Abuse of 'Power Reserved' status

gplion55

As an executor of my Father’s will, I was excluded by one of the other executors by them applying for ‘POWER RESERVED’ status without my knowledge of permission. This has been abused for personal gain on behalf of the said executor. I have been trying to resolve this for over 3 years now and despite rising legal costs I am trying to avoid full blown court case.

I have some good legal help now and am on the way to resolving this by getting a double grant of probate.

What annoys me the most is that there is a legal loophole here, which according to what I have researched is common in the UK where people are intentionally and unwittingly excluded from inheritances to which they are entitled.

I was under the impression (falsely it seems) that a solicitor must inform you in advance that Power Reserved will be applied and that you must also give your permission. If only that was true. I was not informed until it had already been done and therefore I have been excluded from any of the decisions around the estate. Besides a pretty sloppy solicitor I have 2 siblings supporting each other in my continued exclusion. 

Meanwhile questionable costs and expenses are claimed off the estate. This needs to become a legally compulsory procedure if/when ‘Power Reserved’ is applied at all.
So many messy Estate legal cases could be avoided this way.

Perhaps some other forum users are in a similar position. I sympathise entirely.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6655424/abuse-of-039-power-reserved-039-status

I understand your desire to vent but you have legal advice engaged through the Solicitor so it is unlikely this forum can comment to assist better than the Solicitor who has full knowledge of the scenario.

Keep_pedalling

It is very easy for an executor to claim other executors have reserved powers when they haven’t, but you can only get away with it if the excluded executors fail to take corrective action during the probate process, how long after your father’s death did you discover probate had been applied for without you?

IOWJJBTM2025

Thanks for letting us know that this loop hole exists. I have acted as excecutor with 3 probates now and made sure that all beneficiaries are in agreement at every stage. It is the role of the executor to ensure that the will is followed and applied correctly. I have also always used a professional Probate Solicitor. From what you are saying there is a loop hole where a beneficiary can apply for POWER RESERVED and bypass decisions of other beneficiaries. It is a bit concerning that this could happen.

Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening?

gplion55

It was communicated to me by the family solicitor after it had already been done. That was not long after my father had passed away. I was promised that I could 'apply to change it at any time' but this turned out to be a distraction tactic. I complained about it but then the solicitor claimed that he could no longer act for me.

I am not so worried about my own predicament now after all the unnecessary stress and worry..but something needs to be done to prevent this loophole. Of course solicitors won't be so interested in changing it as it's a nice earner for them, but all the same the whole thing is wide open to abuse.

If you want to take the other party to court you are talking £15000 - £16000 in legal costs at least.

I have done my best to stay clear of that.

gplion55

I am not so much interested in comments of the Forum, but more to bring this loophole and possible abuse of it to people's attention.

gplion55

"Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening?"..

It was actually an EXECUTOR overriding the other executors.

That would be a question for Martin I think…

Keep_pedalling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885439#Comment_81885439

This is only something that can be done by executors not beneficiaries. I would say this is not that common and not always because of dodgy motives for example someone might be tempted to do this is if an executor just sat back and did nothing as it would be a lot cheaper than going through the courts to have them removed.

What can we do? Make a will and choose your executors carefully especially where your offspring are likely to be at loggerheads. Don’t die intestate where there is a far higher chance that siblings will be fighting over who administers the estate or that one will take it on and not distribute the estate as per the laws of intestacy.

The general advice on this board is to avoid appointing professionals unless you have a very good reason to do so.

gplion55

Even so, the loophole exists. It should be compulsory to inform other executors when power reserved is due to be applied and it should not be possible to apply it without permission of the said executor due to have their power reserved. A form exists for this purpose, it appears to be discretionary whether it is actually used.

silvercar

I agree. I was not informed that I was an executor of a will! There were 4 executors: me, my sibling, parent and solicitor. Parent informed solicitor that me and my sibling were reserving power as we didn’t live on the doorstep and it would make things simpler. Parent didn’t plan anything dodgy, but couldn’t cope with the grief and dealing with all spouse’s papers as well as discussing everything with us. We didn’t find out until it was all done and dusted and to complain at that point would have just caused a massive family row.

Sea_Shell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885552#Comment_81885552

If dealing with an intestate estate, does the person wishing to administer not need the agreement of anyone above them in the hierarchy, or anyone with equal standing?

Eg a younger (adult) child applies, when a spouse of the deceased is alive, and they have older sibling(s)