share. I suppose that would be covered in the will?

I don't know why the deceased sibling chose to do 50/50, it seemed strange to me too, but as they died whilst in a care home maybe they didn't want to put specific amounts or percentages down in case there wasn't enough left. Executor sibling also paid some of the care home fees which the deceased wanted them to get back before any distribution took place.

konark

I'm sorry but the timeline looks anything but ok, in fact I'd be approaching the courts for the executor to be removed as incompetent.

It's now nearly 3 years since the testator died and you are right to be concerned; there is a convention called the 'executor's year' which the executor has exceeded by some margin.

Why was there an 18month gap between the death and the executor applying for probate? This is very irregular and shows the executor did not consider sorting the estate out a priority.

It's also 15 months since probate was granted and 9 months since the house was sold, again , what is the executor waiting for? It's unlikely to be the solicitor.

What was happening to the house in the 2years between death and sale? was it rented out? Was the executor living in it?

Why did your parent agree to pay HMRC any money? any taxation of the estate is paid by the estate/executor not by the beneficiaries.

Yorkshireman99

It sounds like a total shambles. Probate and distribution of the estate should have taken no more than a year. Any tax is due from the state not a brneficiary in the circumstances you describe. The executor needs a rocket. The executor should pay damages for the delays.

Keep_pedalling

As it has taken so long to sell the house it may be that the bill to HMRC was for capital gains tax.

She should contact the person at the solicitors who asked her to sign the document to find out what is happening.

It's a bit late now but if she plans to pass her inheritance on immediately, it would have been best to do this via a deed of variation to prevent the inheritance forming part of her own estate, and possible taking it into IHT territory.

If she died before distribution the inheritance would pass to her children so she need not worry about that.

getmore4less

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

If she died before distribution the inheritance would pass to her children so she need not worry about that.

It would form part of the mothers estate.

peachyprice

konark wrote: »

I'm sorry but the timeline looks anything but ok, in fact I'd be approaching the courts for the executor to be removed as incompetent.

It's now nearly 3 years since the testator died and you are right to be concerned; there is a convention called the 'executor's year' which the executor has exceeded by some margin.

Why was there an 18month gap between the death and the executor applying for probate? This is very irregular and shows the executor did consider sorting the estate out a priority.

It's also 15 months since probate was granted and 9 months since the house was sold, again , what is the executor waiting for? It's unlikely to be the solicitor.

What was happening to the house in the 2years between death and sale? was it rented out? Was the executor living in it?

Why did your parent agree to pay HMRC any money? any taxation of the estate is paid by the estate/executor not by the beneficiaries.

Thanks for your comments.

It's a very emotional and complicated situation, without going in to too much detail, the deceased died a very tragic early death from a horrible disease, the executor was extremely close to the deceased, they saw each other every single day of their lives and TBH the executor took a long time to come to terms with the death, following which they were in intensive care themselves with their own health condition, so my mother really wasn't troubled that it took so long for things to get going at the time.

As for the house, nobody lived there, the executor went there most days but took a very long time to sort it, they really weren't in a great state of mind and wouldn't accept any help as didn't want anyone else going through the deceased's things. So it sat empty for all that time.

As I said, it may not have been inheritance tax, my mother was a bit vague as to what it was and I haven't seen the letters myself. Maybe CGT as keep pedalling suggested?

I keep telling my mother to ask someone, if not her sibling at least the solicitor, but her sibling can be very awkward so she's reluctant to do so.