Letter of Indemnity

Trebormint

Hi,

I have been asked to sign a 'letter of indemnity' for early east distribution, but I do not feel comfortable doing this.

I am concerned that the executor has already made early distribution to himself and my sister, but as I won't sign the indemnity letter is refusing to pay me anything. Is this legal, and when does he have to make a payment to me?

The reason I won't sign is that there are still too many issues that need to be resolved, For example there are medical negligence claims for my parents (what happens when these are paid out - they both have full support from the PHO and GMC). Also I am owed money by the estate for the wake charges and some money that I was owed and paid to me before my Father passed away, yet my brother (the executor) is stating he wants to take this back from my portion of the estate which I don't agree with.

Equally I am not clear how the estate holding account is being managed i.e interest accrued since the house was sold, and how this is being paid out equally between the 3 beneficiaries, myself my brother and my sister.

Also the executor has been mis using estate funds re his expenses, claiming for hotels in London when apparently dealing with the property sale in Cheshire!!

Plus the solicitors keep submitting estate accounts which are riddled with errors

The last goes on and on.

What can I do?

I have written to the executors solicitors but they are ignoring me. Am I best to approach the legal ombudsman as this whole process seems to be being mis managed by both the executor and the solicitors involved.

Yorkshireman99

Trebormint wrote: »

Hi,

I have been asked to sign a 'letter of indemnity' for early east distribution, but I do not feel comfortable doing this.

I am concerned that the executor has already made early distribution to himself and my sister, but as I won't sign the indemnity letter is refusing to pay me anything. Is this legal, and when does he have to make a payment to me?

The reason I won't sign is that there are still too many issues that need to be resolved, For example there are medical negligence claims for my parents (what happens when these are paid out - they both have full support from the PHO and GMC). Also I am owed money by the estate for the wake charges and some money that I was owed and paid to me before my Father passed away, yet my brother (the executor) is stating he wants to take this back from my portion of the estate which I don't agree with.

Equally I am not clear how the estate holding account is being managed i.e interest accrued since the house was sold, and how this is being paid out equally between the 3 beneficiaries, myself my brother and my sister.

Also the executor has been mis using estate funds re his expenses, claiming for hotels in London when apparently dealing with the property sale in Cheshire!!

Plus the solicitors keep submitting estate accounts which are riddled with errors

The last goes on and on.

What can I do?

I have written to the executors solicitors but they are ignoring me. Am I best to approach the legal ombudsman as this whole process seems to be being mis managed by both the executor and the solicitors involved.

Before the ombudsman will act you have exhaust the solicitor’s internal complaints procedure. Make a formal written complaint. An executor can only claim genuine out of pocket expenses.

Savvy_Sue

Trebormint wrote: »

I am concerned that the executor has already made early distribution to himself and my sister, but as I won't sign the indemnity letter is refusing to pay me anything. Is this legal, and when does he have to make a payment to me?

An early distribution is not required, and I'm not aware of any law which says that all beneficiaries have to have one if anyone has one.

Trebormint wrote: »

The reason I won't sign is that there are still too many issues that need to be resolved, For example there are medical negligence claims for my parents (what happens when these are paid out - they both have full support from the PHO and GMC).

I don't see why these should be a barrier to early distribution: if there are potentially outstanding debts on the estate then it's a really bad idea, but if you're expecting more money to come in but you don't know when (and realistically you're probably talking years not months) then it makes a lot of sense.

Trebormint wrote: »

Also I am owed money by the estate for the wake charges and some money that I was owed and paid to me before my Father passed away, yet my brother (the executor) is stating he wants to take this back from my portion of the estate which I don't agree with.

Now here I agree with you: normally these things would come out of the total estate before distribution. However, if - for example - you arranged a lavish wake without agreeing costs with the executors beforehand then that could swing things against you. Also the money owed to you - was there a clear paper trail for that? I know it was paid to you before your father died, but is your brother arguing that you were not actually owed the money, or exercised undue influence on your brother?

Trebormint wrote: »

Equally I am not clear how the estate holding account is being managed i.e interest accrued since the house was sold, and how this is being paid out equally between the 3 beneficiaries, myself my brother and my sister.

If you're not the executor, then you can ask, but I don't think you have a right to an answer on this.

Trebormint wrote: »

Also the executor has been mis using estate funds re his expenses, claiming for hotels in London when apparently dealing with the property sale in Cheshire!!

