how long can an executor withhold payment to beneficiaries?

[Haxon]

Hi, i was wondering if someone could answer a question for me please.

I'll keep it short. My uncle died 2 years ago and my cousin was made executor of his will. There are nine beneficiaries of my uncles will of which my cousin is one. My cousin and his family do not not like nor get on with the other beneficiaries of my uncles will including myself.

Now the will has gone through, probate has been done, six months of wait have passed for anyone to come forward and on November 13th 2017, we received a letter from his solicitor accompanied with the final finances of my late uncles estate and the solicitors letter stated that they are at the point where they are ready to pay out to the beneficiaries, all we had to do was to check the attached finances of the estate and then sign and return the enclosed letter saying we had read the final finances and are in agreement with them.

We duly did this in November last year and the solicitor stated that once they have all the acceptance forms in, they will then distribute the funds to the beneficiaries.

My sister emailed the solicitor at the beginning of January to ask when the funds would be paid and they said they were still waiting on one of the forms of acceptance(guess who) but should be early to mid January. Still to now we have received nothing and no word from the solicitor.

My question is, if my cousin is intentionally withholding returning the form of acceptance, so the rest of us do not get paid out, can he ? and how long can he withhold returning the document?

From what i have been told, my cousin is very wealthy, and i guess he has no need for his share of the inheritance, hence no rush to return the form so he can get back at all the other beneficiaries he hates, it is not that much money to him but a lot to some people.


Thank you in advance for any help.

[Kati]

tagging Peridot enaid

[des8]

Hi and welcome
Funnily enough the executor does not need beneficiaries to agree the accounts before distributing the estate.
This is often obtained just so that it can be waved in court if there is a subsequent challenge.

Presumably this is the solicitor trying to cover his own back, as the missing agreement is actually the executor's own, and it is the executor who is responsible for paying the beneficiaries even if he has appointed a solicitor to act on his behalf.

Perhaps ask the solicitor to remove his digit again and remind him interest has to be paid on pecuniary legacies after the passing of the executor's year.
Point out the executors approval of account's should have been sought prior to asking for it from the beneficiaries!