Who ensures a Will is executed?

Flugelhorn

Have you checked who owns the property - just thinking that if she was in a care home then the value of the property may have been considered, there may be charges on the property, it may be in brother's name even. This is something you can get to look at easily via the Land registry site

fletch3163

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Have you checked who owns the property - just thinking that if she was in a care home then the value of the property may have been considered, there may be charges on the property, it may be in brother's name even. This is something you can get to look at easily via the Land registry site

Hi and thanks for this. Yes she owned it herself. No charges on it either. She was adamant that he get no more than he deserves. We can’t instil that cos her will supercedes his bad behaviour.

I can’t see the will unless he lets me see it. He has lived there a long time for free so it will suit him not to execute her will. From what I read and hear, there is little I can do

AnotherJoe

Yes there is, you can raise a legal challenge.

Savvy_Sue

I'd suggest you and as many of your siblings as you can get on board should consult your own solicitor.

The one who holds the will is as far as I can see acting correctly. They do not act on your behalf, and cannot show you the will unless you are an executor. Nor can you instruct them on your own behalf, because they can't act against the interests of another client.

fletch3163

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Yes there is, you can raise a legal challenge.

Do like suggested and contest his ability or willingness to act you mean?

It has only been under three months. I may be misjudging his intention

fletch3163

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'd suggest you and as many of your siblings as you can get on board should consult your own solicitor.

The one who holds the will is as far as I can see acting correctly. They do not act on your behalf, and cannot show you the will unless you are an executor. Nor can you instruct them on your own behalf, because they can't act against the interests of another client.

I think this might be a solution. We are all very splintered. As is the way with many families, when the parent goes there is no point in staying in contact.......you can choose your friends and all that......:(

Sea_Shell

fletch3163 wrote: »

Do like suggested and contest his ability or willingness to act you mean?

It has only been under three months. I may be misjudging his intention

I have read about such a thing as an "Executor's Year", in that you do have to give them time to deal with the estate. Like you say it is early days, and you don't know yet for definite that they are NOT going to act properly.

SevenOfNine

Google contentious probate & see what free advice you can get from a few of them https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/will-trust-estate-disputes/contentious-probate/challenging-an-executor

I'm not recommending that company, just an example of the possibility of a free chat with that type of law firm, you may eventually need someone a bit more specialised than the average solicitor!

Who registered the death? With the death cert, if funds in financial organisations are below their particular threshold (eg Lloyds £50k, each bank has it's own limit), they can be released to that person (if an indemnity is signed). We've been slightly shocked at how easy that is without the need for probate first. I'm wondering if he's cleaned that out, though I imagine she may not have had much by way of cash given that she was in care.

It's a very difficult situation, everything can turn ugly & expensive awfully fast & unnecessarily. You definitely don't want to start a war too soon, it's still early days. On the other hand you don't want to sit back & do nothing, I don't envy your position.

Are you positive no-one in the family has a copy of the will? The hands of the solicitor she used & stored the will with are tied I'm afraid.

Manxman_in_exile

OP -you don't happen to be in Scotland do you?


I know the law is different in Scotland, but don't know if the differences would be significant in this situation.


(Just based on your use of "...wee soul...")

Dox

So it's less than 3 months since your mother died and you have already leapt to conclusions about how your oldest brother is going to behave. You may be right, but the idea of issuing some sort of legal challenge at this early stage is plain daft.

Maybe the time has come to stop being a splintered family and start talking - it's a lot cheaper than dragging lawyers into it and could be a lot more constructive, if approached in the right way.

I wonder what a post from your brother on this forum might look like? 'My mother died less than 3 months ago and already my family are ganging up on me because I haven't immediately got over her death and managed to sell the property, get probate...'

Sometimes 'give it some time' is the best response.