Executors responsibility

dave3dtg

Hi. Bit of background...
Dad died April '20 and Mum survives him along with my 2 brothers and I (oldest)
It was found that their Will's, drawn up in '07, made them TIC with a Form A restriction on the family home (no mortgage).
The Wills are absolutely identical apart from names being swopped respectively on each. I've tried to discover if this means they're mutual or mirror but with no success.
They are somewhat strange in their wording. There's a clause relying on a clause which the first clause only takes effect if another clause is in effect.
Both Wills divide their respective equitable share..."I bequeath half of my half to my Trustees and executors (spouse and youngest son) and the remaining half of my half to be shared equally between my 3 sons.
So spouse gets 12.5% to go with their half of the equitable value, youngest son as executor gets 12.5% and the 3 sons get 8.3% each. So youngest son gets 20.8%.
Spouse has a total of 62.5% to pay for care and sons get their protected % should the surviving spouse go into care.
My Mum cannot comprehend that she doesn't have 100% of the value of the house and can't understand that the Form A restriction means she needs someone else's agreement to sell the house.
I've explained it a 1000 times. But I've now been ostracized and all communication from my brothers has been ceased at their doing.
The executor brother has gone to some expert and says I'm talking rubbish and stressing Mum out as his "expert" says different. However, he's not willing to furnish me with this "experts" findings.
Now Mum is going to a new Solicitor as my brother is banned from the solicitors who did the Will. He is going with her, at her request, which I'm not happy with. Someone should do their Will without beneficiaries present. He has said that nothing will be agreed without all 4 of us in agreement??? But it's my Mum's Will!
My Mum wants it so that the house is split equally between the 3 of us. But I've told her that she can't change Dad's Will, so even more confusion!
I've said she can divide up her share in such a way that evens out what my Dad has done. "But I own the whole house, NOT a share"!!! I've discovered I have more patience than I thought.
So, eventually, can an executor freeze out a beneficiary named in both mirror or mutual Wills please?

theoretica

dave3dtg said:

Both Wills divide their respective equitable share..."I bequeath half of my half to my Trustees and executors (spouse and youngest son) and the remaining half of my half to be shared equally between my 3 sons.
So spouse gets 12.5% to go with their half of the equitable value, youngest son as executor gets 12.5% and the 3 sons get 8.3% each. So youngest son gets 20.8%.

Often when a will says 'I give X to my executors'; this is NOT being actually given to them in the personal sense - later on in the will it will tell the executors what to do with X.  So getting some advice on the reading of the will seems wise. 

Your mother can't undo you father's will, but she can change hers.

naedanger

It is not completely clear what all you are asking.

An executor does not need to involve the other beneficiaries in the administration of the estate but they must distribute the estate according to the will.

A person can write a will in the presence a beneficiary and not in the presence of others. However there are many circumstances where this would not be advisable, and I think most solicitors would wish to speak to the testator alone (for at least part of a meeting) to ensure they were not being coerced and that they fully understood the consequences of their will. (A beneficiary should obviously not coerce a testator and if this was thought to have happened the will could be challenged.)

Is anyone seeking the sale of the house at the moment? Is there a specific reason why is it important for your mother to understand that she does not own 100% of the property?

Why is your mother seeking to change her existing will?

Why was your brother banned from seeing the solicitor?

dave3dtg

Wow! Thanks for such a quick response. You could well be pointing out what this other expert is saying to my brother. I believe it's also been done like this to reduce the total for Inheritance Tax purposes.
The Wills do have further clauses/sections but it's not exactly clear. However, they do say "I give, devise and bequeath all of my possessions to my spouse" in Clause 6.
I have told her she can't but she doesn't get it. She also doesn't understand legal ownership and equitable shares.
Would I be correct with the bit about the house being sold to pay for Mum's care if needed and her having 62.5% for it?

Keep_pedalling

Sounds like their wills became out of date almost before the ink had dried on them. The distribution was almost certainly due to to the fact that there was no transferable NRB at the time of writing, but Gordon Brown changed that in October 2007.

As you are within 2 years of your father’s death a deed of variation can be made by the beneficiaries. So for instance if you all agree you could vary the will so that your mother receives your father’s share of the house out right, or if the will did not provide her with a lifetime interest in the house that can also be corrected with a DOV.

The most important person here is your mother, so hopefully you can all agree to do what is in her best interests.

Mojisola

dave3dtg said:

The Wills are absolutely identical apart from names being swopped respectively on each. I've tried to discover if this means they're mutual or mirror but with no success.

If the wills are mutual wills, there will a clause about the documents creating a binding agreement between the two parties which prevents the survivor from changing their Will and disposing of the estate in a different way.