DWP & problems with executor

TonyMMM

If he doesn't administer the estate properly he WILL be liable, and you can't take that liability away from him.

As executor, he is quite within his rights to not make any payments until any over/underpayment has been settled with the DWP. It is one of the key responsibilities he has. You should be doing everything you can to help/encourage him to get that sorted.


As far as distribution goes -

If the will says that the estate is split between the beneficiaries by shares (e.g. 10% to x, 10% to y, & 80% to z), then any costs or repayments will come out before the split is made and so be shared in proportion between x, y and z.

If the will says " I leave £5k to x, £5k to y, and the rest to z", then assuming the estate has sufficient assets x & y will get their full £5k, and z gets whatever is left. In that scenario, z effectively bears any costs from their share.

Newly_retired

I am a bit perplexed as to how you would have managed your rent and living expenses if your mum had not died. You seem to be expecting your inheritance to cover your normal expenses, not just the house purchase.
You were actually premature in going ahead with a house purchase before the estate was settled. It is quite usual for DWP to send out these letters if the deceased was on Pension credit, as you are right in thinking it is triggered by an estate value including the property making it look as if the deceased had assets which meant they were not entitled to benefits. In my opinion better checks should be made before such letters go out. But it is what it is, and hopefully it will not take too long for the situation with DWP to be resolved. But you cannot blame the executor for carrying out his responsibilities. As for people suing each other, total waste of time and money.

Dox

KK14 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. I agree. The wording of the letter is awful. Clearly I haven’t got a crystal ball so I can put my life on hold for x amount of months just on the off chance that I will get a DWP letter. The whole thing is making me stressed. I’m not in control of the situation & my life is being governed by this guy who doesn’t have a clue & has already miscalculated stuff on the Will.
I have come up with a plan of action today & I only hope the executor agrees with it or we start looking at how many people are going to be sueing each other if things don’t happen.
I’ve told him that i’m not leaving him liable but I have advised him to ring up the DWP again with this info & hopefully we can all breathe easy

You're being silly. Stop throwing your toys out of the pram and get to grips with the reality.

badger09

elsien wrote: »

Have you considered getting a job rather than handouts from the executor which they are not legally obliged to give? It's a bit silly to start talking about people suing each other - that has the potential to get messy and expensive quite quickly.

Op was self employed and had to 'virtually give up work for 5 months' to clear late mother's bungalow.

I agree talk of suing is silly.

KK14 wrote: »

So what would be your suggestion? No one has a crystal ball about this. This letter has only just landed this week. Will bequests are will bequests. There are no penalty clauses, it’s the estate that pays for debts as a whole so why should that penalise just me & no one else? The estate as a whole includes the beneficiaries

From another of your threads, it is clear that other beneficiaries inherit specific amounts and you are the residual beneficiary. In which case, those beneficiaries will receive the amounts specified and any overpayment of benefits to be refunded to DWP will be deducted from your inheritance.

This is not meant as criticism, as I'm sure you've had a stressful time, but you have been very impatient with the whole process.

You may be able to convince the executor to release sufficient funds from the sale of your late mum's bungalow so that your house purchase can go ahead as planned. However, if he/she refuses, then there is no way you can force them.

chesky

You were warned back in April when you asked for advice when to start house-hunting, that you shouldn't rush into anything and that probate and it's surrounding issues could easily take a year. It was good advice.

unholyangel

OP, I tend to be more forgiving on this board because death affects us all in different ways but I think potentially you're in dire need of a reality check. I don't mean to be rude, but I do believe some things need to be quite blunt to get the point across, so....

The executor is appointed by the will - not you. Their duty is to the estate, not you.

By your own admission you could not afford to give up working, as you're relying on a future inheritance which you're not technically entitled to right now and which may fall through (I'll cover that in a minute). Yet you did. You are the residual beneficiary. That means you only inherit if there is residual - that is after the funeral, debts & specific gifts have been fully paid. What if unknown debts had popped up and wiped out most or all of the residual? The timeline executors usually allow for creditors to come forward is 6 months.

