How much power does an Executor have?

Floyd_D

Hi


This is my first time doing this so I apologise if I have broken (or do break) forum etiquette.


Background:


My father died 9 months ago and I, along with my big sister, have applied and recently - in the last month - been granted letters of administration. It has taken a while as another sister placed a caveat on our probate application and only recently removed it. There are 9 beneficiaries in total. Myself and 5 siblings (making 6), and 3 half brothers.


Issue:


As you can tell from the above, my other sister, lets call her M, has been obstructive to date. Recently we began the process of selling my Dad's house, by taking the first step of dealing with the contents. We sent out an email listing all items and asked people to make a claim for the items they would like to keep. We stipulated any 'unclaimed' items would be sold and added to the Estate. After agreeing to this process, M has now changed her mind and thinks all items should be sold and added to the Estate. Not all beneficiaries agree to this. Two questions:


1. Would it be legally compliant to go with a majority decision and proceed based on that?
2. Would we even need a majority consensus? Can myself and my other sister, T, simply turn round and say, this is how we've decided to proceed so that's how it will be?


We do have a solicitor, but he is currently on holiday so I can't put these questions to him.


Essentially, I really need to know how much legal power an Executor has, where can I find out the laws that outline this? Is there a specific Act or a number of them?


Sorry for all the questions, but responses would be a huge help.


F

getmore4less

The value of the items that are kept by the beneficiaries should be agreed and form part of their shares of the estate.

when you start doing the inventory and account it will become clear.

Inventory is the list of all the assets and their value

each beneficiary will have a share of the total and a list of how they gott he value be it items or cash or...

one way to deal with disputes over the value of items is the person that thinks it is valued the most gets it even if they don't want it or gets the job of selling it

badmemory

If the house is full of antiques then I think M would have a point. However, if there is the usual "stuff" you will probably find that it costs more to take away than you will ever receive for it. I suppose you could suggest that anyone taking anything leaves a donation to the estate!

I would start by getting a quotation from a house clearance company. A good one will give you a value for what is saleable & a price for clearing the rest.

Yorkshireman99

Floyd_D wrote: »

Hi


This is my first time doing this so I apologise if I have broken (or do break) forum etiquette.


Background:


My father died 9 months ago and I, along with my big sister, have applied and recently - in the last month - been granted letters of administration. It has taken a while as another sister placed a caveat on our probate application and only recently removed it. There are 9 beneficiaries in total. Myself and 5 siblings (making 6), and 3 half brothers.


Issue:


As you can tell from the above, my other sister, lets call her M, has been obstructive to date. Recently we began the process of selling my Dad's house, by taking the first step of dealing with the contents. We sent out an email listing all items and asked people to make a claim for the items they would like to keep. We stipulated any 'unclaimed' items would be sold and added to the Estate. After agreeing to this process, M has now changed her mind and thinks all items should be sold and added to the Estate. Not all beneficiaries agree to this. Two questions:


1. Would it be legally compliant to go with a majority decision and proceed based on that?
2. Would we even need a majority consensus? Can myself and my other sister, T, simply turn round and say, this is how we've decided to proceed so that's how it will be?


We do have a solicitor, but he is currently on holiday so I can't put these questions to him.


Essentially, I really need to know how much legal power an Executor has, where can I find out the laws that outline this? Is there a specific Act or a number of them?


Sorry for all the questions, but responses would be a huge help.


F

Legally the executor(s) have the power to do as they wish. In this situation the best, and I believe only fair, thing is to put the contents up for auction and any of the beneficiaries can bid for the items they want. That way there can be no argument about the valuations. They may not like it but it prevents any arguments. The executor has full power to do this. Don't allow the beneficiaries to bully you.

eddyinfreehold

Some good advice above. One assumes that having been granted letters of administration, part of that process involved valuing the property and its contents. A RICS surveyor will list the value of any item of significant value. This was done for us on the death of my father in February 2016. The total of the property and chattels are added to the financial value of the estate along with any liquid capital in banks and building societies and any bonds, funds or shares at their value on date of death. Any debts are paid from the estate account. Any IHT due is paid to HMRC. When you receive notification that HMRC are satisfied and no futher taxes are due, any CGT has been paid and any Income Tax owing in the deceased's final year, the residue can be distributed as per the will or law in the case of intestacy.

In our case there were 3 beneficieries who were also the 3 executors of the estate. It took a couple of days all together with the stuff but of the chattels, everything was divvied up between us to an equal cash value. Often more problems arose with emotional attachment to an item than its value. In the end we were all happy with the process. My sister wanted the house so we took a cash sum each to the value it was given at probate. We are still awaiting authority for completion from HMRC and the business is not over yet but the physical elements of the estate have all been distributed. There was some early friction in this process but it soon calmed down and was dealt with pretty efficiently. You could try this approach with the chattels, inviting all your beneficiaries to a gathering and deducting the value of what they take from the fraction of the total estate they will recieve.

Floyd_D

Thank you all for your responses - very much appreciated.

It comforts me to know that as Executor I have the legal powers to proceed as I deem most appropriate.

Yorkshireman99

Floyd_D wrote: »

Thank you all for your responses - very much appreciated.

It comforts me to know that as Executor I have the legal powers to proceed as I deem most appropriate.

Do not allow yourself to be bullied by the beneficiaries. Also don't fall into the trap of letting the beneficiaries vote on the matter. They all have a vested interest so make the decision yourself.