Solicitor withholding distribution of estate after grant of probate

Bodkin64

Hi, my parents passed away last year, and I’m a joint executor on their estate (of quite substantial value) along with my brother and a solicitor, who we instructed to manage probate. Myself and my brother are also the only beneficiaries, barring a few tiny sums. Grant of probate was finally awarded a few weeks ago, and so we were expecting funds to be distributed fairly quickly. However we were taken aback when the solicitor announced that he would not fully distribute funds for another 6 months. It’s probably simplest to state his justification verbatim…

There is a statutory period of 6 months from the date of a grant of probate during which anyone who feels they have a maintenance claim can make that claim. Again these are rare, but it could be anyone who feels they have not received sufficient from the will to maintain them as before. It may seem unlikely but, again, we have no idea what could come or from whom. It could come from another party who we don’t know about – someone who claims they were being supported by your parents in some way etc. It could be something as little as a weekly newspaper purchase for a neighbour. But could be a significant payment or something else. It is very hard to know. In theory at least, any claim here could be in excess of the size of the estate. We simply wouldn’t be able to be certain until after the 6 months has passed. My usual stance here as an executor would be to always wait out this six month period because of this. Whilst any claim may not have merits, any party is free to bring it and we would have to defend it.

So all he has offered is an interim payment in the short term, he hasn’t proposed what kind of sum but I expect it to be relatively small. He had never previously forewarned us about this, however after a bit of Googling around I found it appeared to relate to the 1975 Inheritance Act and seems to be fairly normal practice among solicitors. 

My specific question is this. Since the beneficiaries are also joint executors, is there anything we can do to work around this, e.g. should our solicitor permit early distribution of the estate so long as, say, we sign some kind of legal statement which passes liability for payment of any claim to ourselves? Knowing my parents pretty well I’m pretty sure that no such claim is going to arise so the risk is exceptionally small, but obviously our solicitor doesn’t take that into account. Or do we just have to sit tight and wait?

Thanks

Flugelhorn

He is only doing what solicitors do - that is why many avoid letting them handle the probate. Much depends on how well you know the deceased's accounts and finance - is they likely to be a ginormous unexpected debt?
 As you are both the only beneficiaries then waiting 6 months does not remove any risk as you will may still be liable for any debts ie whether they appear now or later then you still pay them. I would be tempted to ask the solicitor to distribute the majority of the estate and keep a bit back to pay the newspaper bill (this is one that always comes up but actually mother ran up quite a sum that the neighbour had paid for her out of her money) - with the understanding that you are responsible for any debts that emerge 

Keep_pedalling

Solicitors are highly regulated which makes them extremely cautious. Engaging a solicitor always leads to a longer winding up process and should only be done if you have a complex estate or where you have beneficiaries / executors at loggerheads.

jlfrs01

When I handled my late father's Estate my solictor advised a Section 27 Statutory Notice go into The Gazette which would provide a 2 month window for anybody to come forward with a claim on the Estate. This was mainly because my father died Intestate so there was higher risk than had he died with a Will.
It may be your Solictor is not experienced in Probate Law because it was one of the very first things my Solictor did after Probate was granted, it's notification that the Estate is about to be distributed.

This link to the Co-Op's website explains all and you can use it to back-up your request to your Solicitor to get this sorted:

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-apr-jun-2019/what-is-a-section-27-notice-in-probate/#:~:text=These notices are sometimes called,liable for the unpaid debt.

Bodkin64

jlfrs01 said:

When I handled my late father's Estate my solictor advised a Section 27 Statutory Notice go into The Gazette which would provide a 2 month window for anybody to come forward with a claim on the Estate. This was mainly because my father died Intestate so there was higher risk than had he died with a Will.
It may be your Solictor is not experienced in Probate Law because it was one of the very first things my Solictor did after Probate was granted, it's notification that the Estate is about to be distributed.

This link to the Co-Op's website explains all and you can use it to back-up your request to your Solicitor to get this sorted:

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-apr-jun-2019/what-is-a-section-27-notice-in-probate/#:~:text=These notices are sometimes called,liable for the unpaid debt.

Yes he did also mention the section 27 statutory notice. He works for a large well-known firm in their Estate Administration team so he should know what he’s doing.

MattMattMattUK

Looking at it from an ease and cost perspective, because asking solicitors to do things quicker always costs more money, do you actually need the funds now as in general it would be easier and cheaper to just wait the six months out. 

Bodkin64

MattMattMattUK said:

Looking at it from an ease and cost perspective, because asking solicitors to do things quicker always costs more money, do you actually need the funds now as in general it would be easier and cheaper to just wait the six months out. 

It would be very helpful to have them and if not spent then I’m sure the amount they would earn if suitably invested would be much higher than any interest payments we’ll see from our solicitor.

Mojisola

Malcyb said:

Hi, my parents passed away last year, and I’m a joint executor on their estate (of quite substantial value) along with my brother and a solicitor, who we instructed to manage probate. Myself and my brother are also the only beneficiaries, barring a few tiny sums.

As the estate is quite large, there no reason not to do an interim payment to yourself and your brother.

It sounds as if the solicitor might be being over-cautious but negotiate rather than challenge which might make them dig their heels in.

bunnygo

isn't this what the notice in the London Gazette is for? Has the solicitor done that?

doodling

Hi,

Is the solicitor an executor, or is he working on behalf of you and your brother?

If the solicitor is an executor then he is in a very strong position to do whatever he feels is appropriate although there should be some scope for negotiation.

If the solicitor is not an executor but is simply working on behalf of you and your brother then you (with your brother) are free to instruct him to pay out any funds he holds and he would be obliged to do that (unless he had evidence that you were attempting to commit some form of fraud).

Savvy_Sue

I'm with doodling: if solicitor is an executor, then he will execute as he sees fit. If you are his clients, he should do as he is told, even if he advises against it.