Advice required re executing a Will

Yorkshireman99

SevenOfNine wrote: »

We've sold 2 properties following deaths. They both remained in the name of the deceased owners until the point of sale, then transferred directly to the purchasers.

Just a small opinion on your comment regarding "sending sibling nothing unless I have to tell them they've been let off the debt". I think it's best to be as co-operative as possible. I get that you want little to no contact, but the quickest way to that end may be to send them a copy of the will which states the debt has been written off.

Yes, they can buy a copy on-line & though your justifiable instinct is to not want to touch any of them with a bargepole, but perhaps it would be best not to go out of your way to add fuel to the fire.

Financial paperwork - We've kept everything, 3 bereavements, 6 years, 2 1/2 years, & this year. Kept neatly in order, all very precise & very detailed. Boxed & in the loft with no plans to dispose of any of it for many years.

YM99 is there an actual timeline for storing it all?

Six years is the normal but in the case of real proerty (and and buildings) twelve years in theory but seldom needed.

getmore4less

No one will be able to find any legal basis that says anyone has the right to see the accounts without a court order.

if you want to try and find something start with
Administration of Estates Act 1925 (S.25)

getmore4less

I would keep the paper work for ever and pass it on, I have found some anomalies in an estate from the late 80's something was overlooked at the time it should be sorted OK but very handy having the records to work through what happened.

getmore4less

As one of the executors is the beneficiary of the house it would be sensible to let them do the donkey work selling the property and you just sign off the paperwork.
Let them decide what they want to do with the lease freehold etc.

As for the rest keep it simple, each person that benefits(that includes those that have debts written off)gets a letter and a payout if required .

As the will is a public document no point in not including that is it will make it clear to each that's it don't come back for more.

In practice as the first thing a court will do if there are queries by interested parties is have the inventory and account produced there is no point is not having the relevant people see that if they want.
(The most obvious being residuals)

I&A can be very high level, list of assets and where the money went, so things like testimony expenses do not need to be itemised, and a property can be probate value for IHT and net proceeds from sale...

AnotherJoe

Flugelhorn wrote: »

I think the house can stay in the name of "the executors of..." The one I am selling has definitely not had the owner's name changed

Ditto for me.

idrankthecoolaid

dandy wrote: »

Could you investigate buying the freehold with estate funds? I believe executors have the right to do this - it may increase your market, and depending on the freehold price might be worth the investment. I'm a beneficiary to an estate where this was done, the freehold was about £5000 so it was a no brainer

its on a old persons estate so the freehold is not available for purchase since there are caveats on who can move in - the freeholder wants to preserve the nature of the estate. A good idea though, had the circumstances been different.

unforeseen

How can the sibling be a beneficiary when they have not been left anything in the will?

idrankthecoolaid

getmore4less wrote: »

As one of the executors is the beneficiary of the house it would be sensible to let them do the donkey work selling the property and you just sign off the paperwork.
Let them decide what they want to do with the lease freehold etc.

As for the rest keep it simple, each person that benefits(that includes those that have debts written off)gets a letter and a payout if required .

As the will is a public document no point in not including that is it will make it clear to each that's it don't come back for more.

In practice as the first thing a court will do if there are queries by interested parties is have the inventory and account produced there is no point is not having the relevant people see that if they want.
(The most obvious being residuals)

I&A can be very high level, list of assets and where the money went, so things like testimony expenses do not need to be itemised, and a property can be probate value for IHT and net proceeds from sale...

Thanks for your detailed reply. I should have maybe said, I am the main beneficiary as well as being one of the two executors.

The executors will write to my sibling advising that the debt owed has been wiped by the Will. I kind of hoped I guess that I wouldn't have to have any contact since some (elsewhere) have said that having a debt written off does not make one a beneficiary - but hey ho!

The total amount of monies left in bank after debts have been paid, plus the value of the leasehold property are way under the IHT level.

I would be interested to see what the accounts should look like (is there a sample set online that anyone knows of? I have looked but cant find)

I have kept a record of all sales (obtained a written receipt from each person who has bought anything during the house clearing process)
I have noted all payments into the account (ie monies found in the house after my mother passed), and payments out.
I am just needing to know now, how to present these, even though in theory it will only be myself and the other executor who needs to see them, since there are no residual beneficiaries apart from myself.



As you may have gathered from reading between the lines, the past has been pretty horrendous, and I just want it all over with to be honest, with as little contact as possible. I am confident that all has been dealt with correctly, but experience has shown that absolutely anything I say or do gets picked apart (by a very clever and articulate sibling) to the extent that even I am doubting my own sanity let alone what others are lead to believe along the way. I guess I may be overthinking here, but as I said, past experience has shown me that no matter how carefully I try and word something (anything), the exact opposite of whatever I say is always extracted, and then used against me.

idrankthecoolaid

unforeseen wrote: »

How can the sibling be a beneficiary when they have not been left anything in the will?

The answer to this varies, as you can see, some from this site say that my sibling IS a beneficiary, whilst on another site I have been told the opposite.

idrankthecoolaid

Tom99 wrote: »

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Just out if interest, did you enter your sibling's loan as an asset of the estate?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Seems unlikely but remember you may need to pay CGT if you make a gain on the house sale of over £11,700.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Also that if the lease term remaining is shortish you can serve a lease extension notice within a certain time frame.[/FONT]

I will have to check up on whether the loan was mentioned when applying for probate. That was the one thing we had a solicitor do, since back to back caveats were being entered by my sibling. Its hard to explain the actual terror that someone can exert on one - myself and the other executor were literally at our wits end wondering what kind of ridiculous reason would be forthcoming when the appearance would be put in after the warning. History has taught us both, that any kind of interaction with my sibling brings nothing but lots of verbal "treacle / quicksand" to deal with. Thats why we had a solicitor do it. Of course when it came to it, the caveat was withdrawn so probate was granted "without a hitch" (as of course there was no reason to put it there in the first place, save for the inconvenience it caused and the cost it gave to the estate, since monthly service charges mounted up).



Can you explain this one to me please? "[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Seems unlikely but remember you may need to pay CGT if you make a gain on the house sale of over £11,700."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sorry to be so dumb, but since the house is valued at more than £11,700, the gain will be more than that - so why does it seem unlikely? (I have a feeling I am being extremely silly and missing the point here! - Sorry)
[/FONT]