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Co-Op mismanaging estate?
Hi Everybody,
Sorry, this post turned out to be quite long.
My mother recently passed away, and the probate/estate was handled by Coop. I was against using Coop because I didn’t trust them after hearing the sales pitch, but my sister was keen to use them and agreed to pay their fees, so I agreed on this condition (which I informed Coop about).
I had requested a recording of the sales meeting because I felt that the sales person was exaggerating some of the risks.
I was quite a simple case with just a house and bank account, and three executors/beneficiaries (myself and 2 sisters).
Coop wanted to nominate one person as their contact person. My sister put herself forward for this and this was agreed.
So, time goes by, the house is sold. A house clearing company was used to clear the place. I kept a few photos and not much else. There wasn’t much of great value, but my sisters took some things.
After the money was distributed, I requested a copy of the accounts and had a few surprises.
My sisters had claimed £250/day for their expenses, as well as meals, and one had claimed £2.5K for a business class flight. After seeing the accounts, I asked Coop for details and they shared a couple of emails from my sisters where they submitted the expenses and CC'd each other.
I didn’t submit any expenses because I assumed all of this was just a personal expense.
I also requested a copy of the bank statement and saw withdrawals from my mother’s bank account after she passed away. Including for meals, shopping and bank transfers. None of this documented or explained in the accounts prepared by the Coop – Only one line showing total withdrawls.
This has cost me around £10K – Calculating if the money which I believe has been misspent would be added back into the account.
Coop also failed to follow my instruction where I only gave consent based on my sister paying.
I’m a little surprise at all of this. I trusted that Coop would have manged everything n a fair and transparent manner.
I assumed they had fiduciary responsibilities towards all executors and beneficiaries, including me.
My Mother’s will states: “The Standard Provisions and all of the Special Provisions of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (3rd Edition) shall apply.”
I understand this sets out how the estate should be managed.
I questioned Coop about this, and they just say I need to bring this up with my sisters. Their position is that my sister was their acting Personal Representative of the estate and was their point of contact for approving any expenses of the estate.
All a bit frustrating. Is this normal? I thought the reason to pay a lot of money to a firm like Coop was to avoid situations like this.
Comments
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Its the executor(s) who are ultimately responsible, not the coop. Lay executors are entitled to out of pocket expenses, so that could include travel, meals etc ibut only f those were required to manage the estate. It would not include general shopping and absolutely doesn't include any daily rate or payment for time unless specifically authorised in the will.
You need to let your sister(s) know you are formally objecting to the expenses and request a full breakdown of everything including receipts.
You can then formally object in writing to your sister and the solicitor laying out your complaints and what you require to resolve it. Hopefully you can resolve it amicably or with mediation, but if not you'll need to apply to court.
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As far as I am aware, taking money out of the bank account after she has passed away is one of either Theft or Fraud if they were not using it towards usual post-mortem costs (eg funeral expenses). As such it may not be a matter for the Coop but one for the Police?
The executor's legal role is to distribute any assets in accordance with the will, less reasonable "out of pocket" expenses incurred - eg recorded delivery charges for documents, travel costs directly related to estate duties etc
Claiming £250 a day for 'expenses' is definitely not a thing, and business class flights doesn't immediately strike me as reasonable unless there is some international aspect to proceedings?
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On what grounds did the sister claim she needed to fly Business rather than Economy and where was she flying to?
If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0 -
A more important and pragmatic question is:
How well do you get on with your sisters and how do you want that relationship to be in the future?
Because you could end up causing each other a whole world of pain and resentment and still not get the problem resolved. And if it goes to court it will involve even more expense. I'm not saying it's fair but it is something you should consider carefully.
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The expenses were submitted to coop who just paid them. I thought they would have reviewed them and rejected anything unreasonable, or to inform the other beneficiaries (me).
The bank withdrawals weren't accounted for in the estate accounts, just a single stating total withdrawals, but even this wasn't accurate because there were also some deposits. Coop have ignored my request to correct the accounts or provide explanations for these.
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Basically, there was no justification to claim any flights. She spends winter abroad and travels to the UK every summer. The reason given in the email to the solicitor was to help clear the house, but we paid a house clearing company over £4K to do this. I didn't claim any expenses because I assumed this was a personal expense and didn't know my sisters were doing this.
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I'm the youngest, and will always be the little brother and my sisters do whatever they want.
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Coop managed the accounts, distribution of the estate, paid all of the expenses out of the estate, and failed to account for any of the spending from the bank account. Surely the coop have a fiduciary duty to all beneficiaries to ensure the estate funds are distributed according to the will - and not misallocated due to excessive expenses.
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I think you're placing responsibility on the wrong party. The coop manage the accounts and pay the expenses, but they are not auditors. If your sister submitted a receipt and said it's a legitimate expense then they will pay it unless it's something ridiculous, like a holiday.
The fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries falls on the executors, not the coop. You need to challenge this if you disagree with the expenses, but the responsibility for those expenses lies with your sisters, and againnot the coop.
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The house contents were surely sorted through by someone in the family though before the clearance company came in?
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