Lack of trust in executor of will

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Hi All, My wifes grandmother recently passed away, leaving a will that stated the estate should be divided as follows: �20k each to three grandaughters �10k to great grandson Balance of the estate after tax and expenses to include her house to her son, who is the sole executor of her estate. It is believed, though not yet proven that there is enough cash in the estate to pay all the named sums. Issue is that the executor has said that he can only pay �10k each to the grandchildren until the house is sold.

Questions:

1. Can he withold funds in this way if they are available in the estate. Suspicion is that he has taken funds to sort his own precarious finances out.

2. Should the grandchildren take any steps to ensure that he is legally bound to pay the balance when the house is sold, or is he legally bound already by the will and the oath to probate people?

3. He (the executor) is talking of moving overseas as soon as the sale goes through, what if he runs with all the money?

4. The deceased verbally asked that a second great grandchild born after the will was drawn be given the same as the named great grandchild, but the executor has halved the alloted amount between the two great grandchildren, can he do this?

Thanks in advance for any information.

[Ice.Maiden]

I was unaware that an executor of a will could benefit at all!

[Ice.Maiden]

Sorry - I meant other than a spouse. It'll be interesting to see what people say here.

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Yep, it appears to be normal practice that the executor is a major beneficiary in order to make them as quick as possible at sorting the will out.

As I understand it you can't witness the will and be a beneficiary but other than that it is a free for all.

[Ice.Maiden]

Thank you! That's taught me something.

[sense4all]

Mr Sense was responsible for my parents estate. The inheritance tax has to be paid first - you are being given an interim payment, perfectly legal ... you could be made to wait for the lot. I had to take out a huge loan to pay the IHT, so probate was granted.

http://www.thewillexpert.co.uk/WhatDoesBeingAn dExecutorWillEntail.html

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/c ivil/probate/index.htm

something for you to read here to get a insight into the systems in place.

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Thanks ICE.MAIDEN & SENSE4ALL

Does anyone have any opinion on the extra great grandchild/split of money between the two and whether he can do this.

Also if he leaves the country can he take assets due to the other beneficiaries?

[dzug]

He can't legally split the money between the two great grandchildren. The one who should have got the money (or his parent if under 18) can sue him if he does this.

Legally of course he cannot do a runner overseas with the cash. If he does it puts you in a very difficult situation as it can be near impossible to pursue him.

[Buenchico]

Answers to questions as numbered:

1. There's no time limit for an executor to distribute an estate. The executor doesn't have to pay a penny to any of the grandchildren until everything is sorted out, including the sale of the house.

2. The executor is already legally bound, by the terms of the will and of his oath, to distribute the estate in accordance with the provisions of the will.

3. If the executor moves abroad, taking all the money with him, you'll have a massive battle to get the money back. He'd be guilty of a criminal offence but it's non-extraditable, so your only way of taking action against him would be through the foreign courts.

4. If the second great grandchild is not named in the will (or in a codicil thereto), the executor must give �10,000 to the first great grandchild and nothing at all to the child who was born later. (I know that seems unfair but the executor is bound by the provisions of the Wills Act 1837).

Chris

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Many thanks DZUG and Buenchico(chris)

That is a great help.

Will have to hide his passport ;-)

It is a real shame that it has to be like this, but as he read the will the second she stopped breathing it was clear from the outset that it wouldn't be pretty.

[themas]

I assume a solicitor is involved in this somewhere - either in connection with the probate or for sale of the house. If you know who the solicitor is, you could express your concerns to him (preferably in writing & keep a copy), although he may not take action on them as his client is the executor.

Another possibility is to see if you can get a restriction put on the title deeds of the house so that the beneficiaries have to be paid out of the proceeds without that money getting into the executor's hands. That may not be possible, but it is worth looking into, although you may have to pay a solicitor to do it. If the executor objects and says he will pay everything properly you will have to decide whether you are prepared to believe him.

[ItIsOnlyMe]

No solicitor Themas......more to worry about

[themas]

If he's trying to sell the house without a solicitor he may well have quite a problem.

I would certainly look into the land registry restriction possibility - you could start by phoning them & asking them whether it can be done. Then use a solicitor to do it if you have to - it is important to get the forms right but the registry may be able to help with that.