I agree with Yorkshireman that a lay executor can only claim genuine out of pocket expenses.

Trebormint wrote: »

Plus the solicitors keep submitting estate accounts which are riddled with errors

The last goes on and on.

What can I do?

I have written to the executors solicitors but they are ignoring me. Am I best to approach the legal ombudsman as this whole process seems to be being mis managed by both the executor and the solicitors involved.

Now, here's the problem. If the solicitors have been appointed by the executor to actually execute the will, then they are working for the executor, and are not obliged to correspond with you. Even if the executor has only asked them to deal with certain aspects, then the solicitors are working for the executor, and they are not obliged to correspond with you. That, at least is my understanding.

but going right back to the beginning, who has asked you to sign the indemnity? Is it the executor, or the solicitor, because that MIGHT make a small difference.

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Before the ombudsman will act you have exhaust the solicitor’s internal complaints procedure. Make a formal written complaint. An executor can only claim genuine out of pocket expenses.

So at this point I disagree with the first part of Ym's advice. You are not the solicitor's client, you are not paying the solicitor, so what they are probably doing is passing your enquiries on to your brother and saying "what do you want us to do about this?" And if he does not give them any instructions as to what he wants them to do, they'll do nothing.

having said that, it does sound as if there has been at best mismanagement. But I fear that if you want to pursue it, you're going to have to appoint your own solicitors, specialists in contentious probate, and pay them to pursue the matter.

nom_de_plume

Trebormint wrote: »

Hi,

I have been asked to sign a 'letter of indemnity' for early east distribution, but I do not feel comfortable doing this.

Would I be correct in thinking that the idemnity is to agree to repay moneys in the event that it transpires you have been overpaid due to an unknown debt appearing and subsequently reducing the value of the estate?

Trebormint

To advise early distribution has been made now for the bulk of the estate, however despite an agreement that was put in writing confirm I could receive all compensation for legal cases I am pursuing for medical negligence for both of my parents, the solicitor has now back tracked on this point and stated with the accounts that my Father's case which is now with the GMC would be 'decided' should any compensation be received. The only way this will now be relinquished is if I pay the set up for four the transfer of the LPA for my Farther to me which I have done, but this goes against the written agreement.

A case within the LO is now open so they have been copied in to these more recent developments as it has been a car crash from start to finish to be honest. My brother has racked up of £65,000 in solicitors costs for this probate process, and the solicitors have been charging for corrections of their own mistakes.

Yorkshireman99

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

An early distribution is not required, and I'm not aware of any law which says that all beneficiaries have to have one if anyone has one.

I don't see why these should be a barrier to early distribution: if there are potentially outstanding debts on the estate then it's a really bad idea, but if you're expecting more money to come in but you don't know when (and realistically you're probably talking years not months) then it makes a lot of sense.

Now here I agree with you: normally these things would come out of the total estate before distribution. However, if - for example - you arranged a lavish wake without agreeing costs with the executors beforehand then that could swing things against you. Also the money owed to you - was there a clear paper trail for that? I know it was paid to you before your father died, but is your brother arguing that you were not actually owed the money, or exercised undue influence on your brother?

If you're not the executor, then you can ask, but I don't think you have a right to an answer on this.

I agree with Yorkshireman that a lay executor can only claim genuine out of pocket expenses.

Now, here's the problem. If the solicitors have been appointed by the executor to actually execute the will, then they are working for the executor, and are not obliged to correspond with you. Even if the executor has only asked them to deal with certain aspects, then the solicitors are working for the executor, and they are not obliged to correspond with you. That, at least is my understanding.

but going right back to the beginning, who has asked you to sign the indemnity? Is it the executor, or the solicitor, because that MIGHT make a small difference.

So at this point I disagree with the first part of Ym's advice. You are not the solicitor's client, you are not paying the solicitor, so what they are probably doing is passing your enquiries on to your brother and saying "what do you want us to do about this?" And if he does not give them any instructions as to what he wants them to do, they'll do nothing.

having said that, it does sound as if there has been at best mismanagement. But I fear that if you want to pursue it, you're going to have to appoint your own solicitors, specialists in contentious probate, and pay them to pursue the matter.

Even though the OP is not the solicitor’s client he can still send a complaint to the solicitor. I might just get themup.