Does a solicitor have a legal duty to carry out a will in a certain time frame?

ostlerscidermill

Hello,
My father died in July 2020.
Myself and the solicitors to his will are both executors of his will.
He changed his will many times before he died, at the time of death he left £40,000 to carers, charities, and my children. He had just over £1,000 in the bank.
We were partners in business and he was paid a very reasonable wage, as he started the business but had always run it on a loss, before I took over.
When he died I found draws full of paperwork where he had been making false accusations against me and changing the will time and time again with these particular solicitors. Anyhow this is another story. I got help with putting a complaint against the solicitors with the Exeter Law School and the citizen's advice.  It didn't really get me anywhere as it seems solicitors need no proof apart from the color of the money they are being paid. Basically, if my father wanted to make my life hell he could just pay them and they would act on his behalf. Anyway like I said this is another story.....
I have so far paid the Red Cross £5000 and they have been very reasonable, and all others have not accepted the money.
After paying this and the funeral I was left with no money to pay the solicitors. 
We are also on extremely bad terms due to the fact of his will and the fact I have made complaints against them.
We are at a stand-off now, they would like me to go onto a payment plan and placement of a charge on the property as it was built without planning I can't mortgage it. I don't want to put a charge on the property.
How would I proceed to get this property in my name. Do the solicitors have some sort of duty to carry out my fathers wishes in a time frame? It has now been 4 years?
Many thanks and apologies now for the grammar!

Olinda99

the terms of the will presumably say all expenses, taxes etc should be paid first ?

Thus in my view you should have paid the solicitors first before distributing to beneficiaries eg red cross

You my be therefore persnally liable for this unless you can persuade the red cross to return the £5000 to the estate (or the carers to return some of the 40000)

sammyjammy

Are you saying your father didn't leave enough in his will to meet the bequests he made after solicitors fees/funeral etc?  Its not really clear.  Did half the business belong to your father?

Tucosalamanca

It's not clear at all.

OP seems to not fully understand the probate process. This has likely contributed to the time being taken.

Debts need to be paid before any residual funds are distributed to beneficiaries.
The solicitor and funeral costs take priority over payments to Red Cross - why was that payment made and where did the funds come from?

The wording of the will is important. It's possible that the property will need to be sold to pay the other beneficiaries.

Lots of irrelevant information given and few facts to work with...

Flugelhorn

not clear why the beneficiaries got anything if their was no money in the estate

Malthusian

The relevant parts of the post I have picked out are:

• The estate had £1,000 in the bank and a property built without planning (permission?). The property presumably still has some sort of value, even if it has to be knocked down and sold as land, but we're not told how much.
• £40,000 has been left in specific bequests. We have not been told who the residual beneficiary is if anyone. 
• The OP has somehow managed to pay £5,000 to a random specific beneficiary without paying the others. Where the money came from is unclear.
• A business is mentioned but it is not clear whether this formed any part of the estate, or whether it was just a partnership.

Can you sell the property, then pay the solicitors and the outstanding bequests from the proceeds? That seems the obvious way out of the mess.

The solicitors are first in the queue to get paid (along with the funeral director). You are not going to get out of that.

If the property is not worth enough to cover the solicitors fees first, and then the outstanding specific bequests, then you are in trouble. As others have said, if the estate is not distributed correctly and the estate's bills are not paid, the executors can be liable. The only saving grace is that the solicitors could in theory also be in trouble, as they are also executors, but it doesn't sound like it's their fault. It's not clear where the £5,000 to pay the Red Cross came from if there was no cash in the estate. 

How would I proceed to get this property in my name. Do the solicitors have some sort of duty to carry out my fathers wishes in a time frame? 

Yes, but so do you, so that is a double-edged sword and unlike the solicitors, you don't know how to fence. *edit* I'll be clearer - there are no specific timeframes in law for when solicitors must distribute an estate. People talk about an "executor's year" but estates can frequently take much longer to distribute, particularly when property sales are involved. It can be in the interests of the beneficiaries to take longer over a sale rather than sell the property at fire-sale prices. Just getting probate in the first place often takes up most of a year, during which the executors can do nothing. 

