Distribute Monies of estate.

mrchagle

Hi All,

I hope someone can be of help.

My dear father passed away in April

My father had £xxxx of savings and of course his bungalow. At present, I live in the bungalow and do have plans shortly moving on.

However I do have 4 siblings. Staying in the bungalow isn't a problem until I have found somewhere to move into.

However I was considering distributing part of the estate (made up of my father's savings and bank accounts).

I would keep £xxx of money back in case something arises in the bungalow that needs attention. I basically pay all the bills (these have been transferred to me) as of course I live here. So bills etc. don't come out of the estate.

So as I've been thinking about distributing part of the estate as far as my father's savings / banking is concerned as I've called these in from the various institutions.

As it'll only be my siblings would be still be advisable to actually write a formal letter and have them sign something upon receipt of the monies? Just feel this is a bit OTT, but I guess this still would be the best thing to do?

Any advise would be great.

Many thanks.

Yorkshireman99

mrchagle wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope someone can be of help.

My dear father passed away in April

My father had £xxxx of savings and of course his bungalow. At present, I live in the bungalow and do have plans shortly moving on.

However I do have 4 siblings. Staying in the bungalow isn't a problem until I have found somewhere to move into.

However I was considering distributing part of the estate (made up of my father's savings and bank accounts).

I would keep £xxx of money back in case something arises in the bungalow that needs attention. I basically pay all the bills (these have been transferred to me) as of course I live here. So bills etc. don't come out of the estate.

So as I've been thinking about distributing part of the estate as far as my father's savings / banking is concerned as I've called these in from the various institutions.

As it'll only be my siblings would be still be advisable to actually write a formal letter and have them sign something upon receipt of the monies? Just feel this is a bit OTT, but I guess this still would be the best thing to do?

Any advise would be great.

Many thanks.

What does the will say? As executor your first priority is to deal with the estate not look after your own interests. Unless the bungalow was left to you then you have no right to live there.it would be advisable to get a professional valuation at the date of death.

Berkshire_Beancounter

I'm assuming (maybe incorrectly!) that your late father's bungalow forms part of the estate and his will leaves his estate between you and your siblings; and that your siblings are ok with you living in the property for the time being, but that the property is going to be sold at some point so the estate can be wound up and monies distributed in accordance with the will.

When my mother died last year, her property was empty and it was sold as her estate was split between me and my two siblings. However, this took a few months and as executor, I did distribute proceeds of bank accounts to my siblings, with their agreement, once we'd received the funds from the various banks. I kept back enough funds to pay initial estate agents and solicitors fees for selling the house, plus ongoing bills for the property as no-one was living there.

My siblings trusted me to get on with the estate admin, so I didn't ask them for a formal receipt of any interim distributions, although both did (eventually!) confirm to me they'd received the money.

So in short, I don't foresee a problem with what you're planning to do, my advice would be that you keep enough funds back to cover any up front estate agent's fees, etc, assuming you do intend to sell the property. Whether you ask for a formal receipt is up to you.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I would just send your siblings a cheque plus a set of accounts showing the income and expenditure so far and how much you are retaining.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Has any IHT bill been finally settled and all the other minor matters, over/under payment of pensions, council tax, utilities, income tax rebate etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You will need to be careful what you charge the estate for re the bungalow. If the boiler goes kaput say.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Also whist I am sure your siblings will be ok if the house goes up in value by 10% before you get round to selling it but what if it goes down by 10%, the won't be pleased.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Is the house still owned by the estate or have you transferred it to the 5 of you? If it goes up in value remember there may be a CGT bill. The estate only gets one £11,700 annual allowance but only for the tax year of death plus the next two years.[/FONT]

mrchagle

Thank you Berkshire Beancounter and also Tom99.

Berkshire Beancounter, you're post really was spot on. I do have probate so literally it's really a case of being able to sell the bungalow in due course.

I just wanted to do the right thing with my siblings and distribute what funds are available, albeit keep a little back incase something goes wrong in the bungalow, boiler and some other disaster! I'm certainly *not* 'trying to look after my own interests as suggested in post 2 which is rather insulting and hurtful I feel.

I really just wanted a 2nd opinion wether I should have my siblings sign anything to be honest. After all they are my siblings and would asking them to say 'sign here for the money you've received so far' would be a little insulting to them.

Thanks all

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Unless you are going to be paying them in cash there is no need for them to sign anything.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]A cheque or bank transfer is fine.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If you send a cheque ask them to confirm receipt so that you know its not lost in the post and if you send a bank transfer send £1 to begin with and again ask them to confirm the money has arrived.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Make a note of which cheque number belongs to which sibling so if one of them forgets to cash it you will know who to chase.[/FONT]

mrchagle

Thanks Tom99 -- I plan a visit to each of them to explain and show them my accounts. It will be bank transfer, rather than cheque.

Yorkshireman99

-

mrchagle wrote: »

Thank you Berkshire Beancounter and also Tom99.

Berkshire Beancounter, you're post really was spot on. I do have probate so literally it's really a case of being able to sell the bungalow in due course.

I just wanted to do the right thing with my siblings and distribute what funds are available, albeit keep a little back incase something goes wrong in the bungalow, boiler and some other disaster! I'm certainly *not* 'trying to look after my own interests as suggested in post 2 which is rather insulting and hurtful I feel.

I really just wanted a 2nd opinion wether I should have my siblings sign anything to be honest. After all they are my siblings and would asking them to say 'sign here for the money you've received so far' would be a little insulting to them.

Thanks all

I apologise if you felt that my post was insulting and hurtful.That was not my intention in anyway. Unfortunately we hear of many cases on here where a family member has taken up occupation when they have no legal authority to do so.and this has resulted in serious difficulties. Neverless in legal terms an executor is not allowed to use estate property for their own purposes even though there may be advantages to the estate, Perhaps you might consider paying the other beneficiaries an ex gratia payment of say two thirds the market rent for the duration of your stay.stay. This would avoid the legal compliications of being a landlord. You migth want to Google "self dealing" with regard to estate property. Also it is important to make sure the property is insured for such occupation. I just wanted you to avoid the many legal pitfalls if something goes wrong.

badger09

I'm joint executor for my late sister's estate and my co-executor (niece's husband) has reserved powers.

Once I'd received Probate (no IHT payable) and gathered in all the savings, with my co executor's agreement, I distributed the bulk between the 2 beneficiaries, my niece & nephew, retaining enough to cover ongoing bills.

I did this by a series of bank transfers, with 'Estate Account' as their ref. I sent them an email after each distribution and asked them to confirm receipt. That way, we all have an audit trail.

Once her home is sold, I will do the same again.

Savvy_Sue

mrchagle wrote: »

It will be bank transfer, rather than cheque.

that will probably be fine for the proceeds of bank accounts, but most banks limit the amount that can be sent by a 'normal' bank transfer without making a charge.

Once we sold the house, the payment for the proceeds of that were made by cheque. I offered CHAPS, for which there was a fee, but everyone preferred cheque.

SevenOfNine

We made an interim payment to the beneficiaries, by cheque because as Savvy_Sue has pointed out, there was a daily limit on bank transfers.

We delivered the cheques ourselves with a copy of the accounts & a covering letter inviting questions/clarification & stating that encashment of the cheque would be taken as confirmation that they were in agreement with the accounts thus far.

Not a legally binding process we were in no doubt, but we felt better for doing it that way. They all paid their cheques in faster than the speed of light!