Transferring a share of a property into a trust.

beefster

My Mother passed in Sept 22. Things have dragged on and on since! 

My step sister and my self where named executors and her will was very straight forward. My Mothers second marriage. Both partners have 2x children each.

A mirror Husband and Wife will was set up in 2013 with a 50% share of the property going into trust for 4 children upon either partners passing. the rest of the estate passing to the surviving partner. All very straight forward. 

Due to living at the opposite end of the country now the solicitor dealing advised to speed things up i might take an "Executor with rights reserved" role allowing my step sister to sign things on her own. Happy to do so as things where all very simple and straight forward.

Now family relations deteriorated and I am somewhat regretting that decision now. Long and short is my step father "appears" to be attempting to manipulate things somewhat for his benefit. Contacting the solicitor directly and pressurising his daughter (Executor). Alarm bells are ringing tbh. Complaints sent to the solicitor and we now have a differant partner in the same business leading the arrangements.

The Trust is set up and registered with HMRC. Probate completed and all funds etc all transferred to my step father. The issue now is the land registry application / trust.

I am set up as the lead trustee and Executor with rights reserved.
My Step sister is executor. 
The house is split 50/50 with tenancy rights for life to the surviving partner. 

The land registry application unsent at present... names my step father and my step sister (executor) with a note that her interest is solely as executrix and she must manage the property to the terms of my mothers Will.

"Declaration of trust. The transferee is more than one person and they hold the property on trust for themselves as tenants in common in equal share and in the case of "Step sis" the property is held subject to and pursuant to the terms of the trusts contained with in the will of "my mother". 

This all sounds great however those red flags are waving as said.... and family relations are strained. Long term concerns are to protect the trust interests for the beneficiaries and their children in full.

So...
Should i be looking to add myself as executor to the registry application?
Should i simply contact the registry to advise of the trust interest? Add some sort of flag on the property. Property Alert - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)?
Am I being overly cautious?? My thought is how will we all get to know as lead trustee / beneficiaries should the property be sold as it is so far away from all of us except Stepsis (executor)?? Overly worried maybe? I guess that stems from the family split and very little knowledge of the procedures....... and a useless solicitor (This has dragged on for 16 months!!).

Would appreciate some advice from those with an understanding of such matters please. 

Savvy_Sue

You can set up a property alert which will flag up to you if it's sold.

beefster

I did just that thanks Sue and it proved a great idea.... an update from HMRC was sent through as the land registry form droped with them!! The sale would have failed in the legal process but still.... good to get the heads up early! 

Savvy_Sue

I believe you can also 'unreserve' your powers at any time. Not sure how you do that, nor how easy it would be to manage the process with an uncooperative co-executor, but I'm glad the property alert was helpful!

beefster

My issue now is after all the shenanigans of the co executor and the main beneficiary of my mothers will the legal costs have escalated. We jointly as executors complained about the original solicitor dealing with the beneficiary rather than executor. There seemed to be a "friend" connection there that was preventing / hindering the transfer of property to the trust that was set up to suit the beneficiary of the rest of the estate. The beneficiary met with the solicitor behind the back of the executors. Then the solicitor went silent and failed to reply to the lead executor. After 4 months we agreed to file a complaint which led to the practice assigning another solicitor who discovered a few failings with the process and has been good tbh. A straight forward will transferring an estate to the surviving partner and 50% of property into trust has taken 20 months so far!! Madness! The main beneficiary has been transferred all the estate by my co executor (his child) holding nothing back to pay bills! The beneficiary has proclaimed he isnt paying any solicitors bill despite benefitting from a six figure sum from the estate!  So the worry now is who is liable for costs! My co executor (beneficiaries child) or both of us despite my position of  "reserved rights"?!?!?! We are heading towards the bill dropping on the mat soon so it will come to a head soon enough! 

Flugelhorn

Oh crumbs - the exec shouldn't have done that - bit of googling indicates that the exec with reserved powers has limited liabilities 

"If the Executor has power reserved, a claim would not normally be made against them as they would have limited liability. Any claims are usually made against the individual Executor causing the breach"

Malthusian

As Flugelhorn says, the stepsister is on the hook.

Presumably the main beneficiary is her father, if I'm netting off the "step-"s correctly. Might he think differently once he finds out that his daughter and only his daughter is the one he is leaving to twist in the wind?

batterseabloke

I am writing to a co- executor to reserve their co-executor position.  This is because they live in the US.  

I’m using the letter template on the forum, my question is whether soft copies are allowed, with digital signatures, or do we know if the co executor has to physically sign and return the acknowledgment.