Dispute with co executor of will

everfair

My brother and I were appointed co executors of my late parents will. My brother took on most of the duties without any clear communication during probate. Due to personal differences I had concerns about the funds all being transferred into an account solely in his name and without my consent. I visited the branch of lloyds bank in Shrewsbury that he was dealing with and they agreed to only releasing the funds if both executors were present. I had provided them with all of the relevant documentation ( death certificates, probate certificate, personal photo ID) necessary and this was all copied and retained in branch. LLoyds said it was likely to take 28 days but then due to an error (they have admitted liability) released the funds to him within a week. I was then paid an arbitrary amount (almost 20,000 less than calculated) by him and he has refused to resolve this. I requested an account  and it does not explain his calculation which seems to be based on some perceived injustice rather than the wishes of my parents. How do I persue payment of the outstanding amount?
He has also been named as executor of my late aunt's will ( I am also named) and based on his behaviour and  attitude towards some of the beneficiaries I would like to contest this and put the process in the hands of a solicitor... but I'm not sure what the best way is to do this...

Brie

I think we all know that getting a solicitor involved can get very expensive very quickly.  If there's a way to resolve this without a solicitor then I'd suggest going down that route. 

Is he the sort that is sensible enough to know what he's been found out?  If you say "I know you did this with mom/dad's money I hope you're not going to try the same with Aunt Bessie's" will he toe the line?  Or will you need to threaten calling the police/fraud squad/etc?

Meanwhile I'd be filing a complaint with Lloyd's to say that their error has led to you being "financially disadvantaged" and that you expect some sort of compensation.  You won't get £20k, more likely £20 but at least the error will be logged officially.

And meanwhile for your Aunt - have you talked to the beneficiaries and raised your concerns?  What do they want to do??

lincroft1710

Unless you can prove that your brother has defrauded you of part of your inheritance, you would be wasting time and money trying to pursue this.


Contesting any part of a will can be expensive and you may not get the result you want. Again you would have to prove wrongdoing on the part of your brother

lincroft1710

Brie said:

Or will you need to threaten calling the police/fraud squad/etc?

Reading other threads on this board, the police/fraud squad rarely seem to want to involve themselves with alleged mishandling of inheritance cases.

Brie

lincroft1710 said:

Brie said:

Or will you need to threaten calling the police/fraud squad/etc?

Reading other threads on this board, the police/fraud squad rarely seem to want to involve themselves with alleged mishandling of inheritance cases.

It was more the threat than the possibility of the police following through.

lincroft1710

Brie said:

lincroft1710 said:

Brie said:

Or will you need to threaten calling the police/fraud squad/etc?

Reading other threads on this board, the police/fraud squad rarely seem to want to involve themselves with alleged mishandling of inheritance cases.

It was more the threat than the possibility of the police following through.

The trouble with making an empty threat is that the other party knows that they can carry on doing what they shouldn't be doing. If he has read local community websites, the brother will probably realise the police are overstretched and this type of "crime" is way down on the priority list 

mattojgb

Slightly complicated by the fact you are also executor. I think actions by any one executor are deemed to be actions of all executors.