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My brother is an alcoholic and co executor of our dead fathers will - advice please?

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  • My brother is an alcoholic and co executor of our dead fathers will - advice please?

    I have a couple of questions:

    My dad passed away in September and both myself and my brother are the co executors of his will. My brother and I both live in Spain, and here in Spain, my brother is medically/officially registered as an alcoholic with the Spanish government and receiving benefits from the Spanish government, however, nobody in UK is aware of his status as an alcoholic here in Spain.

    My concerns and questions are two things:

    1st - My brother has taken it upon himself to deal solely and exclusively with our dads banks and building societies and had contacted the banks and submitted the relevant documents to the bereavement departments of the banks and building societies; death certificate, will, and identification, and did not inform me that he had a copy of the death certificate and will, or that he was going to contact them and make them aware of our dads death.

    I only became aware of this (and it is complicated) because when I contacted the care home our dad was in, to ask for the medical certificate of death so I could register the death, I was told that it had already been done by my brother on the day (a Friday) that our dad died.

    I asked my brother if he had the death certificate and he denied that he had the death certificate, and he denied asking for a medical certificate of death from our dads care home, and denied registering our dads death, and also denied having a copy of our dads will.

    I was not going to argue with an alcoholic, so i contacted the Register of Births and Deaths and they told me that our dads death and already been registered and that they had already sent a death certificate to my brother. So I requested a copy of the death certificate, and I contacted the solicitors who made our dads will, to be told the same story; they had already sent a copy to my brother. So again, I requested a copy of the will.
    I submitted the documents to the banks along with my passport for identification, and that is when the banks told me that they had already been submitted by my brother.

    He has already recieved a payment from one of dads building society (I know because my brother sent me a photo of the transfer from Nationwide to his Spanish bank) accounts that was solely in our dads name. Albeit for £48, and he is now saying that he needs to keep all of the £48 (not the end of the world) to cover his 'expenses' for the international phone calls from Spain to the UK, recorded tracked and traced postage of the death certificate and and copy of the will. It may only be £48, for now, but I know one of the 3 other accounts has £33,000 in it. And I do not know what is in the other accounts.

    Forgetting for a moment, the fact that he denied contacting our dads care home for the medical certificate of death, denied registering the death, denied having the death certificate, and denied having a copy of our dads will ....... But somehow, he has expenses that he needs to cover ...........

    Who should I inform in the UK that my brother is a registered alcoholic with the government here in Spain, and would this make any difference to my brother being a co executor (could he be removed as he is an alcoholic) ?

    And this leads me into my second concern and question...................

    2nd - Shortly before our dad died, our mum was taken into a care home due to her advanced dementia and has been deemed to be 'lacking capacity' by the social services.
    On our dads will it says that our mum will be the executor of the will, unless she is, quote, unquote - 'Unwilling or Unable', and then the responsibilities fall to me and my brother.
    From the limited information that the banks have given me; our dads name has been removed from the joint accounts held with our mum and now only our mums name is on the accounts - sole account holder.

    As my brother took over the handling and communicating with the banks (without informing me and on the day our dad died) and the banks won't communicate with me as they are already dealing with my brother and can only deal with one person, AND that our mum has been deemed to be 'lacking capacity', by social services, AND the wording in the will of if our mum is 'Unwilling or Unable' , and to my mind mind 'lacking capacity' is equal to 'Unable' (to be executor) ................

    Is it possible for the banks to transfer the funds that are inside our mums (now sole account holder) bank accounts to my brother and without the banks needing to informing me, although I am a co executor of the will?

    I understand the role of a Deputy, or some being appointed Deputyship to deal with the financial matters of someone 'lacking capacity', and I know that neither myself or my brother would be appointed as we both do not live in the UK. And I also understand that we cannot have or apply for LPA because our mum is 'now' lacking capacity.

    In a nutshell - my brother has taken control of dealing with the banks, and I am administering the rest of our dads (residual) estate, as the property is currently being held in a lifetime Trust with a law firm who are the Trustees, so something less for me to worry about.

    To my understanding, our dads bank accounts form part of his 'residual' estate. And as our mum is 'Unable / Lacking Capacity' to administer our dads estate and it is myself and my brother doing so.

    Essentially, what I want and need to know .... and I am finding this all very stressful, confusing and difficult, and that I have probably written a 'word salad' here and made it read more complicated than it actually is......

    In layman's terms - is there any way, chance or possibility of the banks giving my brother / transfering to him / him having access, to whatever is inside the accounts that are now solely in our mums name, and can or could this happen without me being informed about it.

    Or, and as I am hoping, that as our mum is 'lacking capacity', and that all the money in the accounts is now our mums (as they are not joint accounts anymore) ...... will she be protected by the fact that LPA cannot be applied for, and a Deputy would need to be appointed by the Courts of Protection, to manage our mums financial affairs?

    Thank you for any advice.


    Tags: None

  • #2
    The money in the bank accounts now in your mum's name is safe.
    You should contact the solicitor you have already spoken to about arranging LPAs. Two may be required, health and financial. Applying to the court for the appointment of a deputy is an expensive process. Does you mum have another close relative or friend who could act as the deputy? This would be preferable to a stranger visiting your mum.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you for your reply. A quick update - Lincolnshire County Council are taking on the role of Deputyship as I was too late in applying for LPA. Apparently I should have done this before mum went to her care home. I at least feel more happy and secure now knowing that the money is safe in the banks and will be used directly and solely for my mums care.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for updating the forum with good news

        Comment


        • #5
          I only apologise that it took me close to to 3 months to update. It has been a very fluid situation with no certainties or guarantees until now.

          Comment


          • #6
            As for his status as an alcoholic in Spain, it’s possible this could be relevant, but I’m not sure it would be enough to have him removed as co-executor unless he’s shown he’s not capable of handling the responsibilities.

            Comment


            • #7
              spammer reported

              Lawyer (solicitor) - retired from practice, now supervising solicitor in a university law clinic. I do not advise by private message.

              Litigants in Person should download and read the Judiciary's handbook for litigants in person: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/..._in_Person.pdf

              Comment

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