Solicitors Responsibility to Distribute Funds

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

Does a solicitor have a legal responsibility to distribution funds from a house sale in accordance with the Property Register.  In other words, should the funds from the house sale been distributed to those cited in the Land Document below:

Sylvia owns 50% and the 4 children own the remaining 50%.

The reason I ask, is that all the funds when to Sylvia and she has now past away.

Keep_pedalling

How long ago was the sale? Who is Sylvia’s executors?

No the solicitor should not just have done that. Do the children realise that they have a CGT liability to pay if this was not their primary residence. 

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

Keep_pedalling said:

How long ago was the sale? Who is Sylvia’s executors?

No the solicitor should not just have done that. Do the children realise that they have a CGT liability to pay if this was not their primary residence. 

The house sales took place on the 24th March, Sylvia died the 25th March.  Sylvia has appointed a firm of solisitors as Executors.

It there any legal precedent/law that I have in my case in respect of the distribution error?

Yes we are aware of the CGT liability which has to be paid within 60days of the sale, but have no funds to pay it.

Keep_pedalling

So was the money paid to Sylvia’s executors or did it go into her account on the 24th? 

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

Keep_pedalling said:

So was the money paid to Sylvia’s executors or did it go into her account on the 24th? 

It went into Sylvias bank account on the 24th which is now frozen.

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

I have been doing some research on the internet.  The best I could come up with if there any legal precedent/law that I have in my case in respect of the distribution error.  Is the following:

"When transferring funds related to a property, ensuring they go to the correct parties (e.g., mortgage lenders, solicitors, or multiple owners) is crucial, and solicitors play a key role in this process, ensuring funds are distributed accurately."

As the funds are all in my mothers account, it could be a year before the beneficiaries see anything.  

user1977

Have the solicitors explained the rationale for sending the funds to one party? I presume the other parties hadn't been involved in that decision? (sending it all to her would be fine if they had agreed)

nxdmsandkaskdjaqd

user1977 said:

Have the solicitors explained the rationale for sending the funds to one party? I presume the other parties hadn't been involved in that decision? (sending it all to her would be fine if they had agreed)

No they haven't.  At the moment they are blanking me..  

saajan_12

Sorry for your loss. The below is a quite direct summary of the considerations to help you sort this particular mess out, though I'm sure you also have plenty more going on.  

What were the instructions given to the solicitors for the transfer - if the 4 children told the solicitor to do something different, you can't be surprised if they followed suit. Since the dates are so close together, this might have made sense. 

Assuming they have done something wrong, the next question is what can be done about it... they can't necessarily be expected to pay out 50% again to the children. Eg
- Can the executors return an erroneous payment sooner, given an explanatory letter by the conveyancing solicitors?
- If the money for CGT has to be borrowed or pulled from other savings then the interest loss could be covered by the conveyancing solicitors? 

Note the children were already entitled to that money so its not necessarily part of the estate and might not be handled in the same (slower) timeline to actually distribute assets.