Retired solicitor.

[thirstian]

Hi everyone,
I am a beneficiary in my late father's will.
The solicitor has retired without completing probate and No. 1 executor agreed to the conveyance of the property being transferred to another solicitor without No.2 executors knowledge.He isn't responding to emails and won't divulge any details
The original solicitor has said he cannot complete the probate as he no longer has indemnity insurance but continues to hold the funds and won't reply to No 2 executors emails.
He said the life insurance was claimed by my father 15 years ago but on checking, it was taken by the bank 2 weeks after my father's death.
The new solicitor says they will pay the funds from the house sale into No. 1 executors personal bank account.
No .1 executor is making it very difficult
Will I be able to recover any of my inheritance? What can I do?
Thanks in advance.

[PallasAthena]

All sounds a bit messy but there doesn't seem to be any reason why you won't get your inheritance. Why are you concerned that you won't get it?

It will take time though. Have they got probate yet? If not that usually takes several months. They need probate before they can sell the property and selling property can also take long time
.

[thirstian]

Hi ,
thanks for your reply,
We , the 2nd executor and I are are unable to get any response from the original retired solicitor who holds the funds.
Also the 1st executor will hold the funds from the house sale and will deduct any money he wants as he has control.
He is refusing to supply bank statements and receipts up till now .
He can refuse to supply statements,as it's his personal account.
He is stating that he has personally been paying all of the bills , repairs and maintenance, for two years, instead of the payments coming from the estate.
He will be able to take what he wants without legal recourse as he has taken control of the funds.
We would then have to prove this somehow , but we have no evidence.
Thanks

[Pezza54]

Where there is more than one executor a single executor can act alone except when land is involved. The solicitor involved in the sale of the property should have ensured both executors were involved and signed documents unless the second executor reserved power. Ask the 2nd executor about this. He or she should contact the conveyancing solicitor to confirm they will both be involved.
An executor should not put estate funds into a personal account. If an executor did this and died before funds were distributed, estate money could be lost, moving to the deceased executor's estate.
A joint executor account should be opened and funds transferred to this account. When funds are paid to beneficiaries cheques with both executors' signatures should be used.
The 1st executor may have been paying bills for the property. Banks normally release money from the deceased's account for this in addition to funeral costs before probate. Had this money been paid into the executor's account and bills paid from it, the estate accounts would be easy to provide.
All main beneficiaries should get together and sign a joint warning letter to the 1st executor and solicitor pointing out potential legal consequences if the 1st executor fails to carry out their legal duties properly.

[Pezza54]

I meant to ask what funds is the original solicitor holding?

[thirstian]

Thankyou for the advise,
I have advised the executor in question that I require him to employ the services of a new solicitor, to take over from the retired solicitor.
He is reluctant as he doesn't want to incur further costs.
I believe a new solicitor will also be more transparent.
I stated that we need the inheritance to be distributed as per our father's wishes, in his will.
Hopefully he will now take notice and proceed with this.
I guess time will reveal all
Thankyou.

[PallasAthena]

I believe a new solicitor will also be more transparent.

If Executor 1 appoints a solicitor to act for him (and he doesn't have to, he can handle Probate himself) don't expect that solicitor to tell you/Executor 2 anything. Whoever is appointed owes their duty to their client, which will be Executor 1 and not you/Executor 2. And they would have a duty of confidentiality to their client, Executor 1, so will not discuss anything with you/Executor 2 or disclose any information to you.

[Pezza54]

Applying for probate is generally straight forward apart from IHT forms, so executor 1 may decide to save money by applying for probate after receiving financial advice about IHT
On probate application form PA1P there is a requirement to list executors that are not applying for probate and provide a reason from the selection.
I am aware of a case where the first executor told his legal practitioner applying for probate that executor 2 had renounced his duties.
This was not true. Executor 2 had not renounced or reserved power.
The practitioner did not check with executor 2, nor did Probate.
Executor 2 was dismayed to discover he was not named on the probate certificate but was not unduly worried as he trusted executor1
This could happen in your case and estate funds could be transferred to executor 1's personal bank account.
My advice in my last sentence of my 1st post still stands.

