Complex contentious probate

Medusa80

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding an inheritance dispute involving my late father. I'm now the administrator of his estate and representing myself.

The situation is complicated, so I'll try to summarise it.

Background

My father's cousin died in October 2019, leaving a will made in 2016. My father and another beneficiary (I'll call her A) were appointed executors and were each left 50% of the residuary estate.

My father obtained probate in July 2020.

A died in December 2021 without receiving her inheritance. Her sister (B) subsequently instructed solicitors to pursue my father.

However, B did not obtain letters of administration for A's estate until October 2024, approximately three months after my father's death.

My concerns about the solicitors' conduct

In April 2022, the solicitors wrote to my father describing B as the representative of A's estate, while expressly acknowledging that she was still applying for a grant.

They also stated that they had searched the Probate Registry and could find no record of my father applying for probate.

My father had actually obtained probate nearly two years earlier. He sent them a copy, which they acknowledged receiving.

My father disputed their interpretation of the will and questioned B's authority to receive the inheritance.

In September 2022, the solicitors emailed the conveyancing solicitor involved in selling the deceased's property. They stated that B would prevent the sale unless my father conceded her entitlement to half the proceeds.

A Land Registry restriction was subsequently entered in February 2023.

I've since discovered that the restriction required notification to B, rather than her consent to the sale. I'm questioning whether she had a sufficient legal interest to obtain it, given that she had no grant and the alleged entitlement was to a share of the residuary estate.

The property and inheritance

My father eventually sold the property in March 2023 for approximately £161,000.

He had personally undertaken and paid for substantial renovation work, which increased the property's value. Unfortunately, he has since died, and I do not have complete records of his expenditure.

He received approximately £158,000 following the sale and used some of those funds to purchase his own home.

I appreciate that any inheritance properly belonging to A's estate would ordinarily need to be accounted for and that the absence of an administrator did not extinguish her entitlement.

However, my father had nobody who had demonstrated authority to receive her inheritance before he died. He also genuinely disputed the interpretation of the will.

The subsequent court proceedings

In 2024, the solicitors sent my father a formal letter of claim alleging breach of trust.

They demanded confirmation that half the estate's value would be paid to their firm without delay, even though B still had not obtained letters of administration.

They also warned that legal costs could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

My father died in July 2024.

Proceedings were issued against him in February 2026, approximately 18 months after his death.

The court subsequently ordered him to provide a witness statement and attend a hearing, despite him having been deceased for approximately two years.

I only discovered the proceedings in September 2026. The claimant's solicitor has stated that he did not learn of my father's death until shortly before contacting me.

The other side has now agreed to an adjournment, subject to the court's approval.

They are seeking estate accounts, payment of A's alleged 50% share, interest and legal costs, potentially from my father's personal share of the inheritance.

Concerns about the will

There are also questions surrounding the original will.

The deceased was elderly and my father reported that he had dementia. A had moved into his property to help care for him around the time the will was made.

My father wrote to the solicitors describing concerns reportedly raised by social services about the deceased's treatment.

I appreciate these allegations do not establish that the will is invalid, but I would like to investigate the will-drafting solicitor's file and whether there is a proper evidential basis for challenging testamentary capacity or knowledge and approval

What I need advice on

Was B entitled to obtain a Land Registry restriction before receiving letters of administration, particularly where her alleged interest was in the residuary estate rather than the property itself?

Could the solicitors properly demand payment to their firm before B obtained her grant? My father had no authorised administrator to whom he could safely distribute A's share.

Does the history of the correspondence raise legitimate concerns about taking unfair advantage of an unrepresented person? Would an SRA report be appropriate?

What is the position regarding proceedings issued against someone who had already died, and what should happen regarding substitution or representation of the estate?

What evidence would I need to establish my father's legitimate renovation expenditure and other estate expenses where receipts and accounts are incomplete?

How can I investigate the validity of the 2016 will, and would I potentially have standing to challenge it as administrator of my father's estate?

Are there any legal aid alternatives, pro bono services or affordable contentious probate solicitors who could provide limited assistance?

I am not suggesting that A's estate has no entitlement simply because her sister had not obtained a grant. My concerns relate to the conduct of the solicitors, the legal authority they asserted, the amount actually owed and the circumstances surrounding the will.

I would particularly appreciate advice from anyone with experience in contentious probate, estate litigation or complaints to the SRA.

Thank you.

Keep_pedalling

I would be more concerned about the conduct of your father in dealing with the original estate and the fact that A did not receive her inheritance with a reasonable period after obtaining probate.

The facts are simple, A’s inheritance from your father’s cousin forms part of her estate and your father (and you) have no claim on it. That inheritance should be handed over to the administrator of A’s estate without any further delay. A’s estate is also entitled to any income that inheritance has earned over the years of delay.

Medusa80

The house which the cousin owed was only sold in 2023 at which point A had died. There was no administrator with legal authority at that point. There was two letters sent by a solicitor (both after A died) instructing my father to pay this woman immediately although she had no legal authority. That's one issue.

The second is the will. Cousin had dementia when he made a will. This is also on his death certificate. His neighbour moved in and almost immediately he did a will to include her. Social services were involved due to her treatment of cousin.

I had very sporadic contact with my father and he died intestate so I do not automatically become executor of cousin's will - that's a procedural issue for the judge to sort.

