Delayed Will disbursement

Concernedbeneficiary

Hello, would anyone know if it is possible to sue an estate administrator after will completion and disbursement? A will administrator has taken year's to finalize a very uncomplicated will and I could have invested the money due to me as a beneficiary at least 3 years ago. Just wondered if it would be worth the time and money to proceed with court action after the fact? Thanks in advance.

Mr.Generous

How much was due, was there any interim payment made at all? Was any reason given for holding the funds?

Keep_pedalling

Professional or lay executor? If the latter forget it and move on.

Concernedbeneficiary

Mr.Generous said:

How much was due, was there any interim payment made at all? Was any reason given for holding the funds?

Thanks for your response! At least 100,000 pounds, no interim payment and property was willed so it's been excuses and lies with regards buy to let mortgage and awaiting retirement funds.

Concernedbeneficiary

Keep_pedalling said:

Professional or lay executor? If the latter forget it and move on.

Sadly it's a lay executor but appreciate your response.

Hoenir

You'll need at the very least substantive evidence to support your claim. Also solicitors that specialise in the field. They won't be cheap. 

Sea_Shell

Concernedbeneficiary said:

Hello, would anyone know if it is possible to sue an estate administrator after will completion and disbursement? A will administrator has taken year's to finalize a very uncomplicated will and I could have invested the money due to me as a beneficiary at least 3 years ago. Just wondered if it would be worth the time and money to proceed with court action after the fact? Thanks in advance.

Sorry to hear that you've been messed around by the executor.   

So, to be clear, you have now received your inheritance (~£100k) in full, yes?

But you're unhappy that you could have benefited from the "growth" of this money, over the last couple of years.

As others have said, it would be a very hard, expensive and time consuming to try and bring a case against them for your "loss".     My advice - Put it behind you move on.  

At least you did eventually get your inheritance!    We do see threads on here where people either didn't, or still haven't after even longer, sadly!!   

doodling

Hi,

So, your upside if you win in court is around £10k, assuming that there was two years unjustifiable delay.

Your downside is probably more than £10k in legal costs, plus a similar amount on the executors side.

Unless there is some clear evidence of gross negligence by the exexutor then I think your chances of winning in court are less than 25%.

I'd forget about it and move on.  If you wanted you could consult a solicitor and get a proper legal opinion based on your exact circumstances but I wouldn't be too hopeful.

Malthusian

There is a property? And the buyer needs a mortgage? Not an uncomplicated estate in that case. Not super complicated, but if it needed grant of probate followed by a property sale, it's not uncomplicated either.

"At least £100k" suggests the inheritance has not yet been received. "At least" suggests an unknown amount. "Just over" is usually used for a known amount slightly higher than the number which follows.

If the estate is still in the process of being distributed, your options are to either let the executor get on with it or go to court to have them removed on the grounds they are failing in their duty. The latter would be an expensive process for everybody, and there is not enough information in your post to suggest the executor has actually done anything wrong. 

It's not clear what "awaiting retirement funds" means.

Jude57

If those three years included the COVID lockdowns, then the recovery from those with the resulting long delays to virtually everything from solicitors to Probate, estate agents, financial institutions etc etc then I doubt that suing the Executor would yield very much, if anything. Unless you can demonstrate, to the Court's satisfaction, that there has been deliberate delay by the Executor or deliberate maladminisration of the estate, bearing in mind that the Executor is a lay person and lay people are given wide latitude by the Courts, I don't think you'd succeed. You'd also need to prove that you suffered a quantifiable loss and set out exactly what that loss was. Costs for all that would far exceed what you might (and it's definitely only might) be awarded if you win. All the Executor has to do is show that they took all steps a reasonable lay person could be expected to take to administer the estate and that delays were outside their control and your case fails. I agree with everyone else that it's better to move on rather than throw substantial sums of money at a case you're unlikely to win.

If you do decide to proceed, please don't employ a 'no win, no fee' firm unless you are satisfied that you understand you are signing up to be liable for their substantial costs in the event you change your mind, lose because of anything you did or didn't do, or any of the numerous reasons they decide to hold you liable for. If you decide to proceed, seek an experienced contested probate solicitor, give them everything then follow their advice. 

MEM62

Litigation is both risky and expensive.  Take the money, draw a line and move on.