Awkward inheritor

Jeff_E

Hi,

Ok, so here's my situation. My dad died a month ago. The two equal inheritors of the will are me and my sister. Me and my sister can't stand each other, and probably never will.

My dad, in his will, in a desire to push us together and get back on friendly terms, made us both co-inheritors, co-trusties and co-executors. I can understand his desire, and the fact that it used to upset him that we didn't get on, but I think it was ill-thought out.

And so it's starting to prove, as my sister is refusing to agree to go into probate.

Is there anything I can do to force her to agree to probate and get things settled?

I suspect her main motive for not getting things started, is that she wants to stay in the family house (I have my own house), where she was staying with my dad when he died, which is more valuable than all the other assets of my dad's put together. So if she's co-inheritor of the house, is there anything I can do to make her move out and hopefully get things started re the probate?

Thanks for any help.

Keep_pedalling

She does not have a choice the estate has to go to probate. She can either renounce her executor powers or hold them in reserve, either option will allow you to get on with probate.

You need to make it clear to her that if she refuses to do either of those things you will have no choice but to take legal action to have her removed as an executor. This will be expensive and cost her a significant portion of her inheritance.

What is the value of the estate, and how much of that is made up of the house? If there are significant other assets that would allow you to take your inheritance in cash and hers with the house that might provide the way forward.

I have to agree your father made a terrible mistake making you joint executors, a solicitor would probable have been a better option.

Jeff_E

Keep_pedalling said:

She does not have a choice the estate has to go to probate. She can either renounce her executor powers or hold them in reserve, either option will allow you to get on with probate.

You need to make it clear to her that if she refuses to do either of those things you will have no choice but to take legal action to have her removed as an executor. This will be expensive and cost her a significant portion of her inheritance.

What is the value of the estate, and how much of that is made up of the house? If there are significant other assets that would allow you to take your inheritance in cash and hers with the house that might provide the way forward.

I have to agree your father made a terrible mistake making you joint executors, a solicitor would probable have been a better option.

Thanks Keep_pedalling,

So it looks like I'd still need to take legal action to get things moving if she refuses to renounce/reserve her executor powers. If I won the case, would she need to pay my expenses, do you think?

Well, I don't want to say about the exact value of the estate, but I'd say the house is worth more than the rest of the assets, but there's probably not much in it.

The split option sounds interesting. It's possible she might be open to the idea, as it would settle things and leave her in the same situation as she is now. Would it require a contract between me and her?

Thanks.

Froglet

Would she agree to have the property valued.?  It would save her a lot of work if she let you do the probate,work out what the rest of the assets are then divide 50/50 and if there is slightly more in the value of the house,she pays you the difference.

Or is that not as simple as it sounds ?

RAS

What exactly does the will say?

Jeff and sister to inherit all my belongings and assets in equal portions?

Or Jeff and sister to inherit my house in equal portions and all other assets in equal portions?

Or what? as that affects the answer to your question.

Keep_pedalling

Jeff_E said:

Keep_pedalling said:

She does not have a choice the estate has to go to probate. She can either renounce her executor powers or hold them in reserve, either option will allow you to get on with probate.

You need to make it clear to her that if she refuses to do either of those things you will have no choice but to take legal action to have her removed as an executor. This will be expensive and cost her a significant portion of her inheritance.

What is the value of the estate, and how much of that is made up of the house? If there are significant other assets that would allow you to take your inheritance in cash and hers with the house that might provide the way forward.

I have to agree your father made a terrible mistake making you joint executors, a solicitor would probable have been a better option.

Thanks Keep_pedalling,

So it looks like I'd still need to take legal action to get things moving if she refuses to renounce/reserve her executor powers. If I won the case, would she need to pay my expenses, do you think?

Well, I don't want to say about the exact value of the estate, but I'd say the house is worth more than the rest of the assets, but there's probably not much in it.

The split option sounds interesting. It's possible she might be open to the idea, as it would settle things and leave her in the same situation as she is now. Would it require a contract between me and her?

Thanks.

If there is little in it then perhaps the best thing to do is suggest to her that she keeps the house and you get everything else with the split. Even if you lose out by a small amount, you will probably be better off than building up large legal bills that would come out of the estate.

if she agreed to that you still need to complete probate.

Marcon

Jeff_E said:

Keep_pedalling said:

She does not have a choice the estate has to go to probate. She can either renounce her executor powers or hold them in reserve, either option will allow you to get on with probate.

You need to make it clear to her that if she refuses to do either of those things you will have no choice but to take legal action to have her removed as an executor. This will be expensive and cost her a significant portion of her inheritance.

