Co-executor won’t agree to house sale

susieb4964

This concerns Scottish law, although I guess English law would be similar.

My sister died a year ago, leaving her two daughters (X and Y) as both executors and beneficiaries of her will. There is one small donation to a charity, the rest goes to X and Y. Most of the estate value is contained in the house, my sister didn’t have much cash. X and Y don’t get on. X has taken responsibility for all the executor duties, Y refuses to get involved. She doesn’t answer letters or emails, she doesn’t contribute to any bills, and she is refusing to allow the house to be sold. Y has a good job and doesn’t need the money. X would find the money very welcome, but Y has stated that she wants to make X suffer for alleged slights in the past (Y has lived outside the UK for the past 17 years and had no contact with X until my sister’s funeral).

I have no financial interest in this, I’m not a beneficiary, but I want to ensure that my sister’s wishes are carried out. We’ve tried everything to settle this amicably, but Y simply won’t engage. The next step, I guess, would be to go to court to force Y to agree to the sale of the house to settle the estate. We have plenty of evidence to show that Y has no good reason to oppose the house sale and is simply being vexatious. Does anyone have experience of this process, and what would it cost? How long does it take? Any advice would be appreciated.

FlorayG

Did your sister leave them 'the house' between them, or half her estate each? I think that makes a difference, because I have a friend who bought a house that had been left (the actual house) to two sisters and it took literally years to get one to agree to sell it. But if they've been left half the estate each, then I would expect the house has to be sold whatever sister Y wants because the 'estate' isn't items, it's a monetary value
Of course speak with a solicitor as I may be wrong...

DE_612183

Has probate been applied for ( assuming thats a thing in scotland )

sammyjammy

None of the options are cheap/easy/quick but I'd look at getting her removed as an executor, as said above does the will state the sale of the house?

Linton

As said, precisely what the will says is key.  If the will just says the house is to be left to the 2 sisters I suggest passing  half a share to each one and then leave them to it.  I dont see how your involvement would help.

Only if the will requires the house to be sold you may need to use the courts , or at least threaten to.  The court costs should could come from the estate so both beneficiaries would lose out.

susieb4964

Probate has been granted and the house is now in X and Y’s names. Y’s primary motivation is to avoid X getting money, so she’s also unlikely to agree to buy X out, and none of us have the money to buy Y out either.

I did look into having Y removed as an executor, but she’d have to be incapable of discharging her duties through lack of capacity or to have been out of the UK for a set time. She’s been very crafty to come back regularly to see other family members in the UK but hasn’t been to Scotland since my sister’s funeral.

susieb4964

FlorayG said:

Did your sister leave them 'the house' between them, or half her estate each? I think that makes a difference, because I have a friend who bought a house that had been left (the actual house) to two sisters and it took literally years to get one to agree to sell it. But if they've been left half the estate each, then I would expect the house has to be sold whatever sister Y wants because the 'estate' isn't items, it's a monetary value
Of course speak with a solicitor as I may be wrong...

Thanks, that’s worth checking as I haven’t seen the will myself.

DE_612183

Have you visited a few solicitors to get quotes for the work - don't forget any fees will be paid by the estate not Y individually so they would only lose half of whatever the fees are.

susieb4964

DE_612183 said:

Have you visited a few solicitors to get quotes for the work - don't forget any fees will be paid by the estate not Y individually so they would only lose half of whatever the fees are.

I haven’t yet, but I’ll be in Scotland later this year and will look into it. It would certainly help if the fees come out of the estate.

DE_612183

susieb4964 said:

DE_612183 said:

Have you visited a few solicitors to get quotes for the work - don't forget any fees will be paid by the estate not Y individually so they would only lose half of whatever the fees are.

I haven’t yet, but I’ll be in Scotland later this year and will look into it. It would certainly help if the fees come out of the estate.

All fees related to the sale come out of the estate, agents, solicitors, cleaners etc.

The key is getting a solicitor to agree to wait for their fee ( you may need to give them a deposit ).

No harm in ringing a few now rather than wait until later in the year.

Get things moving asap.

First step will probably be a letter from the solicitor telling X that you are applying to the court for a sale - that might be enough to get to agree, if not it's the first step.

born_again

Could X move into the house. If she can, then telling Y, might peak their interest in selling it then. Given their reluctance to sell it at the moment.