executor refusing to cooperate

hygge123

My sister and I are joint executors of our father's will, with the proviso that our brother is kept fully informed at all times. Relationships have broken down between the sister, and myself and my brother, and yet we were all 3 due to meet with our joint solicitor and discuss arrangements for paying the IHT and sign the probate forms on Monday. She has now said she won't be attending, but will arrange to sign the forms elsewhere. I understand she is legally entitled to do this, but my question is, how am supposed to work with her if she is behaving like this? I've suggested mediation but she has pretty much refused it. There are big decisions to be made regarding the amount of tax to pay upfront, and whether to sell the house or not. (I posted a couple of weeks earlier about this, asking if was reasonable to expect us to wait 18 months before taking our share of the house so her daughter could finish her GCSEs and they could take over the house). Any suggestions of how to proceed?

Margot123

This is a common issue with joint executors. All I can suggest is that your solicitor is made fully aware of the situation; keep it professional and don't make any personal accusations. Take printouts of all emails/ copies of letters etc with you to your meeting. Ask him/her to record the facts in your presence as an accurate record in case you need it as evidence for removal of her as an executor at a later date if she isn't prepared to step down.
Sometimes the role can be quite overwhelming and some people just can't hack it. Although from what you have already said on here, there could be a lot more to it.....

Yorkshireman99

Please could you add this to the original threead so we don't have to refer back to it? Thanks

hygge123

have posted this on my original thread