Executor appears to have stolen from late fathers will

[Melanieb]

Hi all,
In the shortest way I can possibly do this... mine and my sisters father passed away in october.
He left a will and appointed his with executor. He left his house to my sister and made myself and his wife residual benificiaries. Probate was granted on the 27th june this year. And stands at a net value of £94000. This value includes the house and possibly his life insurance. But myself and my sister know he had £9000 in his bank the day he passed away we also know he had an investment, an isa, a pension and that other monies are not accounted for. It looks in total that around £60000 is missing. Here administative solicitors are telling me I am not able to see the estate accounts and that I look set to not inherit anything. They are also asking that my sister pay rent on the property that she is set to inherit along with having to pay a shortfall on the property before it is transfered to her. Please can someone help... we have been to citizens advice, the police and had a little free legal advise but we really can't afford a solicitor. No one seems able to advise without us paying a fortune which we simply do not have.
thank you

[Melanieb]

Wife* don't know how autocorrect changed it to with.

[des8]

As a residuary beneficiary you are entitled to see the estate accounts after the final settlement.
Tagging Peridot for more in depth advice

[Peridot]

Hi MelanieB,

What a difficult situation for you. There could be a number of reasons there appear to be differences in what you believe your father had when he died and what appears to have been the declared figures for inheritance tax and the grant. Have you obtained a copy of the Grant of Probate? This would give you a gross and net figure for the estate. If the solicitor refuses to provide a copy you can apply for your own copy here https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inh...robate-records but there may be other reasons for any perceived difference too.

Did his wife receive anything other than a share of the residue with you? Did they hold any joint assets together? Any jointly held assets eg joint bank accounts for example would automatically pass to the survivor. A pension may end on death, or if a payment is due from it, your father may have nominated someone to receive it. Although the figures of these sorts of assets would be included in the Inheritance tax forms they do not form part of the estate to be distributed under the Will.

The costs of the funeral, lawyer fees to administer the estate and other testamentary expenses together with any debts your father had would all be paid from the estate before you get to the point of paying out specific legacies, such as the house or other gifts your father may have willed. Once all of this has happened whatever is left is the residue and make up the final distribution to be made.

Did your fathers wife instruct the solicitors immediately to deal with the estate? What is their reason for refusing to provide estate accounts? How do you know there were further assets you suspect have not been included?

I’m not sure why rent is being requested on the property from your sister. It may be something to do with the Will but we would need a lot more information on this and the actual wording of the will to try and point you in the right direction on this. Executors are meant to maximise the estate so if a property was going to be empty for a period it could be something to consider by the executors. A little more info is needed on the house circumstances. Has your sister always lived here? Did she pay rent during your fathers lifetime for the property? Until the property is legally transferred to her name the executor or their representatives are responsible for all matters related to it including rent, insurance and repairs.

As a residuary beneficiary you are entitled to see a copy of the estate accounts and if this is refused you are entitled to apply to the Court for estate accounts, although this of course involves a cost.

I would suggest obtaining a copy a copy of the Grant of Probate and making a further request for a copy of the estate accounts even if they have not been finalised as yet. If this request is refused then you may need to get a bit heavier handed. If you can’t establish where this possible sum has gone and you have sufficient evidence to support the sum having been there at the time your father died you will probably need some face to face advice as to how to proceed I’m afraid. If you have any further I formation we may be able to give you some more pointers.

[Melanieb]

