Deed of assignment.

[thirstian]

Hi,
After my father passed away, I received an email from the probate solicitor, stating that an insurance policy with quite a large sum had been located .
Two day's later another email stating a mistake was made, along with a shot of two letters.
One dated 2008 advising my father that if he claimed the funds, he would lose a good deal of the benefit and a letter from the insurance company, received by the solicitor, stating that the insurance policy was terminated two weeks after he passed and no further funds are available.
The funds were taken by the bank.
The probate solicitor then resigned shortly after and a few months later the practice closed as the owner retired.

I requested the deed of assignment from the bank and the insurance company but they will not produce it.
I instructed the new probate solicitor to get the deed of assignment from them.
He received a copy of a letter to the bank, now saying the policy was terminated in 2010 and that it had been copied to my father.
I told the solicitor that I want the assignment but he stated he would not continue as they It would cost me a great deal financially and couldn't guarantee that he could obtain it.
I would like to know if this legal document should be available to me and if not, what is the point of it?
Thanks in advance.

[Pezza54]

It is possible that your father obtained a loan from the Halifax to be repaid by his life insurance policy following his death.
Your father should have kept documents about this to prevent executors being confused. Does hill will mention the life insurance policy?

[Pezza54]

"his" not "hill" Should have gone to specsavers

[Pezza54]

Your sister, as executor, should write to the Halifax stating she believes her father may have taken out a loan years ago and enquire whether it has now been paid back in full by his life insurance policy.
Halifax is average for customer service satisfaction so she should get an informative reply.

[thirstian]

Hi,
It is possible that a loan was taken by him to be paid by the policy. That is what we are trying to find out.
We are quite happy if that is the case as it would have benefited him.
My sister has written but gets a similar response.
The solicitor has also written and received a slightly different response but still not the legal documents we requested.
Our concern is that we are unable to see a legal document, with our fathers signature, to which we should have access.
We are not being told the reason it was taken or if it was.paid into.a personal account with Halifax

We are aware that the original solicitor had the power to claim it as my sister was their client.
We are also aware that the other executor was also able to claim it. He was asked to ' look after ' a large sum of money for our father ( over £200000} Our father complained to my sister that he wasn't being given access to those funds on several occasions.
We have asked the executor in question about this and he claims it was given back.
There is no evidence of this in my father's accounts and statements and the executor says he shouldn't have to prove he returned it so he won't. He is legally entitled to it whatever the case.His wife is an accountant and would know this.
Sorry this is so long winded but as you can probably tell we are suspicious of the other executor.
If we saw the deed assignment with our fathers signature we would know he benefitted from it and it went where it was supposed to.
Thanks for listening. It is also good to get it off my chest
Ian

[Pezza54]

If you think the bank is being obstructive your sister should write to the FCA and if the bank fails to follow their advice she should raise a complaint with the FOS

[thirstian]

Thanks PEZZA54,
I did complain to the FCA but they don't deal with individual cases.
I complained to FOS and they say they won't take it any further, unless I supply my father's will, a letter from the probate solicitor,, with signatures of both executors and any further evidence they might deem necessary.
I can get one executor signature but they say they require both.
I advised them that I am a residual beneficiary, named on the will and as such an entitled to see all financial documents relating to my father's will
I have been waiting for a response for over three weeks.
I just hoped I could find a way to exercise my legal rights as even the probate solicitor had trouble and was unable to get to the bottom of it.
Thanks

[Pezza54]

You say you wrote to the FCA and FOS.
Your sister's letters, as named executor, will carry more weight. After all she has a legal duty to ensure the value of the deceased's estate is calculated as accurately as possible. She should enclose a copy of the probate certificate

[thirstian]

My
Unfortunately, my sister has complained to the FOS also and they are aware that we are both reporting the same problem with the financial institutions. She is getting the same results as myself.
I added her details to my application as well.
I guess we can only wait and see if they will actually assist us or not.
I just thought the law was the law but perhaps I am being naive when it comes to David versus Goliath?
It appears that money does talk.