Advice required re executing a Will

idrankthecoolaid

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Once probate is obtained then the will is a public document and they can buy a copy if they want one. It sounds like a situation where you need to do the minimum and let thm get on with it. AS KP says only the residuary beneficiay is entitled to see the estate accounts.

Thanks for that, as I have just said to someone else, I should have mentioned initially that I am the only residuary beneficiary, as well as being one of the two executors.

Flugelhorn

CGT is payable if the value of the house increases between the date of death and the date of sale by more than £11,700 pounds

idrankthecoolaid

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?

I hear what you are saying, and of course in normal circumstances, to be as co-operative and helpful as possible would be not only the obvious thing to do, but also would of course come as second nature. The bizarre thing is that I am in a situation where "normal" behavior seems to have been thrown out of the window. Any interaction ends up as a complete farce - so ridiculous that I couldn't even begin to explain - and weirdly, my sibling appears to gain pleasure from being able to cause distress (this doesn't just apply to me, its happened with others in the past, many many times).

The wish for as little interaction as possible is kind of illogical as you say, but nevertheless bourne from past experience. In the past, I have sat for literally hours trying to compose various letters etc (prior to my parents' passing, about other business), with the intent that the correspondence be received as I intended. I have other people check it over before sending to make sure my intent was clear, yet every time the reply is batted back with some counter which totally doesn't match up and leaves me dumbfounded.

idrankthecoolaid

Flugelhorn wrote: »

CGT is payable if the value of the house increases between the date of death and the date of sale by more than £11,700 pounds

Thanks, that makes it clear - much appreciated. It was valued soon after death even though we couldnt get probate, and has not risen that much since.

YoungBlueEyes

What the accounts should look like - this is personal experience, although I'm not sure if there is one right answer.

I had.... unhappy half-siblings (to put it very mildly!)..... when our father passed away. I ended up going to a specialist contentious wills and probate solicitor. He produced accounts for them from all the paperwork I took him. Every bill + receipt + invoice + bank statement since dad passed.

It was really quite basic actually. An A4 sheet to each of them with a table on it of two columns with maybe half a dozen entries on each side - incomings and outgoings, and a covering letter. Didn't seem very swish considering what he charged me to do it!

I hope this helps.

idrankthecoolaid

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

What the accounts should look like - this is personal experience, although I'm not sure if there is one right answer.

I had.... unhappy half-siblings (to put it very mildly!)..... when our father passed away. I ended up going to a specialist contentious wills and probate solicitor. He produced accounts for them from all the paperwork I took him. Every bill + receipt + invoice + bank statement since dad passed.

It was really quite basic actually. An A4 sheet to each of them with a table on it of two columns with maybe half a dozen entries on each side - incomings and outgoings, and a covering letter. Didn't seem very swish considering what he charged me to do it!

I hope this helps.

It helps! Thanks.

As the estate is so small, and the house not yet sold, I am trying to avoid additional costs where possible since there wont be enough money in the bank account if solicitors bills are brought into the equation. Additionally, I had to spend a few thousand of my own savings when the said parent was still alive, consulting solicitors with regard to the bizarre behavior of my sibling with regard to our parent and their monetary situation.

YoungBlueEyes

There's so many posts on here where the replies are 'you don't need to get a solic to do that, you can do it yourself and here's a helpful link'.

Without meaning to pry, could you afford to pay for a normal solic (i.e. not a specialist solic) to do accounts for you? From your own pocket I mean. I know these things are meant to come from the estate but if you have the money, and are keen to keep your distance (which I empathise with) maybe it would be money well spent for the peace of mind?

idrankthecoolaid

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

There's so many posts on here where the replies are 'you don't need to get a solic to do that, you can do it yourself and here's a helpful link'.

Without meaning to pry, could you afford to pay for a normal solic (i.e. not a specialist solic) to do accounts for you? From your own pocket I mean. I know these things are meant to come from the estate but if you have the money, and are keen to keep your distance (which I empathise with) maybe it would be money well spent for the peace of mind?

Thanks for your reply. Whilst my parent was alive, I spent thousands of pounds (of my savings) with solicitors in an effort to protect my parents money from being, in my opinion, fraudulently used and taken from their bank account (by the sibling to whom I am referring in these posts). Strangely enough, throughout all of that, all my sibling kept doing was accusing me of fraud and reporting me to just about every establishment known to man !!! Of course, since I was not doing anything wrong, there was no problem as far as that goes, but I needed professional advice many times to check that I was operating within the parameters of the Enduring Power of Attorney which I held, and in order to circumvent monies being used and taken from my parents account by my sibling for ??? purposes (and that sibling did not hold the EPA).

This has all but cleared me out of funds unfortunately - otherwise I would be more than happy to pay myself, in order to avoid contact as you have suggested.

Can you give me a ballpark figure as to what this might cost if I were to employ a solicitor?

YoungBlueEyes

I empathise completely, it's a bl00dy awful situation to be in.

I'm afraid I can't give you an exact figure as I didn't need an itemised bill. In case prices are dictated by location, I'm in East Yorkshire.

I ended up going to a specialist solic because of all the threats of police and court cases and forensic accountants and nastiness etc etc (on the advice of my family solic who told me to step up a gear cos he couldn't believe what they were throwing at me!)

I negotiated a sort of package deal with him. I had -
#An initial consultation (well over an hour),
#2 phone calls between he and I (maybe 10 mins each),
#a letter each to the two half siblings and my sister as she's co-exec to explain where we all stand, from a legal point of view,
#a half hour appointment to take in all paperwork and bills etc, from which he drew up the accounts,
#email reply to the email they sent in response to my letter,
#a letter each to the half siblings with a copy of the accounts and a page explaining the estate is done,
#they emailed him again with another absolute load of 4rse gravy,
#he emailed them back to say the matter is closed and my client (ie me) has nothing further to add. No further correspondence will be entered into.

My bill came to £500 + vat. He did say I'd gone a tiny bit over the £500, but he billed me for £500 + vat.

So not expensive really, because I needed to know I'd done everything right (which he assured me I had), and for those... persons.... to see I was serious about not giving in to their demands.

I should just add though - I posted a lot on here about the whole carry on while I was in between appointments with my solics. The advice my family solic and specialist solic gave me was what I'd already been told on here. If you have absolutely no more pennies, you can trust what these guys say. If I'd had more nerve I needn't have spent any money myself at all. Live and learn.

PM me if you'd like his details.

YoungBlueEyes

Just a thought - as a cost-efficient way to the same end, would it be possible for a normal solic or legal secretary to create an account sheet from bank statements and bills etc if you went in and asked one?

Hopefully a more knowledgeable person will be along in a minute