Missing will, believed to have been "misappropriated" by disgruntled family member: How to proceed?

northernlass29876

Person A passed away. 

Person B is the executor of the will and the child of Person A.
Person C is a sibling of the executor and also a child of Person A.

Person B is named in the will and Person C isn't. The original document has gone missing from Person A's house, and has believed to have been misappropriated by Person C.

The original legal firm who drew up the document claim say they don't have a copy of it, although Person B does have timestamped photographs of the original document.

How to proceed?

elsien

What makes you think it’s gone AWOL after person A’s death, rather than them having changed their mind and destroyed it?

northernlass29876

elsien said:

What makes you think it’s gone AWOL after person A’s death, rather than them having changed their mind and destroyed it?

Because the timestamped photographs of the original will document were taken after Person A passed away.

user1977

northernlass29876 said:

elsien said:

What makes you think it’s gone AWOL after person A’s death, rather than them having changed their mind and destroyed it?

Because the timestamped photographs of the original will document were taken after Person A passed away.

The executor had it in their possession post-death but then let their sibling have access to it?

I think the executor should proceed on the basis that there is a Will but it has gone astray (don't think it necessarily matters whether they can prove C did anything with it).

Keep_pedalling

user1977 said:

northernlass29876 said:

elsien said:

What makes you think it’s gone AWOL after person A’s death, rather than them having changed their mind and destroyed it?

Because the timestamped photographs of the original will document were taken after Person A passed away.

The executor had it in their possession post-death but then let their sibling have access to it?

I think the executor should proceed on the basis that there is a Will but it has gone astray (don't think it necessarily matters whether they can prove C did anything with it).

Why on earth did he give his sibling the original rather than a copy? I am afraid the executor now has two choices and they are both expensive. Either share the estate with the sibling or take the legal route and leave it up to the courts to decide whether the estate can be distributed can be distributed as per the will or as an intestate estate.

Sea_Shell

I don't think they gave it to them...it's disappeared from A' s house.    Stolen?


Why didn't B take it with them after photographing it?

northernlass29876

I've avoided using "stolen" but yes, that's effectively what happened.

Keep_pedalling

One of the priorities of any executor is to secure the deceased effects and and assets, and top of that would be the will which he should have removed from the home. 

northernlass29876

Keep_pedalling said:

One of the priorities of any executor is to secure the deceased effects and and assets, and top of that would be the will which he should have removed from the home. 

We all understand that, but if something was stolen, then it was stolen. People who are robbed in locked houses shouldn't be told that it was their fault they were robbed.

If a will has been stolen in an attempt to stop someone receiving funds, then there's potentially an offence committed..

user1977

northernlass29876 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

One of the priorities of any executor is to secure the deceased effects and and assets, and top of that would be the will which he should have removed from the home. 

If a will has been stolen in an attempt to stop someone receiving funds, then there's potentially an offence committed..

True, but that doesn't really change anything from the executor's point of view.

And I doubt the police will be very interested, when the parties have civil remedies available to them.

Marcon

The police aren't going to be remotely interested.

One for advice from a solicitor. People speculating here, and wagging their fingers about what did or didn't happen, won't solve anything.