The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

[enaid]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

The plot thickens, seems whatever happens now you will not be able to hold any sort of relationship with your brother after this am sure.
I am just sorting out my MILs estate, my husband and one of his 4 brothers are executors but I am doing the donkey work as I did my dads when he passed and so have had a bit of experience.
Nothing has been done without the 4 bros full agreement and not a penny spent that can not be accounted for. There is also a step sister with an equal share due that lives abroad,
Until probate is granted the house can not be sold and it has tenants in at present, they all agreed is is to be sold asap.
If I had to put up with half of what you seem to be doing and with only one sibling to contend with I think I would cut my losses and run.
Seems unfair but then that's life and families, it may seem like you are losing thousands due to your brothers actions but in fact you are throwing away thousands trying to prove it.

[paddyhaig]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

I am very greatful of all the help and input I have recieved on the Legalbeagles forums. It's been a nightmarish road, as this whole affair is now heading into it's fourth year.
To bring up to speed those that have been following these matters. My brother and I came to an agreement that I pushed for. I made a number of concessions, however we came to an agreement on the main matter that was being contested. We also agreed that everything else would be divided 50/50. This agreement was sent back and forth via email to my brother and I, and then we both sent our coppies to 'She' the estate solicitor. We heard nothing back from 'She' the solicitor for 'two weeks.' Then my brother sent an email to 'She' requesting aknowlegement of our email agreements, that we had both sent her. A couple of days later she sent us both an email congratulating us on our agreement, and informing us that she was now going to 'Prepare an up to date Estate and Distribution Account for our approval.' This reply email again, being 14 days ago, and we have heard nothing. Are we getting the run around here? She has had over 45 months to get everything in order. 45 months of sitting on several hundred thousand pounds. The was only one real issue to be worked out. And it has now been agreed upon. How long can she sit on our inheritance? As it was, she has been the one creating a lot of the contention all along. My brother and I are really starting to wonder if she even still has the money? It's like she makes one excuse up after another, to create contention and procrastrinates as much as she may dare in her communications.
What can we do? To bring her to book. And get her to get a move on? I suggested sending an email to her leading partner as a complaint, with a view to further complain to the Legal Ombudsman, however my brother believes, that she would use any complaint as an excuse to further drag things out. I suggested to my brother we use a different solicitor instead of 'She', however he believes, it's better the 'Devil we know, than we dont.' I'm totally stuck as to what might be done.
Again, for all those following this British law in action. I had to painfully hire back the solicitor, that I'd originally fired. As he was the Power Of Attorney representing me on the 'Grant of Administration'. He has just been hired back, in the limited capacity of acting as my POA when needed to sign-off on documents that require his signiture acting as my POA.
My other options of re-applying for a new 'Grant of Administration' with mine and my brothers names and having his name removed as my POA in the Grant andva bunch of other formal documents was going to turn out to be very expensive. It was seemingly more practical to hire him back. Which was very painful as his service at that earlier time had been quite atrocious.

[enaid]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

Well I am really pleased you and your brother are on the same page with this awful situation.
As for 'she' I am not sure , although you think differently, that 14 days is very long to get all the estate accounts done correctly and all that you have agreed to with no come backs, not forgetting as executor 'she' can be held accountable for any mistakes.
I would give her a couple more days, keep the pressure on, ask for updates, don't forget also Her fees will be taken out of the estate before it is distributed and from what you have said they could take some working out.

