Who ensures a Will is executed?

fletch3163

Hello everyone

My mother died a couple of months ago. She had a will lodged with a local solicitor. Seems eldest was appointed executor. The family don’t talk.

Can someone tell me if anyone ensures he, the executor, carries out the instructions of the will?

He currently lives in mother’s property. I would have assumed he would move out but so far he hasn’t . He has no legal right to the property. I also believe he may not be trustworthy with everything.

As an aside, how can I see the content of the will. Probate has not yet been granted I don’t believe. I don’t know how to find out. The lawyer won’t discuss

Thank you in advance of any advice

Cheers

AnotherJoe

You cant see the will until probate has been done, or at least ut doesn't become public until then.
I would presume you'd need to get legal advice if, for example son decided just to stay in the house indefinitely not applying for probate even though (again hypothetically) the House was left to someone else, say the local cats home, or you. https://www.funeralguide.co.uk/help-resources/managing-your-estate/removing-and-substituting-executors
How do you know that son has no legal right to the property if you haven't seen the will ?

getmore4less

There is no official body responsible for ensuring estate are administered or processed properly unless someone takes it to court with a complaint.

The system is based on the testator picking the right people to do the job.
or where there is no will the main beneficiaries get to do it.

Keep_pedalling

Why would you assume he should move out? If he was living their prior to her death then, it is better that the property remains occupied until it is sold.

As you have no knowledge of the will’s contents he may have even been left the house. There is little you can do at the moment apart from waiting for probate, at which point you will know where you stand.

Robin9

fletch3163 wrote: »

....................

Can someone tell me if anyone ensures he, the executor, carries out the instructions of the will?
....................

The short answer is no-one.

Give your brother time ................... there are a lot of things for him to do. If there is a property to be sorted and sold then this can well take a year and until that is all complete he will not be in a position to distribute the estate.

fletch3163

Thanks everyone. All just as I had suspected.

We are a big family and our mother was in care a few years beforehand. My brother has lived there for years, free I might add. Not exactly against her will, but she was vocal enough

Morally it is a huge deal with the family, but we all know morals don’t matter when it’s the law.

So the lawyer has no duty of care then? He just sees him as executor and that is it? He entrusts everything she worked for to him.

Mojisola

fletch3163 wrote: »

So the lawyer has no duty of care then? He just sees him as executor and that is it? He entrusts everything she worked for to him.

Your mother entrusted everything to your brother when she made him the sole executor - the solicitor has no right to over-ride her wishes.

fletch3163

Mojisola wrote: »

Your mother entrusted everything to your brother when she made him the sole executor - the solicitor has no right to over-ride her wishes.

I understand that. I don’t want them over-ridden. I want them acted upon. There is so much I don’t want to say openly. The point was to try to see if it it was “policed” in some way. My mother was a principled woman who did what she thought she should, eldest son and all that. She is from a generation where women should not drink in pubs, wee soul

Mojisola

fletch3163 wrote: »

I understand that. I don’t want them over-ridden. I want them acted upon. There is so much I don’t want to say openly. The point was to try to see if it it was “policed” in some way.

It's a failure of our system that it's very difficult to get a recalcitrant executor to fulfil their legal duties.

getmore4less

fletch3163 wrote: »

I understand that. I don’t want them over-ridden. I want them acted upon. There is so much I don’t want to say openly. The point was to try to see if it it was “policed” in some way. My mother was a principled woman who did what she thought she should, eldest son and all that. She is from a generation where women should not drink in pubs, wee soul

The next step will be to start the process to have them act or removed.

It will be too early to start anything but you might want to research a bit some of the process of dealing with problem executors.

quite a few legal firms have guidance pages on their websites.

fletch3163

I just FEEL IT!!

Recalcitrant for sure. He feels deserving. Got nothing to lose.