Scottish law, legal rights claim, and deed of variation

maximumgardener

I would have thought, as executor you are duty bound to carry out the wishes of the deceased exactly as expressed in the will.

From there , the beneficiaries should take their own legal advice and may be in a position to "redistribute" with legal advice .
let us know how you get on with the solicitor at your meeting?

Yorkshireman99

maximumgardener wrote: »

I would have thought, as executor you are duty bound to carry out the wishes of the deceased exactly as expressed in the will.

From there , the beneficiaries should take their own legal advice and may be in a position to "redistribute" with legal advice .
let us know how you get on with the solicitor at your meeting?

Exactly! The executor has no discretion at all. It is the beneficiaries who have to deal with any DOV. The DOV is simply a means of reducing the IHT payable.

Keep_pedalling

maximumgardener wrote: »

I would have thought, as executor you are duty bound to carry out the wishes of the deceased exactly as expressed in the will.

From there , the beneficiaries should take their own legal advice and may be in a position to "redistribute" with legal advice .
let us know how you get on with the solicitor at your meeting?

The executor also has to abide by Scottish inheritance laws, which can't be overridden by a will, so I would not distribute a penny until this mess is sorted out. The will has been poorly drawn up without taking account of the laws governing inheritance rights, and now that everything has become movable estate has been made even worse. Was this drawn up by a solicitor?

iwilson16

My only aim is to smooth the process as much as possible, whilst abiding by the law and carrying out the wishes of the deceased.

Since I already know that the daughters will be making a claim, I simply plan to mention that to the solicitor, and pass on up-to-date addresses to him of the daughters and the beneficeries.

Keep-peddalling - Why do you think the situation is worse because everything has become a moveable estate? To my mind that simplifies everything.

Yorkshireman99

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

The executor also has to abide by Scottish inheritance laws, which can't be overridden by a will, so I would not distribute a penny until this mess is sorted out. The will has been poorly drawn up without taking account of the laws governing inheritance rights, and now that everything has become movable estate has been made even worse. Was this drawn up by a solicitor?

Unfortunately the OP is stuck with what has been done. Asking who drew the will up is not going to help matters.However it does illustrate the potential dangers of not having a will drawn up, and updated, by a competent professional.

getmore4less

The key point being asked

DOV to give adult child/grandchild the legal beneficiaries share will protect that from being included in their estate for 7 years if it was a straight gift.

iwilson16

What do folk here think is wrong with the will? It was drawn up in 2006. Is it just that the inheritance rights of the children have been ignored? This was on purpose. My step-mother had a major falling out with her two daughters and one grand-daughter shortly before this will was drawn up. All very sad really. She died alone in a care home last weekend ... :-(

One of the grand-children is 17, and the will states they must wait until 21 to get their share. Is this permitted under current law?

Thanks
Ian

Yorkshireman99

iwilson16 wrote: »

What do folk here think is wrong with the will? It was drawn up in 2006. Is it just that the inheritance rights of the children have been ignored? This was on purpose. My step-mother had a major falling out with her two daughters and one grand-daughter shortly before this will was drawn up. All very sad really. She died alone in a care home last weekend ... :-(

One of the grand-children is 17, and the will states they must wait until 21 to get their share. Is this permitted under current law?

Thanks
Ian

Without seeing it nobody knows! Take the advice of the solicitor and ignore the comments by the ill informed.. Though the will states 21 the law no requires it to be 18 so that takes precedence.

Keep_pedalling

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Unfortunately the OP is stuck with what has been done. Asking who drew the will up is not going to help matters.However it does illustrate the potential dangers of not having a will drawn up, and updated, by a competent professional.

I was just being nosey really.

Keep_pedalling

iwilson16 wrote: »

Keep-peddalling - Why do you think the situation is worse because everything has become a moveable estate? To my mind that simplifies everything.

Because it puts all of the estate up for grabs rather than a small part of it, so will depart even further from her wishes.

I think you are wise just to leave this to a professional to sort out.