Beneficiary problems

jo03gra

My mother is one of 10 relatives sharing the estate of their late cousin. She isn’t an executor but a beneficiary. She doesn’t know or have contact with the executors.

Her cousin died over 4 years ago, leaving a will with a firm of solicitors. The solicitors are not local to my mum or her deceased cousin’s property. I assume they are local to the executor.

Anyhow I’m starting to wonder when, if ever anyone is going to see any of this estate. Is 4 years not a ridiculous amount of time? He had money tucked away in different pots aprox £250k and has a small 2 bed property to sell. The property is on the market with a local agent but it’s priced way too high considering it’s been empty for so long and in a state of disrepair.

Two of the elderly beneficiaries have passed away waiting for the inheritance and now a genealogist is involved to trace their next of kin’s.
My mother is 81 and all the others with an exception are older and in their 90’s so nobody is pushing for an end to this and my mother doesn’t know what to do. If she contacts the solicitors she is fobbed off.

The property did go under offer but the buyer pulled out as the property needed too much money spending on it. they asked for a reduction in price but must have been turned down. It’s well over priced in comparison to other properties in the area and will never sell without a huge reduction but solicitors won’t listen.

Any advice or help would be very much appreciated.

Is 4 years any way normal and how can we get this moving in some direction before they are all deceased? Thank you

IOWJJBTM2025

Father in Law passed away over 4 years ago. We got grant of probate within a year but are still battling to sell the property. Unfortunately until everything is sorted with the house the final settlement cannot be paid out to anyone. The only thing that is paid is the house bills / house insurance and double council tax.

Upon agreement with the beneficiaries we sold his car and the funds were put towards the funeral costs.

If you were named in the will I would have thought that the solicitors acting should have contacted you to include you in the application for grant of representation?

For all our beneficiaries we had to ask for proof of ID and confirmation of name changes where people got married. It was a few years ago so am racking my brain to remember. We do have a solicitor acting for us.

When the house is sold you should be getting nearer to finalisation.

jo03gra

I assume your father in law left a will?

When my father passed away every thing was done and dusted within 6 months. He left a will, beneficiaries across child and step children and a close friend. We sold his property. I was an executor of his will and it really wasn’t difficult although time consuming. Solicitors weren’t involved except for house sale.
This all seems excessive to me and when I’ve searched online 4 years is considered out of the ordinary.

lincroft1710

Until the property is sold, the estate cannot be finalised. An empty property will accrue costs, council tax, utility bills, plus estate agents' fees and solicitor's fees. Sorry but however long it may be taking, there appears to be no wrongdoing by executor or solicitor

jo03gra

the property was on the market in an area nowhere near the property for the first 2 years until my mother and her sister complained to the solicitor that surely it needs marketing in its local area. Now it’s up for sale with a more local agent but up for at least 30k too much.

badmemory

Are you sure no-one is living in it or has the right to live in it.

jo03gra

nobody is living in it, it’s in a terrible condition and basically been left in a mess. It’s definitely empty. When my father passed away, as executor of the will I made his property clean and tidy and sellable. This property is in the same state since my mother’s cousin passed away. It had a leak also which I believe was fixed but even the photos for the estate agent, nothing has been cleared or tidied.

On another note, the money from his estate is in a client holding account, does that £250k earn the estate interest over these past four years?

Mutton_Geoff

Although executors have to act in best interests etc, this can mean selling at auction. Only the living need be concerned about getting the best price for their house, an executor may be doing the estate a favour by minimising ongoing costs with an auction sale.

RAS

Would the executor be open to giving you access to clear up a bit? Maybe not remove all furniture but get more presentable?

jo03gra

unfortunately we don’t know her. My mother’s cousin died sometime during end of covid. He had no immediate family but lots of cousins. He made his will sharing his estate between them, some being left more % than others. All beneficiaries are very elderly, including the executor. We only know the name of the executor but no details. The solicitors have asked the estate not to speak to any of us and they aren’t really doing anything to help speed things up, ie reduce price of the property to a reasonable price similar to those close by but for example his property is marketed £30k more than one similar which is turn key. It doesn’t make sense. The solicitors in a completely different location to estate agent and property.

Mands

How much is the house worth?

You imply all other assets (250k) have been liquidated. How do you know this? And has your mother asked for an interim payment? Would that make you/her more comfortable while the house sells?