Solicitor refusing to communicate with executor
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userrobert wrote: »Thanks for your feedback
My sister has said she wants to sell her percentage of the house and has never once disagreed about the value the estate agents put on it. I know my sister doesn’t like the idea of me buying the house, mainly because of personal issues. Those being mum died here.
In which case, if this were me, I'd do a two-stage.
1) You have probate. Deal with the estate in compliance with the will - all the usual, cash in, cash out (incl funeral exps), prepare a set of accounts (in case) documenting everything. Transfer the property (Land Reg) in the percentages specified by the will - cost will be bourne by the estate per above. Distribute any residue per the terms of the will. Provide the accounts & copy land reg & cheque (if any) to sister, copy in her solicitor. At that point the estate has been correctly administered.
2) Completely separate transaction - negotiate with sister about buying her share of the house.
You might be correct, your sister doesn't want you to have it. But that's her right, she doesn't have to sell to you. If you can buy it, you will incur additional costs (you were trying to avoid) but that's life. It's messy - there will be an empty ( I assume ) house, with three part owner's, which will need on-going money spent to maintain, repair, council tax etc etc. But I think you need to deal with the house problem, as a separate issue after the estate has been properly distributed. You're trying to tie up too many loose ends in one 'sort out' - if everyone were on the same page it would be possible, but your sister's reaction has made it impossible in this case.0 -
In which case, if this were me, I'd do a two-stage.
1) You have probate. Deal with the estate in compliance with the will - all the usual, cash in, cash out (incl funeral exps), prepare a set of accounts (in case) documenting everything. Transfer the property (Land Reg) in the percentages specified by the will - cost will be bourne by the estate per above. Distribute any residue per the terms of the will. Provide the accounts & copy land reg & cheque (if any) to sister, copy in her solicitor. At that point the estate has been correctly administered.
2) Completely separate transaction - negotiate with sister about buying her share of the house.
You might be correct, your sister doesn't want you to have it. But that's her right, she doesn't have to sell to you. If you can buy it, you will incur additional costs (you were trying to avoid) but that's life. It's messy - there will be an empty ( I assume ) house, with three part owner's, which will need on-going money spent to maintain, repair, council tax etc etc. But I think you need to deal with the house problem, as a separate issue after the estate has been properly distributed. You're trying to tie up too many loose ends in one 'sort out' - if everyone were on the same page it would be possible, but your sister's reaction has made it impossible in this case.
Actually that's a good point, does the Will make any provision for upkeep? If not then you probably ought to consider this, it might take a long time to dispose of the property and the costs of insurance etc will need to be born by the owners. You probably ought to ask the trustees to join with you on taking legal advice on forcing the sale asap.
The other thing that springs to mind is that while in your role of executor you need to maximise the value of the estate for the beneficiaries, once the estate has been disbursed this is no longer the case, at least for you, the trustees obviously still have a legal duty to take best care. You might be able to use that as a bargaining point - if you don't agree to sell to me then the trustees and I can't afford the upkeep so I will have to force a sale and put it up for a quick auction... IF her motive is greed she may see sense. (I wonder if there's anything to stop you bidding at the auction? LOL)Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants - Michael Pollan
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You might be able to use that as a bargaining point - if you don't agree to sell to me then the trustees and I can't afford the upkeep so I will have to force a sale and put it up for a quick auction... IF her motive is greed she may see sense. (I wonder if there's anything to stop you bidding at the auction? LOL)
At least it's dealing with one problem at a time. The trouble is whilst a sale can be forced (and it def can) it has to be done legally, which will involve the parties wanting to sell ( trustee's and OP ) shelling out for legal fee's. And the OP could indeed be the buyer. It's just another problem, legal fight but it's doable.0 -
userrobert wrote: »I originally approached my sister and made an offer for her to keep her percentage in the house, for it then to be released slowly each year so as not to effect her benefit. She refused saying she wanted all the money and would stop her benefit until she used all the money up!
I was shocked she said this, but then again she is a money waster and simply wants to squander it.