[thirstian]

Sorry my response has been so delayed.
I am dealing with a nightmare at the moment.
I thankyou for all the brilliant advice.I would never have been aware of any of it if I hadn't received your replies.
I have insisted on another solicitor which has been done , they are supposed to be acting for both executors but the 2nd executor has received no advice from them. Apparently they have completed probate and she has to sign a letter tomorrow. She was advised this by the 1st executor.

We now have a problem where my father's insurance policy fund has been taken by the Halifax, 2 weeks after his passing and they will not co-operate. £37000
The Reassure insurance will also not co-operate and only send letters stating the insurance was terminated and no further funds are available instead of the policy documents and deed of assignment we are requesting from them, as we have no idea where it went or why.
I have advised the 2nd executor that she shouldn't sign to accept the finalisation of probate until she has found out if the insurance funds are part of probate Which I think the solicitor should have followed up on.
Do you think this is correct or should we continue our seemingly futile attempts to obtain information from these giant financial institutions.
Any replies and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Ian

[PallasAthena]

Sounds like insurance company refused to pay out for some reason. If they won't explain first use their formal complaints procedure and if that doesn't get you the answer complain to the insurance ombudsman. In both cases make clear you are complaining in your capacity as Executor and provide evidence of that.

No reason for it to hold up probate. The insurer's response won't be affected by what you have included in the probate estate value. As they are saying, at time you submit the probate application, that the policy value is Nil then that's what you include in probate.

If you subsequently get the £37,000 you can adjust the probate value for IHT purposes later.

[Pezza54]

If probate has been obtained and both executors are named on the certificate, I am not sure what you mean by finalisation of probate. Executor 2 should make sure a joint executor bank a/c is opened with both executors required to sign cheques. This should prevent executor 1 from misappropriation of estate funds.
Provided the new solicitor and exec1 agree to this I see no reason why exec2 shouldn't sign documents.
Many financial institutions will not correspond with executors until they have seen the probate certificate.

[thirstian]

Hi,
Sorry , when I said finalisation, I mean that the solicitor appears to have completed their work and are going to share the funds from the estate to us.
I was under the impression that they had a duty to work in the best interests of the beneficiaries.
I'm probably wrong there
The 1st exec ( My brother) will not open a joint bank account with the 2nd ( my sister.) as he says he doesn't trust her to allow him access to the account.
She also doesn't trust him and I must admit I feel she is right as he has been less than helpful throughout the whole process and we both feel he is hiding something. I mean to say he will not respond with full answers and takes weeks to respond with vague answers.
My sister has given the evidence that she is an executor which has been accepted by the insurance but they continue to send letters instead of the documents she has requested.
When we found the insurance account had been terminated 2 weeks after our father passed away, in 2021 my brother had previously claimed it was terminated by our father in 2008.
Reading the insurance letters we realised he had only enquired about it.Then found it had been taken 2 weeks after he passed away.
My sister suspects it was taken by our brother.
I'm not convinced but agree we should have the right to know where it went.
I wanted to know if it is the solicitors job to chase this up as part of probate ? I thought it would be regarded as.part of the estate and thought their job was to ensure all funds were distributed as per the requirements of the will?
Sorry it's so long winded
Thanks

[Pezza54]

If the solicitor was employed only to obtain probate, then as probate has been obtained, their employment has finished. It is now up to your brother and sister, as executors, to obtain and then distribute funds to beneficiaries in accordance with the will.
How is the sale of the property proceeding?
As executor, your sister should get involved, contacting the conveyancing solicitor and make sure the proceeds of the house sale are not paid into your brother's personal bank account.
As a main beneficiary, you should warn both executors that you are expecting to see the estate accounts.

[atticus]

You might remind both executors of the terms of the oath they will have sworn as executors.

[thirstian]

I appreciate all the help I have received.
My sister has contacted me to say she has now finally received correspondence from the new solicitor asking if there is anything she would like to mention regarding probate .
Apparently the house is now sold and I have advised her to ask if they, or the previous solicitor, have followed up on the missing insurance policy funds.
It has been agreed that the funds will not be paid into our brothers personal account.
Hopefully we will now see this through in accordance with my father's wishes.
I would like to thank everyone for the sound advice I received as there are so many pitfalls, that I had no idea about.
I am extremely grateful for the guidance.
Ian.