If a solicitor was the sole executor and was unduly dragging their feet, you could complain to the regulators. However you are a co-executor so distributing the estate is as much your duty as theirs. And the one dragging their feet over selling the property seems to be you. 

ostlerscidermill

Hello!
Sorry, I do things in a rush.
The business is now in my name as sole trader so no problem there!
no problem the last answer was what I needed. As we are both co-executors then we are both responsible for getting the will sorted and I am not prepared to sell my family home of 14 years so the solicitors can have their £4000, so I am indeed dragging my feet!   I have been living here for 14 years with no tenancy agreement, so I feel pretty safe here and the will does state it will go to me.
Yes, the will did indeed say the property would have to be sold, I buried my father on the land so paid for that myself and used my overdraft to pay the Red Cross, my children and the carers all deferred on their inheritance stating his confusion and strokes made them feel uncomfortable about his decision at the time to leave this money (especially as he didn't actually have it)  I was unaware the solicitors had to be paid first.
Anyway, I feel my question was answered and I will probably continue to drag my feet until I can come up with the money.
Thanks for your help!

ostlerscidermill

I do also apologise about sounding so bitter, I was put through 10 years of hell and threats. Had anyone asked to see sets of accounts or bank statements or any facts at that time, then maybe the harassment would have stopped, and they would not have made up a will that could be paid.

Malthusian

As we are both co-executors then we are both responsible for getting the will sorted and I am not prepared to sell my family home of 14 years so the solicitors can have their £4000, so I am indeed dragging my feet! 

If you can't pay their £4,000 in some other way then it matters not what you are prepared to do. The solicitors will apply to the courts to have you removed as executor, at which they will win easily. They will evict you, sell the property, and the costs of all this will come out of your share of the proceeds.

 I have been living here for 14 years with no tenancy agreement, so I feel pretty safe here and the will does state it will go to me.

What the Will says is irrelevant if there are not enough funds in the estate, after paying the solicitors' costs, to allow that specific legacy to be fulfilled.

Tenancy rights are not my strong suit so you may want to visit MSE's Housing board. But if you do not have a tenancy, you may have very limited right to remain in the property and the executors could get you out quicker than you think.

my children and the carers all deferred on their inheritance stating his confusion and strokes made them feel uncomfortable about his decision at the time to leave this money (especially as he didn't actually have it) 

You'll need them to renounce their legacies in writing, particularly as another specific legacy has been paid - albeit not from estate funds. 

It sounds like there will be funds in the estate after the property sale to pay the remaining specific legacies, at least in part. So until the carers and your children have renounced their legacies in a way that would stand up in court, they could change their minds.

How much is the property worth?

ostlerscidermill

Malthusian said:

As we are both co-executors then we are both responsible for getting the will sorted and I am not prepared to sell my family home of 14 years so the solicitors can have their £4000, so I am indeed dragging my feet! 

If you can't pay their £4,000 in some other way then it matters not what you are prepared to do. The solicitors will apply to the courts to have you removed as executor, at which they will win easily. They will evict you, sell the property, and the costs of all this will come out of your share of the proceeds.

 I have been living here for 14 years with no tenancy agreement, so I feel pretty safe here and the will does state it will go to me.

What the Will says is irrelevant if there are not enough funds in the estate, after paying the solicitors' costs, to allow that specific legacy to be fulfilled.

Tenancy rights are not my strong suit so you may want to visit MSE's Housing board. But if you do not have a tenancy, you may have very limited right to remain in the property and the executors could get you out quicker than you think.

my children and the carers all deferred on their inheritance stating his confusion and strokes made them feel uncomfortable about his decision at the time to leave this money (especially as he didn't actually have it) 

You'll need them to renounce their legacies in writing, particularly as another specific legacy has been paid - albeit not from estate funds. 

It sounds like there will be funds in the estate after the property sale to pay the remaining specific legacies, at least in part. So until the carers and your children have renounced their legacies in a way that would stand up in court, they could change their minds.

How much is the property worth?

Hello, 
I'm not going to sell my home of 14 years, for the sake of £4000. It's worth £350.000 although I have collected bank statements to show I have put £100,000 into building it. Which I know doesn't mean anything as it was all in my father's name.
I think the solicitors don't want to cause me too much more grief as they know I have a six-page document, which is a little embarrassing for them, I think I will just do nothing until I have the money. Which I will get, but I'm in no rush and neither are they.
All have renounced their legacies on paper as luckily for me they all wanted to do what was morally right, regardless of what the law says. Even the Red Cross where my father left the most, £20,000 has seen my side and has been lovely. 
I'm very lucky to be surrounded by the people I am.

Flugelhorn

ostlerscidermill said:

Malthusian said:

As we are both co-executors then we are both responsible for getting the will sorted and I am not prepared to sell my family home of 14 years so the solicitors can have their £4000, so I am indeed dragging my feet! 

If you can't pay their £4,000 in some other way then it matters not what you are prepared to do. The solicitors

All have renounced their legacies on paper as luckily for me they all wanted to do what was morally right, regardless of what the law says. Even the Red Cross where my father left the most, £20,000 has seen my side and has been lovely. 
I'm very lucky to be surrounded by the people I am.

Didn't the legacies just fail as there was no money in the estate?