Benficary rejecting money.

Forest11 wrote: »

Hi.
A beneficiary is rejecting their inheritance and the executors are confused - they hate this beneficiary and do not want any contact with him and do not want to have to deal with solicitors because of him (he is mentally ill and has been violent toward them).

One is threatening to spend his money if he rejects it as he has been told but has not responded.

If the beneficiary has formally rejected the inheritance, ie signed something to confirm the rejection, the executors should redistribute that share according to the will.

Forest11 wrote: »

Hi.
A beneficiary is rejecting their inheritance and the executors are confused - they hate this beneficiary and do not want any contact with him and do not want to have to deal with solicitors because of him (he is mentally ill and has been violent toward them). One is threatening to spend his money if he rejects it as he has been told but has not responded.

Forest11 wrote: »

No will - intestacy rules. And the person is not likely to sign a form - because he simply wont answer the letters the local council are sending and the executors just want him to claim as they don't want any contact with him

Why is the council involved? Are they the executors/administrators?

I understand that it is perfectly legal to reject an inheritance. It then normally (unless specified otherwise) goes back in to the estate for distribution. However, I would advise a lot of caution.
I would consider a partial distribution (see below)

I would then try to find out if this beneficiary has anyone who acts for him - through a power of attorney, a court appointed guardian or similar. I would try to talk to his next of kin, and consider contacting his mental health nurse or social worker (I realise that this may be impractical)
The main reason is that someone claiming benefits, who rejects an inheritance, is treated as if they had received it. So if DWP find out, it may affect people who care for him. The executors may or may not feel that is their business, but you can see how it can cause further trouble.
I understand wanting to have nothing to do with him, but executors do have a legal responsibility. I think that legal advice would be necessary to ensure that this doesn't backfire on them.

At present, it seems to me that the executors could keep back the amount this beneficiary is owed + some for legal fees etc. and do a partial distribution to the other beneficiaries. This is perfectly OK (we have done this) as long as proper records are kept. This (depending on amounts) could mean that the executors are under less pressure to get this sorted.

Sorry - cross-posted, but I think my main points still stand. I don't think that the executors are obliged to disclose their address - see Royal Mail site for the modern equivalent of poste restante. However, I'd regard this as another reason for using a solicitor just for this.

Forest11 wrote: »

The executors are as far as they know, his next of kin.
The solcitor is basically saying they have to look after the money and they dont want to do have to deal with that if he simply refuses to answer the letters and they will certainly not be contacting anyone directly.
Also they do not want to spend any of their shares of the inheritance on legal fees to deal with just him.

If they have taken on the administrators' role then they have legal commitments to comply with.

It's not their decision whether they do certain things or not.

OP, are you one of the executors? If so, then you can theoretically 'veto' any actions of your joint executors. In practice, do you have a 'probate' account needing 2 or more signatures?
If you think that any of the executors may choose to act illegally, or even inadvisedly, without your consent, then I would suggest you take steps to distance yourself. If necessary, speak to a solicitor yourself.
If you are one of the beneficiaries, but not an administrator or executor, then I suggest you bide your time (unless you are able to make tentative approaches to anyone who cares for the mentally ill beneficiary).
If you could really do with the money, then when things have died down a bit, i'd send a letter asking if a partial distribution can be made.
You say that the mentally ill beneficiary is refusing to sign anything - but I would be wary of the validity of his signature if he is volatile.
So sorry you are going through this.