You could read up on "deprivation of capital" and suggest your sister makes sure she understands it before she squanders her inheritance.0 -
So OP, you need an action plan:
I'll start and if I miss anything out then I'm sure Mojisola etc will plug the gaps. But please bear in mind that I at least am not a lawyer, my knowlege comes only from having to deal with a couple of tricky estates where I wasn't even executor, just helped! And here's a useful link for you about the precedence of bequests/liabilities.
1. Sort out receipts for the funeral expenses. You have probate so you can claim these now, you don't have to wait for the estate to be disbursed, but I'm going to suggest that you don't until a the complete picture is confirmed.
2. Do the sums, can the estate meet the funeral expenses and all the other debts. Is there a bit of cash for legal advice? Are there any moveables and can they be sold if necessary to cover any of the above.
3. Speak with the trustees and agree what areas you need legal advice on (meeting debts, maintenance costs etc)
4. Get legal advice.
5. Act on legal advice.
Just a thought, from what you've said you've been left a higher percentage of the property than your sister has, could some of this be sour grapes, is there a possibility that she is trying to establish how she goes about getting a larger share?Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants - Michael Pollan
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userrobert wrote: »There is insufficient funds in mum’s account to pay both the beneficiaries and the funeral which is why I paid for the funeral myself.
It's not clear from this whether you have already distributed the cash to beneficiaries.
If a will leaves, say, 50k in cash and there are bequests of 25k to two people, they will not receive the full amount. The executor can only pay out what is left after the costs of the funeral, any debts and any legal expenses are paid.0 -
You can't deduct anything from your sister's share of the house because she was left part of the property, not the money after it was sold.
That's not entirely correct. If the cash in the estate does not cover the liabilities, the house would probably have to be sold. Liabilities (funeral, solicitors fees, IHT) come before any bequests. It sounds as though this isn't far from OP's situation? They do say that if the estate paid the funeral costs there would be no money for beneficiaries.
A will could leave more to beneficiaries than there actually is in the will, in which case the will could not be followed to the letter. e.g. the house could be left "free of inheritance tax" to someone without sufficient other assets to cover the inheritance tax. In that case either the house is sold or the beneficiaries pay the tax. In any scenario like this, I would seek legal advice.
However, OP needs to ensure that the sale of the house and the execution of the will are not confused. It could be argued that solicitors fees associated with the sale of the property are not reasonably incurred by OP as an executor and so cannot be taken from the estate.0 -
If a will leaves, say, 50k in cash and there are bequests of 25k to two people, they will not receive the full amount. The executor can only pay out what is left after the costs of the funeral, any debts and any legal expenses are paid.
If there is 50k and a house and the will leaves house to X, 25k to Y and 25k to Z then X, Y and Z should all suffer any shortfall. That sounds more like OP's scenario.
Any beneficiary with a residual bequest gets hit first but, unless the will says otherwise, all beneficiaries with specific bequests should get treated equally. You need to make sure you do that all above board, so I would get the advice of a solicitor just to confirm your approach.0 -
If there is 50k and a house and the will leaves house to X, 25k to Y and 25k to Z then X, Y and Z should all suffer any shortfall. That sounds more like OP's scenario.
Any beneficiary with a residual bequest gets hit first but, unless the will says otherwise, all beneficiaries with specific bequests should get treated equally. You need to make sure you do that all above board, so I would get the advice of a solicitor just to confirm your approach.
That might seem fair but my understanding was that the rules follow this order:
funeral - in full
debts - in full
other liabilities (e.g. executors legal expenses) - in full
property - absolutely unless it has to be sold to meet the above
cash - reduced proportionately
residualEat food. Not too much. Mostly plants - Michael Pollan
48 down, 22 to go
Low carb, low oxalate Primal + dairy
From size 24 to 16 and now stuck...0 -
If there is 50k and a house and the will leaves house to X, 25k to Y and 25k to Z then X, Y and Z should all suffer any shortfall. That sounds more like OP's scenario.
Any beneficiary with a residual bequest gets hit first but, unless the will says otherwise, all beneficiaries with specific bequests should get treated equally. You need to make sure you do that all above board, so I would get the advice of a solicitor just to confirm your approach.
The way I understand it if a property is left to one and cash to another, the expenses will be taken out of the cash and what's left will be inherited. The property has to be passed on as it stands.
Willing to be corrected.0
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