Sell a house I am executor for, ‘cheap’ to a member of my family

Sarahspangles

At the end of the process of distributing the estate, you have to provide a final account to beneficiaries, so the value placed on the house will be stated there.  The documents that gov.uk suggest you need to retain include written valuations of properties.  I believe the executors can be pursued by beneficiaries for the shortfall.  

And as you say, it is immoral as you’re not respecting the will of the deceased.

propertyrental

It's not clear a) whether there are other Beneficiaries besides the charities, or b) whether the Estate consists soley of the property or has other, maybe considerable, assets?

If a) is yes, they could agree to give up a proportion of their inheritance and that could be used to give the charities what they are due. Does not seem much point - why do they not simply use their inheritance to make a gift(s) to the person buying the property which could then be sold at market value>

Likewise if the Estate has other assets, these could be used to re-imburse the charities. Though presupposes that the will specifies the charities get a proportion of the property, not a proportion of the Estate.

But rather than trying to find ways to deprive good causes of funds the deceased clearly wanted them to have, why not administer the Estate properly, simplifying things for everyone, and protecting you as Executor?

SavingPennies_2

Don't know the legals...but morals...doing this amounts to theft from a charity and a disregard of the deceased wishes.

Are you related to this family member by any chance? Do you stand to make a gain from this arrangement? Otherwise can't understand why you would do this, or even be the executor in the first place.

BiturboV12

I agree that it is only right that the charities getting their bequeathed amounts. The charities are the only beneficiaries apart from my wife and I who are getting a small nominal payment for duties carried out.
If I get three valuations would it be fair to go with the lowest one for the family member? We are talking of a value approximately 300k as it stands right now. The Will states that two charities get 50% each on disposable of the property.

user1977

Why the lowest valuation? Why not the middle one, or the average?

elsien

If the person whose will it is it wanted the relative to benefit financially (eg have their house at a knockdown price) presumably they would have made for  provision for that in their will.
They haven’t done so. They made you executor trusting that you would carry out their wishes and for the beneficiaries to receive the full amount that they are entitled to.  

What is fair is for you to carry out your executor duties properly. Your duty is to the estate not your family member who wants a house with a knockdown price. Do it properly or don’t do it at all.

Annisele

I suppose there's an argument that if you sell to your relative then the estate won't have to bear estate agent's costs. But if the property doesn't go onto the open market, there's also a risk that the charities will think they've lost out (and it does sound as though you're trying to find ways to benefit your family member at the expense of the charities).

I think if you get a RICS surveyor to value the place (not an estate agent) and then sell at that price, you'll be fairly safe.

Keep_pedalling

user1977 said:

Why the lowest valuation? Why not the middle one, or the average?

In this situation if the executor is not selling on the open market then they should be looking to obtain a professional payed for (RICS) survey to show the beneficiaries that nothing has been done to deprive them of. Part of their inheritance. If those beneficiaries are family and are all happy with the price then it does not matter so much, but frankly if I was the OP I would not risk having the charities challenging the sale price and would sell on the open market.

BiturboV12

Thank you Keep_pedalling. This appears to be the kind of sound feed back I wanted. 

Alderbank

No one seems to have asked anything about the status of either the house or the family member?

I assume that the house was occupied by just two people, the deceased and the family member who was their carer, and is now just occupied by the family member? Not an uncommon situation.

Perhaps since the bereavement the family member has offered payment to the executor? If that was accepted the family member has become a tenant. It would not now be possible to sell the property with vacant possession. It would be quite reasonable that the best deal for the estate would be to accept a reduced offer from the sitting tenant.