Solicitors not making inheritance payments until all beneficiaries return bank details? I

morayn247

Is this normal practice? 

About 6 months ago I was made aware I’d be receiving inheritance from a relative who died without a will and was told things were close to completion with payments ready to be made essentially. Their probate was granted in Jan 2023 and I have a copy of this so have seen what their estate is worth altogether.

2 months ago I received a letter listing how the inheritance was to be divided, around 20 people receiving equal shares. The letter stated that once the solicitors received the bank details of everyone involved, they’d make payments. They haven’t said how much we’re receiving or referenced any amounts at all. 

I enquired recently if I could be updated on the process, and they’ve said they will only proceed with all the payments once they have all the beneficiary’s bank details, and said they haven’t got them all back yet - is that standard practice, waiting for everyone before making any payments? What if one or more of the beneficiaries just don’t respond - it’s been 2 months! That and not telling us what our share is… is that standard? Obviously I can estimate but it’s not an exact science and I don’t want to plan for anything until they’ve confirmed. 

I have done some research but struggling to find many experiences of this situation, it all seems a bit strange - it does seem like it’s just tough luck and wait however long you have to wait in these situations and I guess all solicitors will have their own rules. Hopefully I don’t come off grabby, I’m just in a tough spot financially, I was recently made redundant and I was hoping that this might come in handy.

Hoenir

The solicitors need to charge the estate for it's time. Until the Estate is finally ready to be distributed. The time clock accruing more charges ticks over. 

pjs493

I think something similar happened when I inherited some money from an elderly relative when they died. Although in that case there was a Will, but at least a dozen beneficiaries. 

I’d been away working abroad and the solicitor had sent correspondence to me at my parents’ address where my post just piled up until I returned. I then had to go to the firm’s office with ID and within a week those of us with cash gifts all received cheques in the post. 

I don’t know for sure that I was the cause of the holdup, or whether it was a coincidence that the cheques were sent out within days of my visiting their office when the letter had been sat at my parents’ house for a couple of months. 

This was about 15-20 years ago which might account for why I needed to visit them with ID in person and we were all sent cheques. It was before the days of ID verification being possible with a smartphone. 

Marcon

morayn247 said:

Is this normal practice? 

About 6 months ago I was made aware I’d be receiving inheritance from a relative who died without a will and was told things were close to completion with payments ready to be made essentially. Their probate was granted in Jan 2023 and I have a copy of this so have seen what their estate is worth altogether.

2 months ago I received a letter listing how the inheritance was to be divided, around 20 people receiving equal shares. The letter stated that once the solicitors received the bank details of everyone involved, they’d make payments. They haven’t said how much we’re receiving or referenced any amounts at all. 

I enquired recently if I could be updated on the process, and they’ve said they will only proceed with all the payments once they have all the beneficiary’s bank details, and said they haven’t got them all back yet - is that standard practice, waiting for everyone before making any payments? What if one or more of the beneficiaries just don’t respond - it’s been 2 months! That and not telling us what our share is… is that standard? Obviously I can estimate but it’s not an exact science and I don’t want to plan for anything until they’ve confirmed. 

I have done some research but struggling to find many experiences of this situation, it all seems a bit strange - it does seem like it’s just tough luck and wait however long you have to wait in these situations and I guess all solicitors will have their own rules. Hopefully I don’t come off grabby, I’m just in a tough spot financially, I was recently made redundant and I was hoping that this might come in handy.

Who are the executors? If they already know the identities of all the beneficiaries and say they are only waiting for bank details, then there's no logical reason to delay, nor any reason not to share details with each beneficiary of the amount they will inherit.

It's possible the currently unresponsive beneficiary will never respond, but the executors will need to deal with that at the time it becomes a reality - not hold up everyone else.

If you've heard nothing by the end of this month, I'd write to the executors and copy in the solicitors, politely making the points you've made above.