The executor may already be in a sticky position if he is paying out money to the residuary beneficiary before settling those who are due to be paid before you. That is everyone btw - also why anything due would come out of your share with certainty and theres no need to debate what would be "fair", which subjective. Should it be a proportionate amount everyones inheritance is reduced by or the same amount each person or if there are items left are they to be valued (and how) and what happens if the person can't afford to pay their "fair" share?

The buyers could take action against you for not completing but its rare. Your solicitor will be aware of circumstances so would be better placed to advise you on the chances of that.

As for needing money, unfortunately this is one of the pitfalls of being self employed and why savings or other contingency measures are a necessity. But its unfair to blame the executor when it has not been caused by them. The fact that receiving your inheritance would resolve the issue does not make him at fault for you being in that position. Again, his duty is to the estate. Part of that duty may be to ensure the willed bequests are satisfied with reasonable care (which entails giving you money), but don't confuse that for having a duty to do whatever is best for you, particularly when you are back of the line in distribution.

Take some responsibility for the situation you have created for yourself and learn from it. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

KK14

Every situation is different when dealing with probate & executors & while I accept some points made on the forum are valid then others are definitely not.
I made the decision to go ahead & purchase a house as prices in my area were rising rapidly to the point where I would not be able to buy a house & be mortgage free. This made sense to me & maybe in hindsight I could have waited till my late mum’s Property sale completed & then looked but we are talking 6 mths down the line now & prices have increased further.

If you are self employed then you rely on every penny coming in to keep paying bills & rent - I haven’t bought a house in 20 yrs & there were very few delays that time but this time all we have had are delays. Once again, I was not expecting to be held up by 2 mths & pay over £1000 in additional rent.

The executor has not done anything to help out the bungalow. What if I had refused to do it? Who would have done it then? It was my mum’s house so I didn’t feel I had a choice so I had to do it. And yes I gave up working opportunities to do so, I can’t see why I should be penalised to do so. The executor has become very awkward to deal with due to the DWP. If my mum has overpaid anything then it will not a huge amount of money & he is being completely over the top.

MumOf2

First of all, my sympathies to you on the loss of your mother. It's still early days and no doubt it's all raw still and emotions can run high at a time like this.

Secondly, the executor is ultimately responsible for gathering in, reporting on and distributing the estate. It isn't a responsibility to take on lightly and the wording of DWP letters can come over as heavy handed and scary. No doubt he is very worried about this. As executor, he needs to ensure there are sufficient funds to reimburse DWP for any amounts they calculate as owing to them, also to ensure that ALL liabilities are settled from the estate before any distribution is made to ANY of the beneficiaries. If not, he is personally liable.

Thirdly, sorting out your mother's house is just one of those tasks which children do for their parents. Time is usually an issue as many daughters and sons are working and/or have their own family responsibilities and/or live far away from their late-parent's house. And all this at a time when bereavement is still fresh and we are in the midst of deep grieving. I wouldn't expect help from anyone else at all. If it really is too onerous, there are clearance companies that come into a house as is and just take everything from the settee in the lounge to the knives and forks in a kitchen drawer. Everything. You don't even have to take the time to be there if they can gain access via a key security system and there's no house alarm to disarm and set.

Finally, and with respect, you do come across as extremely angry about the whole situation you find yourself in. Really, please do try to step back and take a calmer approach to all this. Bereavement, especially relating to close family, is a dreadful time to go through and anger directed at the executor really won't help you at the moment.

MumOf2
x

Skiddaw1

KK14, I think MumOf2's response is spot on.



Only wanted to add that having been an executor myself (more than once), I can really understand why the executor doesn't want to distribute anything until all is settled. Things can (and do) pop out of the woodwork and, as has been said, the buck stops with the executor if anything is overlooked.



You may be in a similar position yourself someday. It's frustrating I know, but it sounds to me that the executor is doing all they can to expedite the process. I think you need to cut some slack (and as MumOf2 says, step back a bit and take a few deep breaths). Sorry for your loss.