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P2P

Keep pedalling - very presumptuios of you re the value of my inheritance, and in accurate. I do find your responses less than productive, so kindly don't bother replying anymore, I am looking for constructive helpful comments. Thank you very much.

Margot123

Putting aside anyone's individual views on your circumstances OP, I'm sure we all wish you well in whatever course of action (if any) you eventually take.

Yorkshireman99

P2P wrote: »

Keep pedalling - very presumptuios of you re the value of my inheritance, and in accurate. I do find your responses less than productive, so kindly don't bother replying anymore, I am looking for constructive helpful comments. Thank you very much.

You have had non judgemental, and reasonable, advice.from people other than KP. Either take it or go back to your solicitor who is far better placed than anyone on here to advise.

Keep_pedalling

P2P wrote: »

I am looking for constructive helpful comments. Thank you very much.

And you have had plenty of those, but what you you really seem to want is confirmation that your brother is entirely to blame and you have no responsibility for your loss.

Even if you successfully got a legal judgment against him at best it would be 50/50 split on blame and costs, chucking more money at solicitors to try and solve this is foolish, which is why I said you should let this go. If your legacy is small then this is even more important as like the protagonists in Jarndyce and Jarndyce, you will end up with nothing but costs.

sammy1234567

It sounds like a difficult situation. Did you and your parents have an inventory of items you left with them? And are you and your brother agreed about what items of your property were in the storage areas and are now missing? Without an agreed list, I wonder how you can prove it.

SevenOfNine

You could try the Legal Beagles forum for info on Gratuitous Bailment, some solicitors can be found there on occasion, maybe one can help advise you further. http://legalbeagles.info/forums/

TBH though you don't want to hear it, this has become too contentious, sadly I fear both you and your brother are going to be the losers if you both stubbornly stand your ground with the fisticuffs at dawn approach. I'm not saying you're not perfectly entitled to feel justifiably aggrieved, but it's looking increasingly like the pair of you are on a hiding to nothing.

Good luck with it anyway.

P2P

Keep pedalling - Jog on......please!!!

Yorkshireman99

P2P wrote: »

Keep pedalling - Jog on......please!!!

You might not like the way KP has put it but he is absolutely spot on. What ever you say on here is not going to alter the advice everyone has given. It really is in your best interests to ask you solicitor if it is worth you pursueing what, on the face of it, is at best apretty hopeless case. Attacking people like KP will not help your case.

Margot123

They need to put themselves in the position of the Executor.

OP: "My stuff worth £7k was in the unlocked building, and you, as Executor, were responsible for it".

EXECUTOR: "what stuff? The building was empty".

Receipts will not prove the location of the property at the time of disappearance, and I fear 'well intended witnesses' may vanish once Courts are mentioned.

P2P

Margot123 - the appointed solicitor has already acknowledged via email that my property was in the storage areas (and inside the house) by virtue of the fact they have asked me to remove my possessions and given me a date to do so, and on-top of that my witnesses have confirmed they are happy to attend court.

With all due respect I think the technicalities are more complex than the responses being given so I have sought some more detailed advise which I have included below to hopefully help anyone else that may pick up this thread.

As my brother is the executor/administrator of the will then yes he would have a duty under common law bailment. He would likely be classified as an involuntary bailee because the goods would have come into his hands without his consent as a result of becoming the executor/administrator but has actual knowledge of those goods as explained above otherwise why ask for them to be removed.

As an involuntary bailee, he has a duty to take reasonable care of the goods until they have been returned which he hasn't. There are apparently two points to consider here, the first being damage to the goods due to the cleaning of the patio and the second, is his potential liability for failing to allow me access the house to collect my goods.

Damage to the goods
There is a general duty to take reasonable care of the goods whilst they are in his possession. If I can prove that the damage to the goods were as a result of the flooding (again I have a witness and photos) then he would be liable. Depending on the circumstances, this might be the cost of repair, replacement or reduction in value.

Refusal to allow me access / missing goods
The starting point for any claim for breach of duty as a bailee is for me to demand the return of the goods. If he ignores that then I could have two avenues to go down. The refusal of goods which are no longer there will be considered as the wrongful interference with goods which falls into two categories generally: trespass to goods and conversion.

Trespass to goods is the less serious of the two and involves the deliberate interference with my goods and is usually associated with minor interference touching a pen or book or painting without my consent.

Conversion however, is where a person misappropriates my goods with the intention of depriving me of use and possession which is applicable in this case. Conversion is a strict liability which means I simply have to show that the goods have been misappropriated resulting in my deprivation. There is no excuse for the bailee to say that he did not know the law or general ignorance of my rights.

Conversion examples;

- taking possession - applicable
- destruction - applicable
- transfer to another - possible
- loss - possible
- detention

My brother's refusal to hand the goods back will fall under the conversion by detention category but if that is simply a front because he has sold or took possession or lost the goods, then those actions would apply instead.

The starting point for these types of claims will usually be the market value at the time the offence took place. Alternatively, if it is possible to do so, the court may make an order to deliver up the goods in question but otherwise damages will be the only available remedy. Where damages are awarded, that will effectively extinguish my title to the goods which is fine.

So in summary it does appear that as the bailee he is responsible so I will try to find a no win no fee solicitor willing to take this on.