Executors discover evidence of negligent activity of deceased. What to do ?

Fly_Guy

We are just dealing with the death of an aunt for whom we are the closest next of kin, and who lived alone without partner or kids and was found dead.

On gaining access to the house it is clear that aunt was a hoarder and the place is full of probably tons of paperwork going back decades. Much of it relates to her job as a professional executor of complex estates.

There are stacks of paperwork and financial documents for many clients. Including thousands of pounds of uncashed cheques going back many years and heated correspondence that hasn’t apparently been dealt with.

She was 85 and was still ‘working’ upto her death but has no computer or electronics and no decernable filing system. At this point we assume she has died inestate, and probably also insolvent. But it is possible a Will or (her own) savings books are somewhere....

We will seek professional legal advice but were wondering what the best way forward is here. We have kids, full time jobs and live 3hrs drive away and going through everything to understand what is going on would require many many months of detailed work.

We are more than a little overwhelmed ! In addition, we do not want to accidentally assume responsibility for past professional liability/malpractice or possibly even criminal negligence that may have occurred. The cost of sorting this out while not impossible is also a factor.

Many thanks...

Mojisola

Fly_Guy wrote: »

There are stacks of paperwork and financial documents for many clients. Including thousands of pounds of uncashed cheques going back many years and heated correspondence that hasn’t apparently been dealt with.

She was 85 and was still ‘working’ upto her death but has no computer or electronics and no decernable filing system. At this point we assume she has died inestate, and probably also insolvent. But it is possible a Will or (her own) savings books are somewhere....

We will seek professional legal advice but were wondering what the best way forward is here.

Step back and do absolutely nothing.

getmore4less

Did she own the house?

The walk away option is potentially a good call.
You can secure the property.

Another is just information gathering although that may be impractical due to distance time.

In what professional capacity was she acting?

Owain_Moneysaver

If she was a professional executor she should have had some form of professional indemnity insurance. If you can find that, you can hand the professional matters over to them.

And if you do decide to act as executors/administrators you can get insurance to cover yourself (one example). You might also consider employing a legal secretary (can be had from employment agencies on a per hour basis) to help with paperwork.

I think your priorities now are:
- secure the property and keep up insurance at your own expense - do not withdraw from the deceased's funds to do this.
- look for a Will appointing an executor
- look for her own bank statements or chequebook stubs which may show if she was paying professional insurance premiums.


I think you can do the above without being considered intermeddling.

Yorkshireman99

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

If she was a professional executor she should have had some form of professional indemnity insurance. If you can find that, you can hand the professional matters over to them.

And if you do decide to act as executors/administrators you can get insurance to cover yourself (one example). You might also consider employing a legal secretary (can be had from employment agencies on a per hour basis) to help with paperwork.

I think your priorities now are:
- secure the property and keep up insurance at your own expense - do not withdraw from the deceased's funds to do this.
- look for a Will appointing an executor
- look for her own bank statements or chequebook stubs which may show if she was paying professional insurance premiums.


I think you can do the above without being considered intermeddling.

Sorry to say it but this is bad advice. The OP should leve well alone. This is a minefield. Any action MIGHT be construed as inter meddling, LEAVE WELL AlONE.

Fly_Guy

Many thanks indeed to you all for this advice.

However, there is still a person at the heart of this - who is now a body in the hospital morgue, who deserves a funeral no matter how chaotic her final years may have been. There are also many neighbours who want to pay their respects.

No to mention a [rather dilapidated] house (ownership unclear), credit card debts, a current account, pension payments, utility bills, subscriptions etc.

Is the advice to just step away from the 'executor paperwork' or to do a runner and just ignore it all ?

Fly_Guy

getmore4less wrote: »

In what professional capacity was she acting?

This is unclear. She worked in close association with (but apparently independently of) a firm of solicitors for many years dealing with estates. She stepped back from this in the 1980's to nurse an elderly aunt [precise relationship unknown] who [probably] owned the house. When the aunt died she just stayed put, but continued to help people to sort out their affairs. Apparently all pro bono.

Given that she was 85, and given the chaotic nature of her house contents I would be very surprised if she maintained any professional insurance for all these years....

Its all a bit of a nightmare.

getmore4less

You can still do a funeral and pay for it or try to get a bank account to pay.

Anything else needs to be carefully thought about.

It is possible to do a lot without intermeddling but you need to know what you are doing.

elsien

House ownership can be checked with the land registry for a small fee.

getmore4less

You could check who owns the house at the Land registry

If you can find the name of the previously deceased check for administration of that estate

Check with solicitors what her professional status was.

It may be she was no longer acting in a professional capacity

...

Or let someone with a financial interest deal with it.

If done carefully you can notify people and institutions of her death.
No mention of administration and you don't have to give your name or address.

The person that notified the death is very likely to get corrispondence and needs to be prepared.

The neutral response is please contact the administrator.

Do not give out any name or address they need to use the information they have for the deceased.

Fly_Guy

The land registry just says 'no information' in all fields. The house was built in the 1930's and I suspect its never change hands formally.

Regarding the avoidance of intermeddling : this sounds like good advice. We have made steps to replace the door (destroyed by the boys in blue while trying to get in) and have a medical certificate and an appointment on Monday to register the death. I assume we can then instruct an undertaker...
But does doing things like informing the DWP, pensions, banks of her death count ? How about sifting through/ tidying her house looking for a will, deeds, savings books ?