Long time coming

Ahell123

Backstory;
My grandparents passed away 5 years ago, their 2 children were detailed as executors to the will/estate, both of whom have children beneath them. Probate was granted but a family break up has been used as an excuse/reason for the lack of communication of any procedings following probate. 9 parties, including myself and the 2 executors, are detailed as residue beneficiaries to the estate.
An illness falling upon one executor and then the pandemic lockdowns became further reasons to the estate not being dealt with. Logistical nightmares also include both executors living 4 hours drive apart and the estate in question being further away from the executor taking a lead in executorship. There has been little communication with the beneficiaries in this whole time and I have been the only one, after nearly 3 years, to successfully nudge one solid piece of evidence that something had been started, this involved a letter to both executors signed by the 3 main beneficiaries on one branch, but none since. I have been in contact with both executors on the phone more recently but still nothing seems to be moving forward.

Please can someone advise me on what could be done next without causing too much bad feeling but to get things moving again. Please ask questions so I can tell if i have missed anything out to give a better picture. 

elsien

How long ago did they get probate, and are there any complexities such as a house that won’t sell or foreign assets? Otherwise 5 years seems like a ridiculously long length of time. 

You could write to them reminding them of their obligation to keep you updated, and you can also ask for an account of the estate and the progress made so far.
That may ruffle feathers but you’ve tried it the nicer way and got nowhere so putting a bit of pressure on is your only other option without going legal. 

Ahell123

As far as im aware there arent many complexities, theres a mortgage which is still being paid somehow, the house was modified with disability hand holds in bathrooms and a stair lift installed but everything else is dated but works fine. Probate was granted in early 2017 and i managed to find that out after maybe 2 not 3 years after my grandparents died. They had a kind of joint will too, if one died before the other its all passed over and vice versa. 

elsien

Do you know what the wording of the will is with regards to the house? Do you know if it needs to be sold or whether it’s been left to named beneficiaries? 

As in, have you been told what else needs to happen before the residue can be ascertained and shared?
What specifically is the pandemic delaying, given they had 4 years prior to that? 

Ahell123

Yes, the house and contents are "to be sold and divided into 100 equal shares."
The will also states the executors "have absolute power to delay sale" which has seemingly been taken way too literally. As to the delay, I have no clue; is it essential travel? Are they allowed to go in the house at the same time? Do they have to sort it by looking through windows? All possible questions/excuses to 'delay sale'. I get what the government are doing but is this affecting peoples decisions too much at the minute?

elsien

The pandemic does not stop a house from being sold or them from visiting to prepare it for sale. And they had 4 years prior to the pandemic anyway so it would seem as if they are delaying selling for other reasons and using that as an excuse. Is there someone living there at the moment?

I think writing to them should be your first step, reminding them of your right to be kept updated and formally requesting an account of what has been done so far and the reason for the delay. Then when you get there answer consider if you want to take legal advice. 

Ahell123

On contacting over text and email, those were the reasons they gave for the delay, which are mere excuses, i agree a letter detailing those rights will probably be my next best option as money isnt in great abundance right now, thanks for the help Elsien.

xylophone

https://blog.lawpack.co.uk/what-to-do-if-youre-unhappy-with-an-executor/

Ahell123

In said letter, would it also be worth requesting a future plan/timeline of events that leads to the penultimate event of distributing the assets as per the will terms? Or is that being too presumptuous? 

Ahell123

elsien said:

The pandemic does not stop a house from being sold or them from visiting to prepare it for sale. And they had 4 years prior to the pandemic anyway so it would seem as if they are delaying selling for other reasons and using that as an excuse. Is there someone living there at the moment?

In response to this question, no one is living there but the closer living executor goes in once a week for insurance purposes.

Keep_pedalling

Ahell123 said:

As far as im aware there arent many complexities, theres a mortgage which is still being paid somehow, the house was modified with disability hand holds in bathrooms and a stair lift installed but everything else is dated but works fine. Probate was granted in early 2017 and i managed to find that out after maybe 2 not 3 years after my grandparents died. They had a kind of joint will too, if one died before the other its all passed over and vice versa. 

It sounds like the mortgage company have not been informed of the death, they would not let a mortgaged property stand empty ( or being occupied by tenants) for this long. If someone were to inform them then I would expect them to pursue the executors for a prompt full repayment, so that would certainly get things moving.