Time2count

A family member is in a similar situation - Probate granted 9 months ago, no property to sell, all cash was in the bank. 1 beneficiary wants nothing to do with that side of the family so has ignored all letters. Solicitor won't release funds to the others - the will was a clear person's A - G get 10% each, other persons get various other percentages. However the solicitors are now saying they'll need to go to court to ask the judge what to do as they feel unable to partially pay out. There were other hiccups on the way - a couple of the beneficiaries had died before this gentleman did but 1 of the beneficiaries had to do the hunting for death certificates etc as the solicitors just seem to have the view of sending letters and waiting for responses and not acting further until all responses are back.
It has now been 18 months since the gentleman died and 15 since my relative received their letter from the solicitors.

Hoenir

Marcon said:

morayn247 said:

Is this normal practice? 

About 6 months ago I was made aware I’d be receiving inheritance from a relative who died without a will and was told things were close to completion with payments ready to be made essentially. Their probate was granted in Jan 2023 and I have a copy of this so have seen what their estate is worth altogether.

2 months ago I received a letter listing how the inheritance was to be divided, around 20 people receiving equal shares. The letter stated that once the solicitors received the bank details of everyone involved, they’d make payments. They haven’t said how much we’re receiving or referenced any amounts at all. 

I enquired recently if I could be updated on the process, and they’ve said they will only proceed with all the payments once they have all the beneficiary’s bank details, and said they haven’t got them all back yet - is that standard practice, waiting for everyone before making any payments? What if one or more of the beneficiaries just don’t respond - it’s been 2 months! That and not telling us what our share is… is that standard? Obviously I can estimate but it’s not an exact science and I don’t want to plan for anything until they’ve confirmed. 

I have done some research but struggling to find many experiences of this situation, it all seems a bit strange - it does seem like it’s just tough luck and wait however long you have to wait in these situations and I guess all solicitors will have their own rules. Hopefully I don’t come off grabby, I’m just in a tough spot financially, I was recently made redundant and I was hoping that this might come in handy.

Who are the executors? If they already know the identities of all the beneficiaries and say they are only waiting for bank details, then there's no logical reason to delay, nor any reason not to share details with each beneficiary of the amount they will inherit.

Tracing the named beneficiaries maybe challenging. That's even if they are still alive. Executorship is a legal responsibility though often assumed to be a formailty or a simple process. 

Spendless

I wonder if this is to do with needing confirmation that a beneficiary has received their inheritance? My mum had a similar issue when she needed to send my sister's share of my Nan's will as she is estranged from us. Mum had no idea of her bank acc, wasn't confident that sis would provide that info and resorted to sending a cheque requiring signed del and enclosed a note asking sis to confirm she'd received it along with an SAE, Sis did, though if she'd realised what Mum was asking for wasn't a legal requirement she probably wouldn't have. A cheque can be paid into a joint account without the other party knowing  (Mums fear) or someone sharing a a first name/initial along with a shared surname pay into their own account (we've had at least one thread about a missing inheritance having gone that way).

If one of the beneficiaries refuses their share for whatever reason then the solicitors will need to take that into account. They may be prolonging just because it makes the 'what ifs' easier for them to deal with.  

thegreenone

I received an inheritance in this way last year.  As said above, the longer the beneficiaries drag their heels in providing details the more the solicitors will gain.  It's probably also easier for the solicitors to do the transactions one after another and done, rather than in a bitty fashion over the course of weeks.

morayn247

Thanks for all the responses - update to say I haven't heard anything since then! 

To answer Qs, the executors are another relative of the deceased, but not one I know so I can't ask them unfortunately. 

We were made aware that all beneficiaries and their up to date contact details have been traced prior to this stage (as there were a few unknowns) - I suppose that's why I was confused why we had to wait for everyone to return their details again to then wait for payments, and why people wouldn't respond at this stage... they've already responded once! I feel pushy having already asked for an update once so won't again as I suppose I've no idea what's going on behind the scenes, but difficult knowing money is coming in when you're struggling. We'll see. Been about 11 weeks now since requesting bank details to make the interim payments. 

ProbateNewbie

Don't feel pushy - you're entitled to that money!

I would contact the executor, copying the solicitors and requesting an update.

morayn247

Thanks - I asked the solicitors for an update and apparently they are still waiting for 2 people who are unresponsive, and are considering with the executor how to proceed given that. Hopefully that means making payments to those of us who have responded… but seems still no closer which is frustrating.