What is the value of the estate, and how much of that is made up of the house? If there are significant other assets that would allow you to take your inheritance in cash and hers with the house that might provide the way forward.

I have to agree your father made a terrible mistake making you joint executors, a solicitor would probable have been a better option.

Thanks Keep_pedalling,

So it looks like I'd still need to take legal action to get things moving if she refuses to renounce/reserve her executor powers. If I won the case, would she need to pay my expenses, do you think?

Well, I don't want to say about the exact value of the estate, but I'd say the house is worth more than the rest of the assets, but there's probably not much in it.

The split option sounds interesting. It's possible she might be open to the idea, as it would settle things and leave her in the same situation as she is now. Would it require a contract between me and her?

Thanks.

There's no time limit for applying for probate. If your father only died a month ago, possibly her reluctance to do anything might be related to the fact she is grieving for him (although from what you've said, things might not improve as time goes on).

Is the estate subject to IHT, bearing in mind that as the property is being left to his children, there'll be a further allowance on top of the usual £325K - and possibly more, if your father was married and his wife has already died/ leaving everything to him and thus adding another £325K which is free of IHT? 

p00hsticks

Marcon said:

Jeff_E said:

Keep_pedalling said:

She does not have a choice the estate has to go to probate. She can either renounce her executor powers or hold them in reserve, either option will allow you to get on with probate.

You need to make it clear to her that if she refuses to do either of those things you will have no choice but to take legal action to have her removed as an executor. This will be expensive and cost her a significant portion of her inheritance.

What is the value of the estate, and how much of that is made up of the house? If there are significant other assets that would allow you to take your inheritance in cash and hers with the house that might provide the way forward.

I have to agree your father made a terrible mistake making you joint executors, a solicitor would probable have been a better option.

Thanks Keep_pedalling,

So it looks like I'd still need to take legal action to get things moving if she refuses to renounce/reserve her executor powers. If I won the case, would she need to pay my expenses, do you think?

Well, I don't want to say about the exact value of the estate, but I'd say the house is worth more than the rest of the assets, but there's probably not much in it.

The split option sounds interesting. It's possible she might be open to the idea, as it would settle things and leave her in the same situation as she is now. Would it require a contract between me and her?

Thanks.

There's no time limit for applying for probate. If your father only died a month ago, possibly her reluctance to do anything might be related to the fact she is grieving for him (although from what you've said, things might not improve as time goes on).

Plus it can take quite a while to gather all the information assembled for the probate form - you/she'll need to get proper valuations of the house and all the other estate asssets before you start. Unless you are very familiar with all your fathers assets then a month is no time at all....

Jeff_E

Froglet said:

Would she agree to have the property valued.?  It would save her a lot of work if she let you do the probate,work out what the rest of the assets are then divide 50/50 and if there is slightly more in the value of the house,she pays you the difference.

Or is that not as simple as it sounds ?

Not sure, but I'll find out.

Jeff_E

RAS said:

What exactly does the will say?

Jeff and sister to inherit all my belongings and assets in equal portions?

Or Jeff and sister to inherit my house in equal portions and all other assets in equal portions?

Or what? as that affects the answer to your question.

I'll have to check the wording. I'll get back tomorrow.

Jeff_E

Keep_pedalling said:

Jeff_E said:

Keep_pedalling said:

She does not have a choice the estate has to go to probate. She can either renounce her executor powers or hold them in reserve, either option will allow you to get on with probate.

You need to make it clear to her that if she refuses to do either of those things you will have no choice but to take legal action to have her removed as an executor. This will be expensive and cost her a significant portion of her inheritance.

What is the value of the estate, and how much of that is made up of the house? If there are significant other assets that would allow you to take your inheritance in cash and hers with the house that might provide the way forward.

I have to agree your father made a terrible mistake making you joint executors, a solicitor would probable have been a better option.

Thanks Keep_pedalling,

So it looks like I'd still need to take legal action to get things moving if she refuses to renounce/reserve her executor powers. If I won the case, would she need to pay my expenses, do you think?

Well, I don't want to say about the exact value of the estate, but I'd say the house is worth more than the rest of the assets, but there's probably not much in it.

The split option sounds interesting. It's possible she might be open to the idea, as it would settle things and leave her in the same situation as she is now. Would it require a contract between me and her?

Thanks.

If there is little in it then perhaps the best thing to do is suggest to her that she keeps the house and you get everything else with the split. Even if you lose out by a small amount, you will probably be better off than building up large legal bills that would come out of the estate.

if she agreed to that you still need to complete probate.

So can I just check. If I won the potential future legal battle with her, would my legal bill be paid by her side, or would I still have to still cover all my own fees? Or can the judge make that a separate decision to the ruling?

Thanks.