Hi Peridot,
thank you for your reply.
we have the grant of probate... it says the gross value does not exceed £325.000 and the net value of the estate does not exceed £94.000.
his wife was bequived their caravan. They held no joint assets. My father had his own bank accounts and isa. No joint property. I know our father had nominated myself and my sister for his pension but this was before he married.
our father had no massive debts. His wife also got a funeral grant for £2500. Also the administative solicitors have advised that the executirix is kindly paying their bill and that I will recieve no inheritance.
she changed the solicitors as she found the the ones that made the will to be too expensive. She started straight away. She also got rid of all of his possesions. The solicitors acting now have said that the exuctor has every right to refuse me the estate accounts once drafted.
our father was not very technically minded and asked myself and my sister to deal with his email account and online banking for him. We helped him with policies and his banking very often. This is how we know of his assets.
he had: £16000 investment
life assurance £20000
isa £5000
his property gifted to my sister £75000
2 pensions worth around 25000
state pension. Unsure of value
she sold his car for £200
didlum money retreived from his greiving mother of £600
they are asking for £3330 in rent from my sister.
and saying there will be a shortfall on the property that my sister is set to inherit that she is being asked to pay.
he also had £9000 in his bank account on the day he passed away. There is more but that is just from memory.
the actual wording of the will is this: I give free all my interest in (said property) toghether with all the contents not otherwise specifically gifted (the property) to my daughter _ _ _ _ _ absolutely
I delare that all sums on the property whether by way of mortgage or otherwise (save as discharged by any policy of life assurance given as security for this purpose) and all interest due at my death shall be paid and discharged out of my estate in exoneration of the property.
I declare that if at the date of my death the property ( or my interest in it) shall be subject to binding but uncompleted contract for sale. This gift shall take effect as a gift of my share of the net proceeds of sale of the property or sale of my share and interest. As the case may be.
My sister lives in the property already has done for around 6 years. She paid dad £370 a month to cover the mortgage but never had a tenancy agreement. There was £27000 owing on the mortgage on the date he passed away. My sister had to have some work done on the property a few months ago the executor said she didnt agree to the repairs and has no insurance.

How could i apply to the courts to see a copy of the estate account please?

we do have evidence of a lot of his assets, so could prove what is missing. We have already got a little heavier handed but don't really want to start screaming thief just yet. Although it certainly points to it.

thank you again for taking this time out to help us. We are very grateful.

[Melanieb]

Thank you for tagging peridot and the advise des8.

[Melanieb]

Had further correspondence from solicitor this morning... advises I am unable to See estate accounts as the executor is paying their fees and has full ownership of said document.

[Peridot]

Hi MenalnieB,

Sorry for the delay I've been away for a couple of weeks without any signal!

Right it sounds like as the Executor is paying the bill for the solicitor rather than the estate they are treating her as their 'client' and therefore the confidentiality rules apply. I suspect they would have advised her of her duties as the executor and the fact that you are entitled to sight of the accounts but it seems the decision is hers. Have you contacted her stating if you don't receive a copy of the estate account (which you know there are, as it appears the solicitor has indicated as much in their letter to you). Has the administration of the estate actually finished now? Usually the residuary beneficiaries can only require a copy of the accounts once the administration of the estate has been completed so you may need to clarify this.

From your comments at post #5 it appears that there was an outstanding mortgage on the property, which had to be settled (from the estate according to the Will wording) so some of the funds you believe existed would have been used for that. Unfortunately just because your sister had some works done doesn't mean she could get the funds from the estate particularly when she has the benefit of living there already. The fact there was no tenancy agreement doesn't necessarily mean the agreed 'rent' is not payable. Does the amount being claimed equate to the period she didn't pay the rent? When was the property transferred to her sole name?

Your father may have amended his pension wishes with the provider upon his marriage.

I would suggest contacting her directly by recorded delivery requesting a copy of the estate accounts within 14 days in the absence of which you will be left with no choice but to obtain a summons from the Court for an inventory and account of the estate (provided the administration has completed). This can be done in the Probate Registry. You will be requesting a summons to deliver an inventory and account under[FONT="Arial","Helvetica",sans-serif] the

Non Contentious Probate Rules, rule 61(2)

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You will be asking the Probate Registrar

to require the inventory and account under s.25 Administration of Estates Act 1925 (as amended) to be provided by the executor. You will need to complete an affidavit (basically similar to a witness statement) setting out the facts and asking for an order to be made that the executor provides the accounts and inventory. The affidavit goes with the summons to the Probate Registry. It is probably best to contact the District Probate Registry to see if they have the necessary form for you to complete. The affidavit should be set out correctly and include the following:-

I, NAME OF APPLICANT, of FULL POSTAL ADDRESS [occupation] make oath and say that:

1 DECEASED NAME of LAST ADDRESS deceased, died on the XX day of XXXX 20XX , domiciled in England and Wales, leaving WIFE’S NAME his lawful widow surviving, and I am his lawful daughter, and one of the persons entitled to share in his estate.

