Beneficiary Rights?

Ameee007

Hi Everyone - A very close Aunt of mine died in June 2016 and weirdly enough she has appointed my eldest brother and his wife as POA - now I have received a copy of my aunt's will and I her estate is to be split even across 11 members of my family - all listed in her will and I am oddly last (I was always her favorite niece!) At the top of the list are my eldest brother, his wife and their 2 children whom get a 1/3 of the estate. All my family find this odd as she had dementia and I knew her better than anyone in the family, I hate to say I think the will has been tampered with and I am not alone in thinking so. Her house has recently been sold in July 2017 and I have asked my brother for a statement of accounts and inventory of which he has not answered me completely my questions are how long will this take to complete and remainder of her estate divided up and what rights if any do beneficiaries have ? I thought it would be all done by now once the money from the sale of her house has been received.
I am also unable to find out how much her house was sold for as it is not appearing on the land registry. Also my brother had recently bought a brand new motorhome. I feel so awkward asking him questions about our aunt's estate but surely it should all be completed now?

Emsierose

Do you know the people whom witnessed the will? What date was the will made? And who it was made with? (if applicable)

Assuming you meant the brother was named as executor, did he get the grant himself or did they apply through a solicitors, third party, etc.

You should be able to find the price the house sold for online, unless it went privately.

There are a lot of things which have to be tied up prior to finalising an estate so it wouldn't necessarily be a long time as there could be other things outstanding or checks with DWP, etc. involved. Was there any IHT to pay?

Although some places may give an interim distribution of funds to the beneficiaries, standard practise would be to hold off until the estate is finalised.

Ameee007

Thank you for your fast reply Emsierose,
My brother and his wife are both POA and also the executors. Date of probate was 05/10/16. I have no idea who witnessed the will, although the copy of her will that i have has a solicitors stamp and signature on it reading 'I certify that this is a true and complete copy of the original'. As for the house, there are no details listed on the land registry so not sure how long it would take to be listed after a house has been sold.

Yorkshireman99

Ameee007 wrote: »

Thank you for your fast reply Emsierose,
My brother and his wife are both POA and also the executors. Date of probate was 05/10/16. I have no idea who witnessed the will, although the copy of her will that i have has a solicitors stamp and signature on it reading 'I certify that this is a true and complete copy of the original'. As for the house, there are no details listed on the land registry so not sure how long it would take to be listed after a house has been sold.

You can check the Probate here

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate,

That will show you all the details.

It should take a couple of months to appear on the Probate Registry. You might phone and ask.

Ameee007

Hi Yorkshireman, I have a copy of my late Aunts will already but this site only shows the date of probate.

Yorkshireman99

You have to pay to get a copy. What I was wondering if the copy you have had been tampered wiith.

Ameee007

Ah I see, no I also bought a copy of the will from this site to compare, both look identical, thanks though.

Ameee007

I've just called the solicitor that signed the copy of the will to ask who witnessed the original, but they would not tell me - just asked me to consult my own solicitor.

Mojisola

Ameee007 wrote: »

I've just called the solicitor that signed the copy of the will to ask who witnessed the original, but they would not tell me - just asked me to consult my own solicitor.

The witnesses' names should be on the will.

Yorkshireman99

Ameee007 wrote: »

I've just called the solicitor that signed the copy of the will to ask who witnessed the original, but they would not tell me - just asked me to consult my own solicitor.

You are welcome. The copy from the Probate Ofice with the embossed stamp is already a certified copy though some organisations ask for it to be certified as well.you really need to give the executors(d) a rocket sent by Signed for giving them 14 to provide some answers. Failing that there is litle alternative but to sue them.

elsien

Power of attorney dies with the person so is of no relevance now unless you think there was any coercion in setting it up. Even then, the OPG won't look into it if the person is now deceased.
Dementia does not rule out capacity to make a will, but the solicitor should have been made aware of the diagnosis so they could fully assess capacity and avoid difficulties later.
People have many reasons for what they do. A neighbour used to refer to her nephews as the vultures, but still left them the bulk of her estate because she felt it was what her husband would have wanted so was the right thing to do.
People choose the executor of their will, not because they're a favourite relative, but because they trust them to a) do the right thing or b) be the most competent. Having a vague suspicion of wrong doing because you're upset you were the last named person in the will isn't enough to start challenging everything.