Rules on Letter of Administration and Probate

Zfid

Poppystar:
Yes it is confusing. I bought a copy of the will through the HMCTS website, this is available to all. I shall have to recheck what information they gave me as I can't exactly remember.
Yes I agree that we should be working together (3 siblings) but believe there is some conflict of interest at work.
I believe it is a grant of probate. My brother is the one who received this together with any quote "official letters required to administrate it" (hence my confusion on the terms here).

Many thanks and I do appreciate all who have commented. I think the best thing is for me to write to him asking clarification on the situation.
TBH it looks like I am going to have to consult with a solicitor as it seems beyond what I can fathom, and if nothing else your questions have helped me focus on areas which may seem confusing so I don't waste time and money.

I shall update as I find things out to help if others find themselves in similar situation

So far I have learned, don't sign things if you don't really understand what they mean, and don't accept things on blind faith. I should definitely have been asking for updates etc in the first place. 

elsien

You could also check with the land registry as to what that is showing about ownership of the house. Costs £3. 
It may be that your sister is refusing to move and your brother is doing an ostrich impression.
Do you know what the plan is with your siblings - sister buying you all out, house selling on open market? That's what you need to be asking as well. 

Flugelhorn

Zfid said:

Poppystar:
Yes it is confusing. I bought a copy of the will through the HMCTS website, this is available to all. I shall have to recheck what information they gave me as I can't exactly remember.
---
I believe it is a grant of probate. My brother is the one who received this together with any quote "official letters required to administrate it" (hence my confusion on the terms here).

Was there any mention on the will (because there should have been) as to who the execs were going to be?

If there is a will then it is grant of probate which gives the exec the rights to administer the estate - all gets confusing 

poppystar

Flugelhorn said:

Zfid said:

Poppystar:
Yes it is confusing. I bought a copy of the will through the HMCTS website, this is available to all. I shall have to recheck what information they gave me as I can't exactly remember.
---
I believe it is a grant of probate. My brother is the one who received this together with any quote "official letters required to administrate it" (hence my confusion on the terms here).

Was there any mention on the will (because there should have been) as to who the execs were going to be?

If there is a will then it is grant of probate which gives the exec the rights to administer the estate - all gets confusing 

OP did say there wasn’t a mention of executors on the Will so I wonder if that is why HMCTS contacted them. I’m not sure if that invalidates a Will or not or moves it into Letters of Administration territory? 

OP needs to check exactly what they got when purchasing a copy. 

Flugelhorn

poppystar said:

Flugelhorn said:

Zfid said:

Poppystar:
Yes it is confusing. I bought a copy of the will through the HMCTS website, this is available to all. I shall have to recheck what information they gave me as I can't exactly remember.
---
I believe it is a grant of probate. My brother is the one who received this together with any quote "official letters required to administrate it" (hence my confusion on the terms here).

Was there any mention on the will (because there should have been) as to who the execs were going to be?

If there is a will then it is grant of probate which gives the exec the rights to administer the estate - all gets confusing 

OP did say there wasn’t a mention of executors on the Will so I wonder if that is why HMCTS contacted them. I’m not sure if that invalidates a Will or not or moves it into Letters of Administration territory? 

OP needs to check exactly what they got when purchasing a copy. 

apparently

"Despite having no named executors, the Will is still valid, but someone will need to be appointed to administer the estate. Whoever is entitled under the intestacy rules can apply to be the 'administrator' of the estate and they will need to apply for a 'Grant of Letters of Administration with the Will'

so any of the children could apply to be admin

poppystar

Flugelhorn said:

poppystar said:

Flugelhorn said:

Zfid said:

Poppystar:
Yes it is confusing. I bought a copy of the will through the HMCTS website, this is available to all. I shall have to recheck what information they gave me as I can't exactly remember.
---
I believe it is a grant of probate. My brother is the one who received this together with any quote "official letters required to administrate it" (hence my confusion on the terms here).

Was there any mention on the will (because there should have been) as to who the execs were going to be?

If there is a will then it is grant of probate which gives the exec the rights to administer the estate - all gets confusing 

OP did say there wasn’t a mention of executors on the Will so I wonder if that is why HMCTS contacted them. I’m not sure if that invalidates a Will or not or moves it into Letters of Administration territory? 

OP needs to check exactly what they got when purchasing a copy. 

apparently

"Despite having no named executors, the Will is still valid, but someone will need to be appointed to administer the estate. Whoever is entitled under the intestacy rules can apply to be the 'administrator' of the estate and they will need to apply for a 'Grant of Letters of Administration with the Will'

so any of the children could apply to be admin

So it looks like that may have happened and they left it to the brother to do it all, which may not have been a sensible move. Again we need to know exactly what OP purchased in terms of Will, grant etc. before we can really help more. 

Zfid

Having now found a scan of the original will it does state that the 3 of us should be executors and trustees of my mothers will. I have also found a copy of the grant of probate naming the 3 of us as executors.

Elsien: Yes I did a land registry search and it is showing as owned by my mother and my brother. In my original post I mentioned (and asked where it can be proved) that my mother had a 90% share and my brother a 10% share although I can't see where this is explicitly stated. I have also done land registry searches on my siblings houses to confirm that they both have means. 

At our (only) meeting in Sept 2021 my sister expressed a wish to buy us out. However she did not have what I would call a realistic plan. She does own her own house jointly with her husband but seems highly unwilling to sell it, rather looking at equity release etc which isn't really going to raise enough. She has more recently mentioned cashing pensions etc but again the numbers are fractions of the amount needed. 
In principle I am not against her buying me out, however surely there should be some reasonable timescale or at least evidence of a willingness to do this. It has been over 3 years 4 months since my mothers passing and nearly a year since grant of probate.
As previously stated, she has not been asked, nor has offered to pay rent.

Keep_pedalling

The split in ownership should be documented through a deed of trust signed by your mother and brother, there will be no record of this at the LR.

Flugelhorn

If you are all named as executors then you are as entitled to act as your brother