Daughters Father has passed away.

Nevybear

My Daughters father very sadly died recently, we were no longer together but my daughter saw him regularly.
My daughter who is 11 years old was his only child, he did not have a partner and has never been married, he died without leaving a Will.
His brother has approached me, he has been in touch with a solicitor who has advised him that I should be the administrator of the estate and that I should apply for letters of administration. He has also asked if he can be a joint administrator and has asked for a loan of £20,000 from the estate to refurbish his mothers house as this is what his deceased brother would have wanted.
I have very little knowledge on this subject, I do know that my daughter is the sole beneficiary but she cannot inherit until she reaches the age of 18, I think a trust fund must be set up in the meantime. The estate as I understand it comprises of a savings account, two pensions and some personal belongings, he did not own a house.
I would like to know how I should proceed, are there any benefits of having joint administrators in these circumstances? I am not comfortable with the £20,000 loan, the money is for my daughter, I don’t know if it is possible to take money from the estate as a loan and how we could guarantee getting repayment.
Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

onwards&upwards

I don’t think you can lend the £20,000 even if you wanted to.  As administrator you would have a legal duty to distribute his estate according to the rules of intestacy.  If your daughter was an adult she could decide to give her grandma a loan, but she is a child so she can’t, and you can’t do it on her behalf. 

Nevybear

That is what I thought and is what I wanted to hear as it will save any arguments that may arise when the loan is refused.
What thoughts on joint administrators, and any tips on how I am best applying for letters of administration?

ames1010

I wouldn’t joint administer if I were you as I get the umpires soon things could get slightly messy if he’s already asking for £20,000. You can apply for letters of administration online - gov.uk. The co- op does a good step by step approach to what you need to do before you get letters of administration as well. 

ames1010

That was meant to say impression not umpires !!! 

ames1010

Hope this helps 

onwards&upwards

Don’t go for joint, I suspect this is just a way to pressure you.  Apply for the letters today and don’t tell the brother until after you’ve done it.  Then tell him thanks but you’ve done some research and it looks simple enough so you won’t need to take him up on his offer of help.

wilfred30

I agree with other posters that you should definitely not let him be a joint administrator or lend him £20k from the estate.  He sounds a bit dodgy to me to be honest.

xylophone

It would seem unwise to apply jointly.

Your daughter is her father's only child and he did not make a will.

She inherits his estate under the rules of intestacy.

She is a minor and therefore cannot agree to any variation of the intestacy to allow a gift to her uncle. Nor could she agree to make a loan.

As administrator and bare trustee for your daughter, you  will be legally bound to act in her best interest -  making the loan proposed is not in her interest.

Nevybear

Thank you all for the advice that you have given. I feel more confident  that doing this myself and refusing the loan is the only  way forward and is in the best interests of my daughter.
ames1010 - thank you for pointing me in the direction of the co-op, I will have a good look at that.

ames1010

No problem - glad it’s helped. I wouldn’t even get into a conversation with him about refusing the loan either as I can predict huge animosity. Do you see him regularly?