Witholding payout to beneficiary

charlievwp

Are there any circumstances where the executor of a will can withhold/delay the inheritance money being paid?

For example, if the beneficiary was a drug/alcohol addict and the money would likely be used to fund their addiction. The concern is that they could even kill themselves by overdose/abuse if they were to come into a lump sum.

Many thanks for any advice

Owain_Moneysaver

Not really.

The executor could leave themselves open to legal action if they don't distribute the estate reasonably quickly (which is usually taken as up to a year to sort things out).

Keep_pedalling

The only reason I can think of is if the beneficiary was an undischarged bankrupt, in which case the payment should go to the OR not the beneficiary.

Malthusian

Overdosing is cheap. Very few victims of overdoses needed a windfall before they could afford enough drugs.

As others have said the short answer is no. The only legal option the executor has is to ask the addict if they want to turn down the inheritance. They'll probably say no, but it doesn't hurt to ask. If they say yes they can use a Deed Of Variation to redistribute it to someone else or a trust that they can't automatically access.

Sea_Shell

In an extreme case, could the beneficiary be sectioned under the mental health act?

Thereby any monies due would have to held and administered by a trust.

Is this what the Court of Protection is for?

Surely there must be cases where (for whatever reason) the beneficiary is unable or incapable of handling their own affairs.

Linton

Sea_Shell wrote: »

In an extreme case, could the beneficiary be sectioned under the mental health act?

Thereby any monies due would have to held and administered by a trust.

Is this what the Court of Protection is for?

Surely there must be cases where (for whatever reason) the beneficiary is unable or incapable of handling their own affairs.

The Court of Protection is responsible for looking after people who cannot make decisions on their own behalf.


If beneficiaries are incapable of handling their own affairs then that is an issue to be resolved and appropriate arrangements set up independently of any inheritance. The executor, acting as executor, has no legal role or duty here beyond distributing the money as required by the will and in accordance with the law.

Malthusian

Sea_Shell wrote: »

In an extreme case, could the beneficiary be sectioned under the mental health act?

Thereby any monies due would have to held and administered by a trust.

The beneficiary would still inherit the money, but if they were sectioned in a secure hospital they wouldn't be able to spend it. Their finances would be managed either by their attorneys (if they made LPOAs) or the Court of Protection (if they didn't).

I did consider mentioning that option but being addicted to drugs and being eligible for sectioning are very different things. As Linton says, if sectioning is necessary it should be done already, regardless of the inheritance.

Skiddaw1

Malthusian wrote: »

The beneficiary would still inherit the money, but if they were sectioned in a secure hospital they wouldn't be able to spend it. Their finances would be managed either by their attorneys (if they made LPOAs) or the Court of Protection (if they didn't).

Without going into too much detail, it doesn't always work out as it should do sadly .


But to answer the OP's original question, there's not much that can be done unless the money is to be held in trust or similar. Your role as executor is to distribute the estate according to the will. What happens after that isn't your responsibility.