Double Probate needed?

Newly_retired

Person A died, naming persons B and C as executors in their will.

Person C reserved powers because of ill health, and Person B was the active executor with the Grant of Probate.

For various reasons Person A’s property was not sold after death and Person C has continued to live in it. It is in shared ownership and the majority shareholder has now decided to sell. This means that Person A’s estate can finally be wound up.

Meanwhile Person B, the active executor has died.

My questions, for the experts reading this.

Does Person C need to obtain Double Probate in order to agree to the sale of the property and distribute the ( very small) estate?

If yes, as Person C’s confidence in handling matters is low, could her brother also apply for Probate with her, or to be her Attorney? i.e. Is it possible to have an executor and an Attorney, or must it be one or the other?

Flugelhorn

I think Person C would need to "unreserve" the power of exec of A's probate

"To reverse power reserved, the non-acting Executor would need to make a formal request, and the court would update the Grant of Probate to include them. This flexibility is key to why reserving power is often preferred over renunciation."

They don't need to do anything about B unless they happen to be executor of B?

C's brother could help with everything and do all the leg-work

Newly_retired

Agreed.

Can the brother ask for the money to be paid into a bank account which he manages, or would he need some authority to do that?

YBR

You don't say how A, B and C are related, and whether they are also beneficiaries. This is how I see it:

First A's estate is wound up: ideally by C "unreserving" their power to act as exec, with assistance from C's brother. Depending of the precise wording of the will, this should allow the house to be sold under A's probate, and A's share of the house could be sold by the Exec(s) without transferring ownership to A's beneficiaries.

Executor accounts are fairly difficult, and I doubt an account in the brother's sole name would be acceptable, but perhaps a joint account. C as exec distributes proceeds of A's estate.

Then if B inherits from A, and if this has not already been sorted another way, then the share of the house sale proceeds goes to B's estate to be distributed according to B's will by B's executor(s) (or if perhaps under provisions for intestacy by whoever is administering B's estate).

ETA: you may need to manage the majority shareholder's expectations … it might take some time.

Newly_retired

Thanks but I only need advice on my specific points.
B’s estate and legacy from A are sorted.

The majority owners of the property are offering to buy out the family share for a specific sum before the sale and C and her brother are minded to accept, which will speed things up. Solicitors are already involved on both sides so this is all above board.