Will and Executor issue

albertramsbottom

My mother passed away about 1 month ago and left all the contents of the house to her friend and 50/50 split on the house and any property (money)to me and the same friend. She granted her friend as the executor of the will

Immediately things went bad, I was told by her friend on the Thursday that my mother had died. I traveled up on Friday and the executor of the will denied my entry to my mothers property, even though I only wanted to chat about the arrangements. She just pretended not to be in and when I sent her a test message she called the police

The whole family have been completely locked out of any decisions, such as how much the house will be sold for, has probate started? What happens to sentimental stuff in the house? Such as ID, Photos, letters etc that belonged to my mother?

Also this woman is very calculated, whats to stop her selling the house to a friend for 25% of its worth and then buying it back a year latter. Hence she would then get 75% of the house?

Can I demand she keeps me in the loop? I know absolutely nothing currently and she will not answer calls or texts. She is currently living in the property and using the estate to pay bills and such stuff. Is this allowed? She could live there for two years before going to probate. Can I charge her rent for living in the property? After all you should only pay the creditors from the estate

Thanks for any help in this difficult period

TW1234

albertramsbottom wrote: »

My mother passed away about 1 month ago and left all the contents of the house to her friend and 50/50 split on the house and any property (money)to me and the same friend. She granted her friend as the executor of the will
As a house is involved, the executor will have to obtain probate in order to sell it or transfer it.
The whole family have been completely locked out of any decisions, such as how much the house will be sold for, has probate started? What happens to sentimental stuff in the house? Such as ID, Photos, letters etc that belonged to my mother?
If the house contents are left to the friend, then they own them and can dispose of them as they wish.

Also this woman is very calculated, whats to stop her selling the house to a friend for 25% of its worth and then buying it back a year latter. Hence she would then get 75% of the house?
You will need a copy of the will. (Available when application for probate has been made.) Several possibilities arise, but it should indicate the extent of the executor's authority to convert the property into cash. As you will be a joint residual beneficiary you will have a right to sue the executor if under-pricing should happen. Possibly the will may require that the property be transferred into joint ownership and a sale could not then be made without your consent.

Can I demand she keeps me in the loop? I know absolutely nothing currently and she will not answer calls or texts.
Not really, but hopefully politeness may produce mutually beneficial cooperation
She is currently living in the property and using the estate to pay bills and such stuff. Is this allowed?
Only bills due from the estate should be paid from estate funds; however advances of her inheritance portion could be taken, at her risk. Such should be documented in the final estate accounts, to which you are entitled.
She could live there for two years before going to probate. Can I charge her rent for living in the property?
Yes, but the property needs to be secure and maintained, so there would be some entitlement for the resident undertaking this duty (!) to offset against the market rent.

I suggest obtaining a copy of the will and contacting the land registry to see if a restriction could be added on the entry.

Brynsam

Your mother has only been dead for a month, but your post is wholly concerned with ensuring you get your share of the house/money. Has it occurred to you that her friend - who was clearly very close indeed to your mother - may be in deep shock and grief and doesn't appreciate what she (rightly or wrongly) sees as a money-grubbing offspring coming along and throwing their weight about, making demands in all directions? That may be a very unfair assessment of the position, but grief never made anyone see things through rose-tinted spectacles; quite the reverse.

The lady concerned can delay any sale of the house for some considerable time (not just two years) and given the state of the property market, would probably be well advised not to sell in a hurry. Living there and ensuring the house is occupied and taken care of makes a lot of sense. She is the executor and presumably your mother chose her rather than you for good reasons, however difficult that may be for you to accept.

You say in one breath that you 'know nothing' and then that 'she is using the estate to pay bills' - how do you know? Your mother has only been dead for a month, so surely it's rather soon to be making such sweeping statements.

You can 'demand' (interesting choice of word, that - why not 'request'?) anything you like, but as executor she is unlikely to have to comply with your demands. Maybe a bit of empathy, if not sympathy, would be the best way to calm things.

