Estate or Trust

bazz13

My elder sister (sister A) recently passed away and left a will of which I am one of the executors.
Her home (a park home) was put into a Discretionary Trust some years ago and my other sister (sister was the other Trustee.
I have recently completed Probate and IHT forms and awaiting the go ahead.
Sister B was left as the only remaining Trustee. She has been to see a solicitor to help her with handling the Trust who has told her she cannot sell the home as a single Trustee she needs to appoint another, who everyone says it should really be me, however I am still waiting to hear who she may appoint. We have spoken on quite a few occasions and she seems very guarded and not very forthcoming with how things are progressing. I have no intention of asking as I feel she is using this somehow as leverage for whatever reason. I feel she may not follow sister A wishes as per a note/letter of wishes, (printed by the solicitor who did the will and signed by sister A, not classed as a codicil I am told) left as an addition to the will as to where the proceeds of the sale of the home should go to. The Trust document states that the proceeds should go to all nieces and nephews, whereas the note/addition to the will names just specific nieces and nephews.
My questions are;
a - what recourse (if any) would I have if sister B should decide to sell the home and not carry out the last wishes of sister A
b – who is responsible for the ground rent (for the home) and also utility bills, the estate or the trust.


Having said all of the above everything may well as yet all be ok(as per Sister A wishes), I just wanted some advice to be prepared should things not work out as she wanted.

mrschaucer

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along, but as far as question b) is concerned, sister A did not own the park home - the trust did, once it was set up and the home "moved" into it. I would have thought that until the trust is wound up in whichever way, it (and not the estate) is responsible for ground rent/bills etc?

Yorkshireman99

bazz13 wrote: »

My elder sister (sister A) recently passed away and left a will of which I am one of the executors.
Her home (a park home) was put into a Discretionary Trust some years ago and my other sister (sister was the other Trustee.
I have recently completed Probate and IHT forms and awaiting the go ahead.
Sister B was left as the only remaining Trustee. She has been to see a solicitor to help her with handling the Trust who has told her she cannot sell the home as a single Trustee she needs to appoint another, who everyone says it should really be me, however I am still waiting to hear who she may appoint. We have spoken on quite a few occasions and she seems very guarded and not very forthcoming with how things are progressing. I have no intention of asking as I feel she is using this somehow as leverage for whatever reason. I feel she may not follow sister A wishes as per a note/letter of wishes, (printed by the solicitor who did the will and signed by sister A, not classed as a codicil I am told) left as an addition to the will as to where the proceeds of the sale of the home should go to. The Trust document states that the proceeds should go to all nieces and nephews, whereas the note/addition to the will names just specific nieces and nephews.
My questions are;
a - what recourse (if any) would I have if sister B should decide to sell the home and not carry out the last wishes of sister A
b – who is responsible for the ground rent (for the home) and also utility bills, the estate or the trust.


Having said all of the above everything may well as yet all be ok(as per Sister A wishes), I just wanted some advice to be prepared should things not work out as she wanted.

A lot depends on the exact wording of the trust. The fact that is discretionary means that the trustees gave some choice as to how they act. A wishes letter has no real legal force. The trust is responsible for any outgoings such as the ground rent. As the property is pwned by a trust then it is not part of the estate and not your concern as executor. I don’t see there is much you can do except talk to your sister.