Underpaid pension

[Irina]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help with this please.

My deceased mother’s estate of which I am a beneficiary may be owed back pension payments due to this issue:

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2022/01...r-entitlement/

My late mother meets the criteria where the advice is to check with the DWP. Probate for the estate was granted in 2017 and the estate after many delays caused by the executor is about to be wound up.

I’ve alerted the executor (a family member and beneficiary) and have asked him for confirmation and evidence that the potential for any back payments of my mother’s pension owed to her have been investigated with the DWP and if nothing is due to the estate, that this also be confirmed with documentary evidence.

Although he’s never mentioned it before and after first not seeming to know anything about it, the executor now says he ‘looked into it’ in 2020 and it wasn’t worth pursuing but I’ll have to take his word for it. If I don’t take his word it’ll delay the final accounts because of the DWP backlog on this issue and he’s complaining that it will cause IHT issues.

He also said this is just like when I made him put an advert in the Gazette, he didn’t want to do it and as no creditors responded as he predicted it was a stupid waste of time and money.

I don’t want to take his word for it as he’s been caught lying on a number of estate matters before inc on interim accounts he’s provided.

Surely this comes under his duty to gather in and if he doesn’t do it transparently now, he could easily claim or receive (potentially) thousands of pounds in my mother’s back pension for himself later and other beneficiaries would be none the wiser.

[Sam101]

It is the executors duty to investigate all matters where he has been instructed in a Will. If he said he has investigated this then surely he has documents to prove it so it can be shown that he has done his duty,.

It would certainly delay the estate being completed and distribution to beneficiaries and if IHT is an issue, then you need to consider this. Additional assets above the submitted figures may attract tax, although Pensions are in Trust.

[Irina]

Thank you for this response it’s appreciated.

More money into the estate now won’t push it over any IHT threshold and 99% of estate payouts have already been made to beneficiaries. IHT has all been paid as far as I’ve been told. At the end of the day tax is tax and needs to be paid if it’s due.

The executor is a law unto himself I’m afraid, and this latest request from me is in his view another example he will now refer to repeatedly going forward of me being hostile and stupid, just like my request to post a notice in the Gazette.

He actually refers to me as “The hostile beneficiary” in official written estate correspondence. He won’t use my name.

Other evidence of my unreasonable hostilities according to him include,

asking him to vacate my mothers former home (a significantly valuable estate asset) and sell it or pay rent 24 months after her death,

asking that an estate agent who provided the higher valuation was used to sell a commercial property belonging to the estate rather than one who provided a lower one who he was friendly with.

asking for full bank statements for all the 7 bank accounts my late mother held at the time of her passing rather than the selective extracts of the one or 2 that he gave.

I probably should’ve petitioned the court to have him removed as executor
a while ago but that’s not easy at the best of times esp during lockdown and with backlogs in the courts. He also has a history of mental illness and time spent in a psychiatric hospital.

Thanks for your help.

[Sam101]

Difficult time, but as he is the executor, then it is his personal responsibility to act as he sees best. Good luck, but I see this as being a very drawn out matter and very costly to yourself.

[Irina]

Difficult time, but as he is the executor, then it is his personal responsibility to act as he sees best. Good luck, but I see this as being a very drawn out matter and very costly to yourself.

I won’t be going for removal now. It’s utterly pointless at this stage as there’s really only a few pounds left to be distributed now.

Looks like he’s going to investigate the pension issue now too, reluctantly with lots of bluster as usual, but that's the result I was looking for.

[Sam101]

Well done. At least you tried and may get a result.
Sam

[des8]

Notice you are still having to chivvy your brother along!!

Some people are absolute plonkers....your brother should be thanking you for insisting he post a sec 27 notice in the Gazette.
That notice is a protection for him, not the estate.
As executor, without that notice, he may be liable for any creditors that may pop up in the future.
Executor's liability for dealing with the estate lasts a lifetime.
that notice protects him!

Anyway, good luck.

[Irina]

Notice you are still having to chivvy your brother along!!

Some people are absolute plonkers....your brother should be thanking you for insisting he post a sec 27 notice in the Gazette.
That notice is a protection for him, not the estate.
As executor, without that notice, he may be liable for any creditors that may pop up in the future.
Executor's liability for dealing with the estate lasts a lifetime.
that notice protects him!

Anyway, good luck.

thank you for that. You made me smile. Your advice and support on this is v much appreciated.