Mojisola

albertramsbottom wrote: »

My mother passed away about 1 month ago and left all the contents of the house to her friend and 50/50 split on the house and any property (money)to me and the same friend. She granted her friend as the executor of the will

Immediately things went bad, I was told by her friend on the Thursday that my mother had died. I traveled up on Friday and the executor of the will denied my entry to my mothers property, even though I only wanted to chat about the arrangements. She just pretended not to be in and when I sent her a test message she called the police

That seems an extreme reaction - what did the police say to you?

The executor has to manage the estate properly - she will be expected to sort things out within a reasonable time frame (but that could easily be a year or so as there is a house to sell) - and she will have to do the best for the beneficiaries so selling the house very cheaply wouldn't work.

Your mother clearly trusted her friend to be her executor - why don't you trust your mother's judgement?

The death is very recent - don't expect too much too soon.

xylophone

You may need to take legal advice?


https://www.gov.uk/stop-probate-application

https://www.ibblaw.co.uk/insights/blog/what-caveat-and-why-might-one-need-be-entered

albertramsbottom

Thanks for everyone's reply's and sorry for the delay, problems logging in

Just some background

My mother changed her will in May when she was very ill and wasn't really that with it at the time. I have visited my mother every week for the last 30 years so any one calling me Money Grubbing is wrong. My mother was given this money in my Grandmothers will and my grandmother had always told me that she wasn't going to leave me anything because she was going to leave it to my mother and she could then transfer it down to me. In addition to that I spent 12 months convincing my 67 years mother to purchase this cheap house so she could live rent free for the rest of her life

Anyway
TW1234

"As a house is involved, the executor will have to obtain probate in order to sell it or transfer it"

I suppose this is one of the issues as she is now living in the house why would she go to probate? Wouldnt it be better for her never to go to probate?

"You will need a copy of the will. (Available when application for probate has been made.) Several possibilities arise, but it should indicate the extent of the executor's authority to convert the property into cash. As you will be a joint residual beneficiary you will have a right to sue the executor if under-pricing should happen. Possibly the will may require that the property be transferred into joint ownership and a sale could not then be made without your consent."

I have seen a copy of the will and its very basic, just outlines the beneficiaries and the executor and what goes where. However if I to need the actual will I cannot get it until it goes to probate, then if she doesnt go to probate what can I do?

I am not concerned with her getting half the property only that she doesn't forever keep it out of probate so she can live in it, and that she sells the house for current market value

Mojisola

"That seems an extreme reaction - what did the police say to you?"

The Police told me not to contact her again, which was against the law as I am a beneficiary of the will and have the right to contact her

I have officially complained


"Your mother clearly trusted her friend to be her executor - why don't you trust your mother's judgement?

The death is very recent - don't expect too much too soon."

Here is the crux of it. Two weeks before my mum died I chatted with her for two hours and my mum told me that she was suspicious of her actions and that she had been a friend for 7 years and that she always spoke of her house in Cambridge, which she spent 50% of the time between. She told my mum for the first time (after my mother had changed the will), that she only rented it!

My mother was too ill to get to the solicitor so we agreed to do it when she got better, but then sadly died two weeks later.

I understand that it hasnt been long, I am just forming a POA incase things go wrong.

xylophone

"You may need to take legal advice?


https://www.gov.uk/stop-probate-application

https://www.ibblaw.co.uk/insights/blog/what-caveat-and-why-might-one-need-be-entered"

Thanks, but i would rather probate happened quickly than slowly as long as the house is sold for market value and that she isn't living there. She rents in Cambridge and I do not want her to move from her current address in to my mums house. Its free rent

Many Many thanks

Gavin83

It depends how hardball you want to play with this. You could report her for financial abuse and/or contest the will. If she really forced her to change her will when she didn't have capacity I'm sure your claim will succeed.

Also you have as much right to enter the property as she does. Get a locksmith to change the locks and then give her a key. You could even move in alongside her if you wished.