[paddyhaig]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

Thank you for your input as always Enaid. You say "Keep the pressure on." The reality is, the really shouldn't be any more pressure on her, as she's had well over three years to sift through her work. I feel she want's my brother and I to keep on sending her further emails, constantly chasing our prior emails, as all these emails received by her are simply more revenue for her. At a bare minimum of £25.00 for every email received by her, then she can make at least £50.00's by just dragging her feet. This she seems to do as a regular method of communication. Maybe she should of stated on her terms of engagement, that all emails will cost a minimum of £25.00 + the tax of additional emails that you will have to send at a minimum of £25ea, in order to get a response from the first email inquiry that you sent her. If your lucky.
If she were to play, the 'It's because I'm busy' card, then one would have to argue that she has over extended herself to the point of no longer being efficient and practical in her services. This can only be sadly due to her own greed for her clients money.
I have to note that the Legal Ombudsman will only wait 14 days for a reply before they leveage their punative abilities. So a solicitor being dismissive and uncommunicative to their own paying client is a bit rich. I'd be interested to see how quickly they communicate when offered a new piece of legal action by another potential client? But that aside. 'She' has had over three years, to dot the i's, and cross the t's, and cover her back with legalize.
She has already billed the estate and taken several payments for her work already over the past 45 months. You have to wonder what she is cooking up now, at the expense of the estate? And my brother and I feel helpless. Can we just go into her office and demand that she hand everything over to us, now? And we can spilt it up. And she can send us her bill.

[des8]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

Good to hear bridges have been rebuilt.

Presumably interest is being earned on the funds the solicitor is holding (https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/accountsrules/part5/content.page).
Ask what rate if you don't know.

[paddyhaig]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

Thank you as always for your input Des8. I dare say that the interest made on the monies being held by 'She' the solicitor, are so minimal, that a single email to her with it's additional chasing email, would far supass in cost anything earned by that interest. I do vaguely remember some miniscule amount of interest being added to the estate funds.

[paddyhaig]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

I have a question for any of the Legalbeagles that may be able to answer it? It's now been 4 weeks, since my brother and I submitted our agreement via email to 'She' the estate solicitor, and 2 weeks after my brother and I submitting that agreement we got an email aknowlegement from 'She' the estate solicitor. Claiming she was now going to prepare an up to date Estate and Distribution Account for our approval. She's has been billing the estate and taking payments perodically for the last 44 months. You would think that she'd have most everything already in order, as the was only one small matter to be agreed upon. And that four weeks ago was agreed upon by my brother and I, and drawn up in a contract, and emailed to 'She', the estate solicitor.
However my question is, the 'Grant of Administration' had been returned to the Probate office by 'She'. As I had earlier fired the solicitor acting as my 'Power Of Attorney', who was named on that 'Grant of Administration' in lieu of me. It was later discovered that it was going to be extremely expensive in legal fee's and other costs to have his name removed from the 'GoA', so I painfully had to go back, cap in hand, and re-hire the solicitor I fired. This all happened 4 weeks ago. In the mean time, I called the probate office a couple of times, to inquire if 'She' the estate solicitor, has yet re-called this document. I called the probate office again today, and yes, the Probate office are physically still in possession of this document. Sorry my question is: Does 'She' need to recall this physical document in order to progress the estate? Or can she forward the estate purely on the grounds that it has legally been issued by the Probate court? So is it irrelevant where the 'Grant of Probate', is physically located?
Thank you for bearing with me. :-)

[enaid]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

I called the probate office again today, and yes, the Probate office are physically still in possession of this document.

Why have they still got it did they say ?
I doubt as a professional she would dare distribute without the 'document'

[paddyhaig]

Re: The 'LAW' governing Intestate administrators duties.

The Probate office have the 'Grant of Administration' because 'She' mailed it back to them, late February 2017. The document at that time was apparently invalid due to the fact, that I had stopped instructing (Fired) the solicitor who had been acting as my POA about March 2016, and that POA's name is on the Grant of Administration, as an Administrator, along with my brothers name. I had to re-hire the solicitor I'd fired, as seemingly all the alternative routes were going to be significantly more expensive. Why are the probate office still holding the Grant of Administration? Simpy because 'She' the estate solicitor, has not requested that it be returned to her.
Probably because she, wan'ts to drag things out as much as she can. She's sitting on £400,000.00. Sitting on it for over 3 years now.