Co-Executor Problems

Hello, I would be grateful for any advice on the following; please.

My father died a month ago and myself and my brother were appointed joint executors in his Will. Unfortunately, we have never got on ( Dad thought doing probate together would help!) Initally my brother agreed I could take the lead on probate, as I had held POA for Dad. I downloaded and completed probate application and IHT form - Dad died in a care home, there is no property to sell, just a few savings accounts to close, the estate is below the IHT threshold.

The whole thing seems straightforward but, twice now, appointments made with my brother to collect the Will from the solicitor have been cancelled last minute by him and now I have received a solicitors letter ( from the solicitor holding the Will) to say that, as we are unable to agree on the way forward, my brother has decided I can deal with probate and he will reserve his power to act, on the proviso that the solicitor “assists” me with the administration! Despite the solicitor asking me to return a signed copy of the letter, I’ve no wish to instruct them because, apart from the estate being straightforward, the the letter doesn’t include any estimate of what this is all going to cost. It’s frustrating as the only thing I need to get hold of is the Will, then I can send the application off. However, I’m worried that if I don’t agree to this, my brother will say I’m acting unreasonably and try to get me removed as an executor.

Any thoughts anyone has on the best way I can proceed would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.
«1345

Comments

  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371
    First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Tell you brother that if he wants to involve the solicitor then he will need to pay the full fee and you will not have it taken out of the estate.
    Also tell your brother that you will provide him with a full audit trail of your dealings with the estate, so he really does not need to worry you are going to trick him.
  • Threecatz
    Threecatz Posts: 23 Forumite
    Thanks for that Tom. I really don’t see why the solicitor’s fee should come out of the estate, particularly when there’s no need to employ one!

    The solicitor is about 50 miles from me, so they’ve suggested I make one of their partners my attorney to save me travelling back and forth to sign papers etc. I’m certainly not doing that and can’t see why I should need to keep visiting their office for that purpose anyway, as I’m the executor so presumably will be signing whatever needs signing, their role is only one of assistance.
  • SevenOfNine
    SevenOfNine Posts: 2,355
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Forumite
    edited 17 June 2018 at 7:53AM
    My first thoughts were that the solicitor is holding you to ransom.

    You are a named executor, making a decision to hold on to the will until you've signed a document agreeing to their assistance (as instructed by your brother, a co-executor), with no indication of exactly what they expect, or the cost, is out of order.

    There will be no need to "travel back & forth to sign documents" if you are managing the probate application on your own. Your brother can employ the solicitor, at his own expense, to formally request sight of any documents & financial information HE may require throughout the process. Your brother may feel happier & more trusting if he has the security of you agreeing to furnish regular updates (particularly financial, for which you simply MUST have an extremely good audit trail anyway) to HIS solicitor.

    As executor I'd be requesting one of 2 things. Either the solicitor holding the will (which was for safekeeping for the deceased, not so he can foist fees on to bereaved relatives) to hand it over. Alternatively, he can furnish you with a certified copy. Then I'd make an appointment to collect one or the other. Worth a 50 mile round trip.

    Is there even enough in the savings accounts to justify all this? Who has the death cert? Each financial organisation has it's own limit for paying out without probate/LoA, just on sight of ID & the death cert (& a disclaimer being signed of course).
    Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.
  • Flugelhorn
    Flugelhorn Posts: 5,494
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Is there even enough in the savings accounts to justify all this? Who has the death cert? Each financial organisation has it's own limit for paying out without probate/LoA, just on sight of ID & the death cert (& a disclaimer being signed of course).

    Agree with this - the levels may well be much higher than the amounts in the savings account / banks. Worth ringing them
  • Margot123
    Margot123 Posts: 1,116 Forumite
    Agreed, if the amount of savings is low, there may be no need to apply for Probate at all as there is no property involved.
  • Threecatz
    Threecatz Posts: 23 Forumite
    Thank you very much for your replies. Unfortunately a couple of the institutions wont realease the funds without sight of the Grant, so I do need to press ahead with the application.

    With thanks to SevenOfNines reply, I feel more confident in my response to the solicitor now!

    Kind regards and thanks again
  • SevenOfNine
    SevenOfNine Posts: 2,355
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Forumite
    Just a brief afterthought. Your brother's concerns may be mainly regarding where any monies will be released to, or more to the point, who to!

    Perhaps if you can agree an appropriate solution to that up front, he may be more open to leaving the use of a solicitor on the back burner.

    Maybe suggest an executors a/c (though not all banks are that keen to let you open one, or a joint a/c as 'both to sign' (with a cheque book), the latter a bit inconvenient but I'm thinking the ££££ is the root of his concerns.
    Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.
  • Threecatz
    Threecatz Posts: 23 Forumite
    I'm sorry Seven, I've only just seen your further post.

    Yes, it is all down to lack of trust. Very ironic really, as I let him do the probate on his own for my Mother a few years back and there were some anomalies there that were never explained but I just let it lie, as it was upsetting my father.
    I've just received a response from the solicitor saying my brother refuses to release the Will and so they have advised that I have three options, apparently:

    1. I act solely, with my brother having power reserved but must agree to their "assistance", which apparently means that all monies from the estate must be paid into their client account so they can account for them and distribute the funds. This will apparently require frequent visits to their office (of course!) or

    2. I can, preferentially for them, make the solicitor my attorney so they can do everything themselves, (According to them this will mean I only have to travel to them once and doesn't mean I'm giving up my executor role....just getting someone else to do it for me..err!!) or

    3. my brother canl make the solicitor his attorney so I will have prove the Will jointly with the solicitor (surely it's my brother's decision whether he does this, not mine. I presume this is some kind of veiled threat of what will happen if I don't co-operate!)

    I have already said I will provide updates/details of the estate as my brother requests - they've not referred to that, so I was am going to suggest that estate monies be handled by an independent third party instead - not them!

    Needless to say there's no indication of costs for any of the options and , to top it all, the solicitor has the temerity a the end of his letter to say that he expects my father would have wanted probate to be dealt with swiftly and cost effectively! Unbelievable!

    Anyway, I will wait until I don't have steam coming out of my ears before replying!
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371
    First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Tell then you are happy with option 1 or 3, your brother's choice, but in either case it is your brother who is appointing them and he will be responsible for all of their fees.[/FONT]
  • Yorkshireman99
    Yorkshireman99 Posts: 5,470 Forumite
    Tom99 wrote: »
    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Tell then you are happy with option 1 or 3, your brother's choice, but in either case it is your brother who is appointing them and he will be responsible for all of their fees.[/FONT]
    surely the estate will be liable for the fees?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards