Estate accounts - executor refusing to provide them

Alphatauri

I know. This is a very tricky situation I am navigating and my question was very specific. 

Marcon

Alphatauri said:

I know. This is a very tricky situation I am navigating and my question was very specific. 

Your application would be for Inventory and Account (not the same thing as estate accounts), and in some cases the court can order the executor(s) to personally pay the costs of the application if one needs to be made.

Before clocking up your own legal costs, think again about my suggestion that you email the legal executive, including the other executor (and indeed possibly including the one being difficult), indicating that if you don't receive the accounts within (say) 10 working days, you intend to pursue such an application and ask the court to order the executors to pay the costs personally. That should give the legal executive food for thought...

sheramber

Would the will not state whether you are a residuary beneficiary or are they saying there is no residual estate to pay out?

Marcon

sheramber said:

Would the will not state whether you are a residuary beneficiary or are they saying there is no residual estate to pay out?

OP has already confirmed: 'Legal Executive who acted for the lead executor confirmed I am a residual beneficiary.'

Whether there is actually any residual estate to pay out doesn't matter - it is their status as a residual beneficiary which entitles them to see the estate accounts.

Alphatauri

To update, the executor contacted the Legal Executive who change their mind and send a very carefully worded email that implied but didn’t explicitly state I wasn’t a residual beneficiary. I half expected this based on previous experience.

Thank you to Marcon, after several phone calls to different Probate Registry’s I emailed the Leeds PR who have sent the forms for me to complete.

I have decided to get my solicitor to write a final letter, I don’t want to pay more but I want evidence of just how hard I have tried to get the executor to forward the accounts. I don’t expect the accounts to appear so in September I will apply for a summons.