Probate Issue

[mondee]

My half sister and I are joint beneficiaries. She is refusing to respond to letters to apply for probate because she is aware that I will be able to prove that she stole over £10,000.00 from my Fathers bank account after he died. What steps can a I take to force her to administer the estate or to have her removed?

[bednobs]

hgow long ago did your father die? How long has she been refusing to reply?

[fiction-factory]

You say you are joint beneficiaries. Are you also named as joint executors in the will?

[Peter Pedant]

none
the wills people BC and barmaid I am sure will be along in a mo

oops sorry to ask - is she the sole named executrix ?

BUT assuming you are joint executors as well:

you dont all have to apply for probate
you can and should on your own

Your dad's bank acct ( sorry for your loss and your half sister ) should have been frozen within a few days of his death and you should do so now - a death cert will do - then open an executors acct

This is a second matter however if dont want to employ a solicitor then the internet is full of do it yourself advice and so are we - a decent proportion have done it themselves

here is a start: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/overview

Once you can show the acct has been operated after your dad's death - she presumably is the only person who could do so ( otherwise report it as theft ) then knock it off her inheritance and say you regard it as an advance

here is a starter for probate
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/applying-for-a-grant-of-representation

by joint beneficiaries I conclude there is a will
even if there isnt you do the same sites but concentrate on the bits that say intestacy

[fiction-factory]

Peter- this may be a lot more complicated than it looks. According to an earlier thread from mondee her father's death was in 2008. Maybe the latest death is of the mother
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Question1185997.html

[Peter Pedant]

oops !
thx FF

er ignore what I said

[Peter Pedant]

yes I see - time for the lawyers with the Big Bills I think....

[fiction-factory]

Maybe not the mother - but the father's wife.
If it's all linked to the previous thread it's a very messy business and solicitors have been consulted before

[Peter Pedant]

if the family is lawyered up then they dont need advice from us

you can apply to a court to have an executor removed but the instructed lawyer wilkl know all about that....