Malicious administrator

random09

Hi, in need of some advice here.

I'm an administrator for a family member's estate, as are two other people. One has been purposefully, intentionally disruptive, running up costs and refusing to sell property which has now been reposessed as a result. We're trying to get them removed and reclaim costs they have caused. We have found a solicitor but it's like pulling teeth trying to get answers (we're feeling a bit strung along right now), so I'd be grateful for any info on the following:

- Apparently we should apply for an independent administrator. Is this required by law to replace the person being removed or can the remaining two administrators conclude the estate themselves?

- If the removed administrator is also a beneficiary of the estate, can the costs they were responsible for causing be retained from their part of the inheritance, or does the estate still have to pay out and then take further court action to reclaim the funds? (There may not be much to pay out at this rate..)

Alderbank

Do you really mean administrator or do you mean executor?

An administrator deals with winding up the estate of someone who has died without leaving a will. The probate office will appoint the most entitled person who applies. This is usually the deceased's closest living relative. Normally only one administrator is appointed and the family don't get to pick and choose - the probate office appoint the most entitled applicant.

Executors wind up the estate of someone who left a will. Executors are named in the will. They are whoever the deceased has chosen.

Is there a will?

random09

Yes, I do mean administrator - there was no will. We all applied and were accepted, we have the Letters of Administration. All three are children of the deceased. We did have an estate solicitor who did the paperwork - they dropped us due to the errant administrator's actions (they were warned in advance they would be disruptive, said it was fine, they could handle contentious cases. It was not fine, they did nothing to help, basically shrugged and said "well unless you all agree we can't do anything." They dropped us when the errant administrator lodged a complaint about them, leaving the estate in limbo. They also did the will search.) Neither the estate solicitor nor our current solicitor have ever mentioned there would normally only be one administrator. 

'Most entitled' would be the oldest child, I think? Our parent was widowed, no other close family. The oldest child is *not* the disruptive one. The disruptive one had actually been estranged from the family for years and has literally boasted they would do this. 

So, what do we do now? They won't step down voluntarily, the estate is in limbo and bills are still owed. 

Marcon

random09 said:

Yes, I do mean administrator - there was no will. We all applied and were accepted, we have the Letters of Administration. All three are children of the deceased. We did have an estate solicitor who did the paperwork - they dropped us due to the errant administrator's actions (they were warned in advance they would be disruptive, said it was fine, they could handle contentious cases. It was not fine, they did nothing to help, basically shrugged and said "well unless you all agree we can't do anything." They dropped us when the errant administrator lodged a complaint about them, leaving the estate in limbo. They also did the will search.) Neither the estate solicitor nor our current solicitor have ever mentioned there would normally only be one administrator. 

'Most entitled' would be the oldest child, I think? Our parent was widowed, no other close family. The oldest child is *not* the disruptive one. The disruptive one had actually been estranged from the family for years and has literally boasted they would do this. 

So, what do we do now? They won't step down voluntarily, the estate is in limbo and bills are still owed. 

It's quite common to have more than one administrator, for the same reason it usually makes sense to have more than one executor.

In terms of priority, the spouse or civil partner of the deceased is first on the list (not applicable here), with 'children' following next. All children are equally entitled - there is no 'most' about it. 

I'm afraid that you look for a new solicitor - you aren't going to be able to deal with this yourself.

random09

Marcon said:

random09 said:

Yes, I do mean administrator - there was no will. We all applied and were accepted, we have the Letters of Administration. All three are children of the deceased. We did have an estate solicitor who did the paperwork - they dropped us due to the errant administrator's actions (they were warned in advance they would be disruptive, said it was fine, they could handle contentious cases. It was not fine, they did nothing to help, basically shrugged and said "well unless you all agree we can't do anything." They dropped us when the errant administrator lodged a complaint about them, leaving the estate in limbo. They also did the will search.) Neither the estate solicitor nor our current solicitor have ever mentioned there would normally only be one administrator. 

'Most entitled' would be the oldest child, I think? Our parent was widowed, no other close family. The oldest child is *not* the disruptive one. The disruptive one had actually been estranged from the family for years and has literally boasted they would do this. 

So, what do we do now? They won't step down voluntarily, the estate is in limbo and bills are still owed. 

It's quite common to have more than one administrator, for the same reason it usually makes sense to have more than one executor.

In terms of priority, the spouse or civil partner of the deceased is first on the list (not applicable here), with 'children' following next. All children are equally entitled - there is no 'most' about it. 

I'm afraid that you look for a new solicitor - you aren't going to be able to deal with this yourself.

Ok, I was just going on what the above person said.

A new solicitor for the estate or a new solicitor for dealing with the administrator removal? We can't get a new estate solicitor as the errant administrator has refused to co-operate in obtaining one. 

The solicitor the other admin and myself are employing for the removal process took us months to find because we have to work on deferred payment and almost nobody would do it. We're both disabled and on a tiny fixed income, and we couldn't get legal aid. It's a big bill already and we have no way to afford anyone else. They didn't want to actually file for removal until the property has been sold (by the mortgage company, as it's been reposessed) so there is a defined value on the estate. They've indicated applying for a court-appointed administrator - but I'd like to know if that's a legal requirement to have a replacement for the administrator being removed, or if the remaining two administrators can conclude the estate themselves?

(Sorry if I'm not being very clear, this stuff is confusing as heck)