Advise please before a WAR begins

Bornwild

Socajam wrote: »

Just a quickie because I am off to bed
You and your sister will have to be on the same page because you are up against greed. Trust me I have been there.
Write her a letter asking for copies of the will, all the financial records, cars etc
Let her know that any money taken to decorating and getting her and her partner comfortable will be coming from her portion of the estate
That you and your sister have no objection to her buying the two of you out, but it will be at market rate (you will need 3 estate agents to value the property) and you will need the names of all three
If you have to go to court, both of you are prepared to, but you will be asking for her to pay your solicitors fees.
Give her 14 days to respond and after that get a joint solicitor.
I think you should be able to obtain a copy of the will.

I will look into this as its the first time ive heard about this.

Also when you saying she could be spending all dads money what do u mean by this?
Like his bank money or something?
I am a amuture in this situation but i thought no1 could touch nothing and bank accounts are frozen or classed as fraud if touched after the death date?
Or is there more to this i dont know?

Bornwild

Sorry post was wrong above i was replying back to

Why don't you just apply for letters of administration on your own behalf ? It is not difficult to do it yourself, you can even do it online (cost £215 for estates over £5k)

That way the onus will be on your executor sister to 'respond.'

If she doesn't respond then if you get letters of admin. you will have the legal power to administer the estate - the ball is then in your court.

At the moment,if the sister is doing nothing then she could go on living in the house and spending all dad's money and eventually all the estate will be spent.

Mojisola

Bornwild wrote: »

She also said she cant act as my solictor as she would now have to act on my sisters behalf as she is now her client she also said i dont have your will infront off me but if i rememeber correctly it was just for the house estate and nothing more was listed regarding banks and personal belongings

Those things aren't usually listed individually in a will - if they were, you'd have to change your will every time you changed an account or bought and sold items.

The 'estate' includes all the deceased's possessions.

GDB2222

Bornwild wrote: »

I asked if i could apply the WILL to probate but the solictor told me only she can and i should see a solictor if she doesnt

Im not sure what time should be given to her till i try taking legal actions

Yet she seems very happy in her fb photos with her partner posing in there new hot tube they got in the garden
Has time to buy and put that in the garden yet dont have time to reply to my message
This is why im getting bitter

You asked what fights you should have? This one:
"I asked if i could apply the WILL to probate but the solictor told me only she can and i should see a solictor if she doesnt "

So, wait and see whether your sister is acting correctly, as an executor should. If not, speak to the solicitor.

Bear in mind that a full-blooded legal dispute about the executorship will cost you a great deal of money in legal fees. Tens of thousands. Do you have the cash to cover that?

edgex

This is going to sound rude & abrupt, but;

Get the will!

There is simply no point posting anything more on here, or stressing over what if's, or constantly looking at what your sisters doing.

Sea_Shell

Sorry if I've missed this, but...

Was his WILL written before he got married last?

Is he still legally married?

lukewarn

"Also when you saying she could be spending all dads money what do u mean by this?
Like his bank money or something?
I am a amuture in this situation but i thought no1 could touch nothing and bank accounts are frozen or classed as fraud if touched after the death date?
Or is there more to this i dont know?"


What I mean is this:


If your sister hasn't bothered to apply for probate ( and from what you say she is doing nothing) then you are pretty powerless as regards seeing a copy of the probated will.


There is no point spending your own money on solicitors getting your sister to act as you will probably be throwing your own money away.


Far better to take things into your own hands by applying for letters of administration in your own right and then that will 'force her hand' as she will have to respond.If she doesn't then that is good for you as you will the obtain the legal authority to administer your father's estate.


If you do nothing, then it perfectly possible that your sister will stay in the house and spend all the money in dad's bank accounts etc. Granted it would be very naughty (and illegal) if she did this but you don't want to be in a position of taking her to court to get the money back.Once she has spent the money it will be very difficult (and expensive) to get it back,if at all.


You should do all you can without involving expensive solicitors and by applying for letters of representation this is an avenue for you to force her to act for not very much money.

Fire_Fox

Bornwild wrote: »

I will look into this as its the first time ive heard about this.

Also when you saying she could be spending all dads money what do u mean by this?
Like his bank money or something?

I am a amuture in this situation but i thought no1 could touch nothing and bank accounts are frozen or classed as fraud if touched after the death date?
Or is there more to this i dont know?

The executor is allowed to access your father's money, or nothing would get sorted. Your sister has not resigned as executor, and you seem to suggest it has not been that long since your father died. So there is still time for your sister to comply with your father's wishes.

The executor can use it for reasonable expenses such as relevant travel, to pay homeowner bills such as buildings insurance, cost of applying for relevant legal documents, for urgent or essential repairs on a property ..... They can also move or transfer your fathers money, say as they close savings accounts with bits and bobs in.

The executor is not permitted to spend your father's money as if it were their own, that would potentially be fraud. But executors that are not legal experts have some leeway to make mistakes and get things wrong as long as they set it right again. So be VERY careful before accusing anyone of fraud.

The executor must maintain proper detailed financial accounts and present those to the main beneficiaries down the line. So unless your executor sister forges these accounts any monies spent now that should not be (maybe decorating, the first few utility bills) will come out of her share later.

Fire_Fox

lukewarn wrote: »

If your sister hasn't bothered to apply for probate ( and from what you say she is doing nothing) then you are pretty powerless as regards seeing a copy of the probated will.

How much time has elapsed since the father's death? How much time is an executor permitted in your view?

Probate is not needed for an executor to have started work on an estate. Many organisations are fine with a copy of the will.

lukewarn wrote: »

There is no point spending your own money on solicitors getting your sister to act as you will probably be throwing your own money away.

Far better to take things into your own hands by applying for letters of administration in your own right and then that will 'force her hand' as she will have to respond.If she doesn't then that is good for you as you will the obtain the legal authority to administer your father's estate.

You should do all you can without involving expensive solicitors and by applying for letters of representation this is an avenue for you to force her to act for not very much money

Apply on what legal basis? In what own right?

Legal authority is not conferred by Letters that have been obtained by knowingly supplying false information (AKA lying). There IS a valid will.

If the sisters had solid legal grounds to chivvy a negligent executor any modest legal costs incurred would be chargeable to the estate.

lukewarn wrote: »

If you do nothing, then it perfectly possible that your sister will stay in the house and spend all the money in dad's bank accounts etc. Granted it would be very naughty (and illegal) if she did this but you don't want to be in a position of taking her to court to get the money back.Once she has spent the money it will be very difficult (and expensive) to get it back,if at all.
.

Possible is not probable.

To actively access the father's bank accounts the sister would need to either
1. Supply death certificate, her own identification and copy of the will. AKA acting as executor!
OR
2. Commit fraud by using her late father's debit card/ contactless. I suspect this would be defrauding the bank rather than defrauding the estate.

Why would the other sisters need to go to court? There are substantial assets, not least an entire house, to levy against.

nom_de_plume

Bornwild wrote: »

but if i rememeber correctly it was just for the house estate and nothing more was listed regarding banks and personal belongings

Mojisola wrote: »

Those things aren't usually listed individually in a will - if they were, you'd have to change your will every time you changed an account or bought and sold items.

The 'estate' includes all the deceased's possessions.

Just to add to this, it's almost certain that the rest of his estate (cash, jewellery, furniture, etc., etc.) would be covered and probably under a residuary clause. The chances of a professionally prepared Will omitting such items is very unlikely.