Beneficiary - do I need to waive rights to receive owed pay?

[Cosj23!]

Hi! I’m a beneficiary along with my siblings in my grandparents will. The executor has dragged it on for over 2 years and has tried to be difficult; such as insisting we get a lawyer/incur fees to receive the payment owed.

We refused and now he is saying he will pay the money owed but on these grounds:

- we sign a statement (with a witness present, a lawyer or doctor) that we renounce any future claim to the estate. That we consider the the payment (which is the exact amount our grandparents stated they wanted to leave us), to be a final settlement and no further claims will be made.
- he wants to split the payment into two bank transfers requiring us to confirm after the first payment and that all bank fees will be deducted from the final amount paid

is this possible?

do we need to forfeit legal rights and any future claim just to receive our owed amount? Do we need to get a witness to verify the statement to receive the owed money?

wouldn’t any bank charges come from the remainder of the estate (which there is a significant amount) and not from the beneficiaries payment?

thank you

[PallasAthena]

Is the amount left to you a specified amount? (ie not a proportion of the residue) Approximately how much is it?

Do you have a copy of the Will? Check if any of the things the Executor is demanding are mentioned in the Will. If you don't have a copy download it from here - it only costs about £1. Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) (probatesearch.service.gov.uk)

Requiring you to renounce any future claims is introducing a condition, it makes it a conditional gift. If the Will doesn't specify that condition then the Executor has no power to introduce it. What does the Executor mean by "no further claims"? Is there a back story here? Have you made a claim against the Estate? Or have you just asked to be paid the sum your grandfather left you? That isn't a "claim" against the Estate.

Bank charges are an expense of executorship and should not be paid by you. You should be paid the actual amount your grandfather left you without deductions unless the Will specifically says otherwise. Anyway it seems an academic issue as unless your legacy is £millions what bank charges does the Executor think there will be? When I've been executor I've just made transfers from my online Executor bank account and it cost me nothing.

The payment mechanism is up to the Executor to decide so if he wants to pay it in two tranches he can do so. If it is fraud he is concerned about - sending money to the wrong bank account. - it would be sensible for him to make a first payment of a notional amount, say £10, and ask you to call him to confirm the money has actually been received in your bank account. Does he know you personally, ie he would know it was you he was talking to not a scammer?

Asking you for a formal acknowledgement of receipt once you have received the money would be a reasonable and sensible request.

[Cosj23!]

Thank you.

Yes we have a copy of the Will and the amount is only £5k each. He does know us, he is a family member, but due to multiple factors he fell out with our mother. So is using this as a tool to somehow ‘win’ or play with power.

we have not made a formal claim against the estate. We have only asked for the payment which was stated in the Will. In the early discussions via my mother there will some personal items that she requested for us that my grandparents had given to us verbally. None of any value, other than sentimental but these were not included in the Will. Nothing other than the house and cash payments were noted in the Will. So I presume that we won’t get these items as he has cleared and sold the house so probably threw them away.

He has dragged his heels for over 2 years and he is asking that the statement we sign renounces any claim against him personally. Again we haven’t made formal claims but his handling of my grandparents belongings and Will has been appalling so I presume he is trying to make sure we don’t push for belongings that he has already disposed of? Is there any rights for us to push for any of those or as they aren’t in the Will we have no rights?

there is also a child listed as a beneficiary, my niece. In his latest correspondence he fails to mention her amount and. Payment to her. She is owed the same amount as me and siblings as per the Will. Will we need to do anything special to make sure she is paid as a minor?

[PallasAthena]

I don't know about money left to a minor, not something I've had experience of.

The answer to his demand to sign a waiver of claims against him as Executor is the same as for claims against the Estate. He has no right to impose such a condition. I suppose there's a risk that refusing will make him drag his feet even slower.

Everything your grandfather owned which isn't specifically mentioned in his Will forms his "residuary estate", even the small ornaments, photos, etc of no financial value, and goes to whoever inherits the residue and you don't have any rights over them. If the residue goes to the Executor then yes he is entitled to do what he likes with them even if that is just throwing them in the bin. Petty if he knew another family member wanted them for sentimental reasons, but sadly families can be like that. Dealing with someone's Estate can bring out the worst in people sometimes.

[Cosj23!]

Thanks. The residuary estate was jointly left to the two executors, this man and my mother. Because of his behavior and the creation of a fake rental agreement, he changed locks , moved in and prevented anyone going in there including my mother without a lawyer present. Any item he then did that my grandmother had thrown away before they died, which was impossible was she was in care. Could my mother demand a split of items that were still remaining when the house was sold?

[PallasAthena]

I'm not surprised he's suddenly getting cold feet about his potential legal exposure and improperly trying to get you to waive any rights you might have against him for executor misconduct! I'm afraid I'm not a lawyer and can't offer any useful advice on that.

If he and your mother are joint executors in the Will are they both named in the grant of Probate? Or did he apply for Probate as sole named executor? Your mother would have had to consent to that.

[Cosj23!]

Yes I believe they were both named on the probate grant which was all handled via lawyers due to his hostility.

[Pezza54]

If your mother didn't give her consent in writing to discontinue as an executor and she is named on the Grant of Probate then she is still an executor.
You should check this out. If your mother hasn't got a copy of the grant search the Probate registry online and obtain a copy.
Post back when you can answer this for sure.