Also if you feel she isn't carrying out her duties as executor correctly then report her. She isn't allowed to twist the situation for her own benefit, her job is to carry out the wishes of the will and ensure it's distributed as stated without any unnecessary delays.

Linton

Gavin83 wrote: »

It depends how hardball you want to play with this. You could report her for financial abuse and/or contest the will. If she really forced her to change her will when she didn't have capacity I'm sure your claim will succeed.

Also you have as much right to enter the property as she does. Get a locksmith to change the locks and then give her a key. You could even move in alongside her if you wished.

Also if you feel she isn't carrying out her duties as executor correctly then report her. She isn't allowed to twist the situation for her own benefit, her job is to carry out the wishes of the will and ensure it's distributed as stated without any unnecessary delays.

This seems bad advice to me:
1) You need very solid evidence to successfully contest a will. Contesting a will is expensive and if unsuccessful the OP would be liable for the costs of both sides.

2) At the moment the house belongs to the estate, and the estate is administered by the executor. The OP has no ownership rights until the estate passes them on.

Malthusian

albertramsbottom wrote: »

The Police told me not to contact her again, which was against the law as I am a beneficiary of the will and have the right to contact her

Nope. As a beneficiary you have the right to be informed of your share and to see the estate accounts. Your right to contact her on any other matter is the same as any other member of the public. If the question is one of harrassment then the fact that you are a beneficiary makes zero difference.

You sent one text and the police gave you a warning? Nobody is going to force you to tell us the full story, but if you don't there's a strong chance the answers won't be of much help.

I suppose this is one of the issues as she is now living in the house why would she go to probate?

She has no option. She is legally obliged to distribute the estate as per the Will. That requires a grant of probate, at which point the Will will be publicly available.

As your mother has barely cooled it is far too soon to start considering legal action against the executor on the grounds she is taking too long. You have no evidence that she intends to occupy the house indefinitely and not sell it or transfer it.

Thanks, but i would rather probate happened quickly than slowly as long as the house is sold for market value and that she isn't living there.

She has an obligation to get a reasonable price and having a fire-sale of the property would a breach of her duty as executor.

If she is living there then the estate should be charging her rent at a commercial rate, 50% of which will in due course come straight back to her.

Gavin83 wrote: »

It depends how hardball you want to play with this. You could report her for financial abuse and/or contest the will. If she really forced her to change her will when she didn't have capacity I'm sure your claim will succeed.

The OP will need a lot of evidence to prove his mother lacked capacity when she made her Will. Being ill does not mean you lack capacity.

If she was being financially abused in May then why didn't he do something about it at the time, given he visited her frequently? If he goes down that route it is highly likely to backfire, like his text messages.

Also you have as much right to enter the property as she does.

Completely wrong.

Gavin83

Malthusian wrote: »

The OP will need a lot of evidence to prove his mother lacked capacity when she made her Will. Being ill does not mean you lack capacity.

No it doesn't but the OP is very much suggesting she didn't have capacity to make such decisions at that time. It's not really for us to decide if that's true or not, it's up for the OP to investigate and decide if there's a case.

Malthusian wrote: »

Completely wrong.

In what respect? The property is owned by the estate, not either beneficiary so what further right does this friend have to live in the property over the OP? The friend has as much ownership of the property as the OP does.

nom_de_plume

albertramsbottom wrote: »

I suppose this is one of the issues as she is now living in the house why would she go to probate? Wouldnt it be better for her never to go to probate?
I have seen a copy of the will and its very basic, just outlines the beneficiaries and the executor and what goes where. However if I to need the actual will I cannot get it until it goes to probate, then if she doesnt go to probate what can I do?

As you have only seen a copy of the Will, you cannot be certain that a legally valid Will exists. On that basis you could probably legitimately apply for Letters of Administration yourself. Given it has only been a month since your Mother passed, it's perhaps a bit early for going down that route but it's certainly a powerful piece of ammunition to encourage the friend to get on with administering the estate.