2 On the XX day of XXXX 20XX a Grant of Probate of the estate of the deceased was granted at the NAME OF REGISTRY Probate Registry to the executor, NAME.

3 The executor NAME has sworn the value of the estate of the deceased to amount to £XXXX, but I verily believe this to be considerably less than the true value thereof.

4 In the circumstances, I apply for an order calling upon the executor NAME to exhibit, upon oath, a true and perfect inventory of the estate of the deceased and to render a just and true account of their administration of the estate of the deceased and to file it in the NAME OF REGISTRY District Probate Registry within XX days from the date of service of the order upon them.

The affidavit needs to be sworn in front of an Officer of the Court, so will have to be taken to the Court or a local solicitors to be signed and witnessed.

Contact the probate registry where the Grant was issued from, they should be able to direct you to the correct form you need. If you need any other pointers do pop back on here.

[Melanieb]

No problem. Thank you once again for the help. We will give that a try, but at the moment the house has not been transferred so the estate is not complete.

We have since learned that the life assurance that our father intended to pay the mortgage has passed outside of the will to the executor.

The reason my sister was asking for money back from works completed on the property we're mainly as the executor is acting like a landlady that has no buildings insurance, and would not agree to necessary works being carried out... basically we were a bit miffed.

We have sent an email four weeks ago and are yet to have a reply. Some of the things we have brought to attention are as follows...

Our understanding was that it is well established that beneficiaries are entitled to see information, so we were a little surprised to see you object to that. Apologies for the strong response we made, but if you bear in mind cases like Royal National Lifeboat Institution & Ors v Headley & Another [2016] EWHC 1948 (Ch), you’ll see it is not unreasonable for a residuary beneficiary like myself to expect to see the Estate Accounts once ready.


It’s also normal for a beneficiary who is potentially not going to receive what the will says they should to see the Estate Accounts, and given that you say the mortgage on the property might not be discharged, that would also put xxxxx in scope for sight of the accounts.


We can understand from xxxxxxxxx’s point of view that this may sound like hassle, However, we do not think it is unreasonable for us to ask for some interim accounting information, in particular as this is driving some of the things you have been asking us for.


Providing us with reasonable information would help calm everything down as it is the unknown aspects to this that is causing everyone extra stress. If you could discuss with your client whether that would be possible, it would seem a better way to proceed rather than us all getting angry with each other.


Rent demand on property


We understand that a residuary beneficiary, like myself and like xxxxxxxx has an interest in ensuring that all rent has been paid into the estate. That request, although upsetting, makes sense if seen from that perspective. But, you’ve made a rent demand for the period after our father’s death. That we suggest is made in error.


At the point our father died, then we would consider the benefit of the property has passed to xxxxx absolutely. The fact that the executrix has not yet transferred the legal title at the Land Registry does not stop it moving in equity. As such, we consider asking xxxxx for rent for a period when she is the beneficial owner of the property is an error. That is not the estate’s money, it is the beneficiary’s, and the fact that the executrix has not completed the transfer to xxxxx should not entitle her as residuary to indirectly benefit from rent payments.


Indeed, were that to be legally the position, it would create a clear conflict that would incentivise her to move slowly on the transfer - which is why, we suggest, it is not the case in equity.


If you bear in mind that myself and xxxxxxxxx's interests would be aligned on this point as residuary beneficiaries, you’ll see why we are finding this surprising.


Now it may be that the right answer is to transfer the mortgage to xxxxx with the property, or for her to take out a new mortgage to discharge it. But, before we go down that road, we would expect to understand more about the accounts, hence our repeated requests for the same.

Life Assurance

Please would you confirm who the named beneficiary of the Life Insurance Policy was and whether there was any associated expression of wishes, e.g. that some of it be used to discharge the mortgage.

Pensions

Please confirm the current position regarding the pension entitlement. This would be a large part of the estate that presently appears to be missing.

Bank accounts

We consider money has been withdrawn from the bank accounts. Has this been used to discharge the mortgage, as the will would appear to suggest, or for other purposes?

Are we along the right tracks? or a bit off the mark with the house situation? From what you've said I'm not too sure now?

also we did remind them that she owes us a fiduciary duty.

We have tried direct contact but that has proved fruitless.

many thanks.