The sister of the woman was granted administration four years after her death. The deceased woman had five kids. Given what I know about the family, this needs to be looked at.

The first issue is how the will was executed. I have contacted the solicitor involved and am awaiting a response. It seems that according to you, anyone can take advantage of a vulnerable person and nothing can be done. That's not the law. I can't prove anything yet but my father's correspondence alone would justify further investigation.

As for interest, how can this accumulate when this sister was only granted administration once my father had passed? Surely that's for a judge to decide. Is the law now that people can demand money despite having no legal authority to do so?

TonyMMM

You are the administrator of your father's estate and it appears that he had a debt ( the inheritance payable to A) which you are now therefore responsible for dealing with. When A died your father should have at least put their share aside whilst establishing who to pay it to.

That is now payable to the administrator of A's estate - any issues about A's will, or the administration of their estate are not really your concern, however valid you believe them to be.

Reed_Richards

Can you both dispute a will and obtain probate? If your father obtained probate did that not oblige him to follow the terms of the will as it was written? And will not the same obligation fall upon whoever takes over as executor of your father's cousin's estate? I'm not a legal expert so I don't know the answer to my question but it seems to me that you should do one or the other.

Woodstok2000

This seems very complicated, and I would say you need legal advice and you need to think very carefully about how far you want to pursue some of these issues as thr cost could easily eat up any proceeds of the estates with little benefit to anyone.

What evidence would I need to establish my father's legitimate renovation expenditure and other estate expenses where receipts and accounts are incomplete?

You need receipts and accounts. You may be able to sort some expenses with other evidence (bank statements, correspondence etc) but renovation costs are not going to come out of the estate unless they were absolutely essential for the sale. There are pretty strict rukes about what can and cant be claimed, and your father may not have considered these. There is also possibly a question of CGT liability if the house has sold for more than the probate value.

RAS

Unfortunately your father has left a real mess. As you had very sporadic contact you may not have realised what he was doing. But as his administrator, you've now got the task of sorting it out.

If he had doubts about A's involvement in the will, that would have been better dealt with before probate was applied for.

Particularly as A was joint executor and your father would have need her to renounce or agree to reserve powers. What evidence do you have as to which she chose?

Her death didn't change her entitlement to her inheritance.

Spending money on probate houses is usually best avoided, as long as it's weather tight and has been cleaned. You're unlikely to recoup the cost of other expenditure when the house sells. This wasn't an expensive house so the least spent the better. It very much depends what evidence you have.

As explained above one reason for limiting costs is that any increase in value between the cousin's death and the house sale is subject to CGT, which had to be paid within 60 days of the sale. Did your father pay CGT? If not, you need to know how much the house was valued at for probate and what it sold for. There's very little expenditure that can be used to reduce the tax, but you need advice if money was spent on it. And to clear the tax bill before any money is distributed

Your personal views on A's family are not relevant to the legal situation.

You've already got a situation where your father's estate is being diminished by legal costs. I'd suggest you concentrate on limiting further costs.

If CGT was required and wasn't paid, for example, it's fair that both beneficiaries receive less residue, equally to cover the CGT. If penalties are incurred because the payment wasn't made, those will fall to your father's estate, because it was his decision that resulted in costs.

poseidon1

Since you are not necessarily disputing that the beneficiaries of A's estate are entitled to 50 % of your father's cousin's estate, I am baffled as to why you feel there is any mileage in launching a defence against the claims of A's PRs on the flimsy grounds that their solicitors may have made procedural errors in pursuing your father in the manner they did.

What is clear by your own statement of the facts is that :

1. Your father chose to intermingle his own cash with that of the estate by embarking on what sounds like an unauthorised and evidently poorly documented refurbishment of the property prior to sale.
2. On eventual sale, rather than placing 50% of the proceeds into a separate account on bare trust on behalf of A's estate, he apparently appropriated the entire proceeds used part for a purchase of his own property and you are then silent as to what he did with the rest.

Whatever concerns your father had about the validity of the will or the circumstances pertaining to its execution, there are clear unequivocal breaches of his strict fiduciary duties as executor over the estate assets until such time a valid investigation could be made about the will.

I must ask, was your father at any time advised by a lawyer with regard to any of his actions whilst executor and have you retained a contentious probate lawyer yourself to handle the cause of action against you as executor of your father's estate?

I am baffled why you think unqualified contributors to this forum can provide any meaningful responses, other than you should see a lawyer ASAP, and try to settle this matter to avoid eating up your own father's estate with unnecessary legal fees.

Medusa80

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82143648#Comment_82143648

As per the solicitor's own statement, a neighbour moved in and immediately an 82 year old man who had dementia made a will to include her. Social services became involved due to how she was treating him and according to dad's correspondence, they were not happy. So yes, I will try to defend this if I can, even with the limited knowledge I have. I couldn't spend thousands on a solicitor because I can't afford it. There is no liquid assets remaining.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82143670#Comment_82143670

So how will you fund litigation you are not qualified to conduct yourself, personal borrowings?

With no liquid assets, any contentious probate lawyer worth their salt will be very wary of taking this case on.

I note you did not answer the question whether your father was ever properly legal advised. If he were not, are you about to make the same mistake as him?

Keep_pedalling

You have zero chance on defending this and the longer this goes on the more this is likely to cost in legal costs. My advice is to bite the bullet liquidate the estate assets and pay the amount owned to the estate of A.