Query regarding Executor / Codicil / Non disclosure

iamlindypops

Hi,

Hoping someone can advise.  I have found myself in a situation where both my father & stepmother have passed away.

My father got covid and died in hospital on April 7th 2020, my sister, brother and myself received a letter from dad's solicitor to ask if we were contesting the will transfer to our stepmum, we all said no without seeing his will.

My father had asked my nephew if he would be executor for him and our stepmum, this I thought would be a good idea as my sister and myself are executors for our mother who passed away this January from bowel cancer.

My stepmum died due to oesophageal cancer on 23rd January 2023, my nephew would not allow my sister, brother or myself to see my stepmum’s will and had the solicitor send us a letter stating that we would not gain access as he wasn’t permitting it.

I thought enough time had passed and earlier this year I made the same request to the solicitor who said my nephew would have to grant permission which would be declined.

I contacted the court two weeks ago who agreed upon payment send me a copy of the will, I was surprised to discover my nephew had not disclosed that a codicil had been issued which gave his wife and himself the same amount of inheritance as my sister and myself, just under £35k (they received almost 70k between them) while his brother and my son received £6k.  My dad and stepmum were always fair and gave everyone the same amount over Christmas & birthdays.  This doesn't feel right.  Particularly as he told me that she probably would have changed her will and wanted all the family except him, his wife, her daughter and grand daughter to be the only inheritors, but said we would accuse him of coercion as she was not going to survive for long.  This discussion was held after her death.

The codicil was signed on 12th December 2022 and she died just over a month later.  I am unsure if I can take action as I am sure she was diagnosed with cancer more than a month before her passing.

Due to my nephew being executor I will not be able to access any medical information to find out if the codicil was written after her diagnosis.

I am really angry as he said to my sister (his mother) and myself that it would be fair for us both to donate part of our inheritance to his wife’s daughter and granddaughter as they visited and helped out when our stepmum was ill.

To add some context, I live and worked in London, and they are in the North East of Scotland, so it was much easier for them.  They have only known my family not long before dad got covid and therefore were not part of our family for any length of time.

My nephew would not tell us what our inheritance was going to be and would not disclose the solicitors name or contact number. I told him that I will be the only one who decides if I donate or not, my sister said she was going to give them 50%.  That was before I told her about the codicil.

As the contents of my dad’s will was transferred to my stepmum and we were not adopted, my brother has no inheritance and no right to appeal.

However, due to the underhanded way the inheritance has been handled, can I do anything?

I asked the court administrator if I could have a copy of my dad’s will but was told as the contents were transferred to his surviving spouse, no record was held.

My nephew no longer communicates with either my sister or myself and said he is not ready to scatter their ashes.  I also requested to take a small amount of their ashes to India where my dad was born and scatter over his mother's grave, they were very close.

He also disposed of all the property within dad and my stepmum’s home only keeping a few nick nacks to give to us. I gave his wife, her daughter and granddaughter jewellery that belonged to my stepmum without knowing what was in the will.

I have no idea what they have taken or have eyes on the inventory that was submitted for the courts.

Any ideas on what to do under these circumstances.

Many Thanks

Kind Regards

Grumpelstiltskin

Is this the court you contacted?

Testaments recorded after 1999

Testaments recorded from 2000 onwards are not held by us. Instead you should contact the Commissary Department, Edinburgh Sheriff Court, 27 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LB.

iamlindypops

Grumpelstiltskin, I contacted Aberdeen Sheriff's court

Grumpelstiltskin

Try Edinburgh court and see if they can help.

iamlindypops

@Grumpelstiltskin. Thank you, I will call them in the morning 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

buddy9

You asked the court for a copy of your dad’s will but were told that as the estate was transferred to his surviving spouse, no record was held. The reason that the Court would not have access to a copy of your father’s will is because the executor has not applied for Grant of Confirmation (and has therefore not submitted the will to the court). It may be that the executor did not require Confirmation to access the estate. The court official is speculating in respect of the estate being transferred to the surviving spouse, they will have no way of knowing the circumstances. (If you have been told that a will is not held by the SCTS, I do wonder what a phone call to Edinburgh might be expected to achieve - other than relieving you of a small amount of money as a search fee).

iamlindypops

@buddy9. Thank you, Aberdeen sheriff's court told me that there was no record of my dad's will on their system and that as my stepmum survived him there would have been no application for Grant of Confirmation, is there any other way of locating a copy?  🙏🏻

buddy9

The court staff are probably trying to explain the type of circumstances where Confirmation might not be necessary.

The principal reasons for requiring Confirmation are where an estate includes an owned dwelling (or share) without survivorship in the title, or where a fund holder requires Confirmation to allow release of funds. If your father’s estate did not contain any of these then this might explain the no Confirmation application.

Sometimes executors do not apply for Confirmation even when it is required, or do so tardily. The possibility of this happening when a solicitor is involved is probably reduced.

It is a common practice for Scottish solicitors to send a will for preservation in the Books of Council and Session (Register of Deeds) prior to applying for Confirmation. Where this occurs, a copy of the will can be obtained from Registers of Scotland. Confirmation was not applied for in this case so perhaps the will was not registered, but there might just be a small chance that the will was registered there by the solicitor.

There is a search fee payable to find out.

https://www.ros.gov.uk/services/order-deeds/search-the-register-of-deeds

iamlindypops

@buddy9, thank you for your suggestion, I spoke to Registers of Scotland and nothing was listed under my dad's name.

I can only presume my stepmom's solicitor may hold a copy as everything was transferred to her, however, as my nephew is executor of her will, he won't give permission for me to speak with them.

There was a codicil signed one month, eleven days before she passed away due to cancer, I am trying to find out if her diagnosis was given before this date.

I can't remember when I was told as she never said anything when she was poorly, so the news came from my nephew who lives locally.

The only other thing I can think of is to contact the hospital where she was admitted to asking when she was diagnosed, not sure if due to confidentiality they can disclose the information.  🙏🏻