No Probate after 3 years

Gowlat

My elderly uncle died in the first half of 2017. He was married without children and his wife is still living. A few years earlier when he entered his 90s he started to put his affairs in order. He told his extended family that on his death the oldest family members (nieces and nephews) would inherit part of his estate whilst he had also ensured his wife would be provided for (both being wealthy individuals in their own right).
He chose to appoint a married couple (close friends and neighbours) as his sole executors. We are now well into the third year since he passed away and none of the aforementioned expected beneficiaries have heard anything, neither has the grant of probate appeared on probatesearch.service.co.uk
Some months ago my aunt who is now in her 90s decided to update her own will and was also persuaded to have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) drawn up which is without doubt a good idea. Her own solicitor advised her that it was advisable to appoint a third party as a co-executor as well as this married couple and also appoint a person other than one of them as the co-attorney on the LPA to avoid a possible conflict of interest in the future. My aunt readily agreed to this and approached a great-niece to undertake this role.
Once the male party of this couple learnt of this arrangement he made a special visit from his home to the solicitor’s office, burst in and caused an angry scene stating he was insulted and outraged. This has caused alarm bells to ring with the rest of the family as this couple who are in their 60s are very controlling of my aunt who although elderly is fully compos mentis and very active. For example she will not let them have a key to her property despite constant badgering as she is a very private person. Similarly when she was sorting an insurance concerning her late husband, this lady insisted on going with her to the extent of being in the office when the agent completed the forms with her.
I add that to illustrate the unease this has caused the family. It is very unlikely my uncle would have made a further will disinheriting his family but it is my understanding that the executors are the only persons entitled to view the will until probate is granted when it becomes a public document. Two of my uncle’s expected benefactors are now very elderly, one is approaching 90 and in very poor health. I am assuming his jointly owned home and any joint accounts would easily have transferred to his wife but as a very wealthy man (by his own definition) he must have had several accounts solely in his name for tax reasons if nothing else for which probate would surely be required, even if he ultimately left their value to someone other than the family.
My aunt has also confided that she was not happy that he chose to make this couple the sole executors but that she had no idea he had done it until after the event.
Therefore is there anything we can do? Is it possible to just leave a will indefinitely without taking it to probate? I don’t think anything has been mentioned to my aunt as yet as it is a very sensitive subject but we need some advice as how to best proceed.

xylophone

The aunt is the husband of the deceased uncle and probate of her husband's estate has not been sought by the executors and she has not queried this?

What does her solicitor have to say about this?

I am assuming his jointly owned home and any joint accounts would easily have transferred to his wife

Yes, a joint account/property held as joint tenants pass by survivorship.

Two of my uncle’s expected benefactors are now very elderly, one is approaching 90 and in very poor health.

Beneficiaries?

https://www.ashfords.co.uk/news-and-media/general/dealing-with-problem-executors

Mojisola

Gowlat wrote: »

My elderly uncle died in the first half of 2017. He was married without children and his wife is still living.

He chose to appoint a married couple as his sole executors.

We are now well into the third year since he passed away and none of the aforementioned expected beneficiaries have heard anything, neither has the grant of probate appeared on probatesearch.service.co.uk

Your aunt should talk to a solicitor - a letter from him/her asking for a progress report would be a good start.

It is possible to remove executors who aren't doing their job but it means going to court.

Gowlat

Thank you for the replies. Yes I did of course mean beneficiaries. My mistake!
I think we will see if an older mutual friend will talk to my aunt informally say over lunch out one day. I'm assuming that if he changed his mind and decided to leave it all to her that probate would still be needed for all accounts that were not jointly held though?

xylophone

I'm assuming that if he changed his mind and decided to leave it all to her that probate would still be needed for all accounts that were not jointly held though?

If there are large sums of money involved then yes - banks have their own rules about how much they will release without a grant.

Again, if the estate is high value and all monies were not left to his wife, then there could be IHT due.

GaleSF63

Gowlat wrote: »

He chose to appoint a married couple (close friends and neighbours) as his sole executors.

My aunt has also confided that she was not happy that he chose to make this couple the sole executors

Some months ago my aunt who is now in her 90s decided to update her own will
Her own solicitor advised her that it was advisable to appoint a third party as a co-executor as well as this married couple

Are you saying that this same married couple are executors of your aunt's will as well? If she's not happy that her husband chose to make this couple the sole executors why on earth are they hers?

She needs to remove them from her will.