Intestacy and rental property questions

Bloomfieldlady

Thank you all for your helpful comments. The property is worth less than a third of the total estate, so it may be the most prudent method to give her that as her share (plus whatever cash amount is required to make up the difference)

Bloomfieldlady

msb1234 said:

The role of the executor is to distribute the estate according to the will. In the absence of a will, the person who obtains letters of administration should consolidate any debts and assets of the estate then distribute according to the rules of intestacy. The LOA will give them the legal right to sell any properties, they don’t need permission of other beneficiaries. I am currently selling my mums house as executor. The conveyancing solicitor has told me she will pay all the proceeds from the sale into my personal account and it is my responsibility to distribute to the 4 beneficiaries. I did ask if it was possible for her to distribute it directly to each beneficiary but she said not.

Thank you, that’s really helpful advice. As I said, we have been left guessing about how all of this works once it comes to distribution. 

So if one of the beneficiaries disagrees with the sale of one of the properties, the one with LOA has the “final vote” and can sell regardless? 

There is a fair amount of land and property making up the estate, and there are some pretty strong opinions floating around as regards who wants what, but my husband is of the mindset that it would be simpler to sell it all and split the proceeds three ways….so if the other beneficiaries disagree with this, he has the right to sell regardless? 

Alphatauri

I know this isn’t what you asked but at the right point in time using an independent mediator to help with discussions on how to split the estate may be a pragmatic cost effective option. Mediation can be done where you are in separate rooms and this can help defuse emotions. 

Hoenir

Bloomfieldlady said:

msb1234 said:

The role of the executor is to distribute the estate according to the will. In the absence of a will, the person who obtains letters of administration should consolidate any debts and assets of the estate then distribute according to the rules of intestacy. The LOA will give them the legal right to sell any properties, they don’t need permission of other beneficiaries. I am currently selling my mums house as executor. The conveyancing solicitor has told me she will pay all the proceeds from the sale into my personal account and it is my responsibility to distribute to the 4 beneficiaries. I did ask if it was possible for her to distribute it directly to each beneficiary but she said not.

Thank you, that’s really helpful advice. As I said, we have been left guessing about how all of this works once it comes to distribution. 

So if one of the beneficiaries disagrees with the sale of one of the properties, the one with LOA has the “final vote” and can sell regardless? 

There is a fair amount of land and property making up the estate, and there are some pretty strong opinions floating around as regards who wants what, but my husband is of the mindset that it would be simpler to sell it all and split the proceeds three ways….so if the other beneficiaries disagree with this, he has the right to sell regardless? 

Why sell a property if there's no need to ?  One less issue to deal with. 

silvercar

You really need to find out how difficult the sister wants to be. Would she be happy to have the house she lives in go towards her share of the estate? Is she prepared to pay rent, and if so from when the last parent died, from the date the estate is finalised or even not at all? Does she believe that she should have the home in addition to a third of the remaining estate? 

Until you know how she feels, you won’t know how difficult the task is. Worst case is that she wants to remain living in the house rent free and it not be sold. Either that it is given to her or that the 3 of you jointly own it with her living in it rent free! Best case is that it becomes part of her third. You need to know. 

edgex

Bloomfieldlady said:

msb1234 said:

The role of the executor is to distribute the estate according to the will. In the absence of a will, the person who obtains letters of administration should consolidate any debts and assets of the estate then distribute according to the rules of intestacy. The LOA will give them the legal right to sell any properties, they don’t need permission of other beneficiaries. I am currently selling my mums house as executor. The conveyancing solicitor has told me she will pay all the proceeds from the sale into my personal account and it is my responsibility to distribute to the 4 beneficiaries. I did ask if it was possible for her to distribute it directly to each beneficiary but she said not.

Thank you, that’s really helpful advice. As I said, we have been left guessing about how all of this works once it comes to distribution. 

So if one of the beneficiaries disagrees with the sale of one of the properties, the one with LOA has the “final vote” and can sell regardless? 

There is a fair amount of land and property making up the estate, and there are some pretty strong opinions floating around as regards who wants what, but my husband is of the mindset that it would be simpler to sell it all and split the proceeds three ways….so if the other beneficiaries disagree with this, he has the right to sell regardless? 

Problems start if what they want ends up being more than 1/3 of the estate. Even if they all agree in writing to a different split, you can't prevent one of them contesting it in the future, & your husband incurring legal costs to defend it.

Also easy for someone to 'accidentally' end up with more, eg. they take the main property, which is worth exactly 1/3 of the estate, but then they also take all the furniture, which would be valued separately.
It's important to get valuations on all of it, & then look at whether requests can be fulfilled.
In the example above, they would either have to leave the furniture with the other beneficiaries, or pay the estate for it.

km1500

"So if one of the beneficiaries disagrees with the sale of one of the properties, the one with LOA has the “final vote” and can sell regardless? "

the executor - the one with the LOA - have complete power to deal with the estate and distribute the proceeds according to the will

the beneficiaries have no veto, no "vote"

in the fullness of time the executor should pay each of them one-third of the proceeds and the best way to do that is for the sister living in the house to have that as part of the settlement with a balancing adjustment of cash if necessary.

However as long as the end result is in agreement with the terms of the will the executor will have the final say in how the proceeds are distributed