Fathers will

[Ted62]

My father passed away leaving a will saying the house to be left to me and my brother, we are to use a solicitor to deal with his estate. My brother is by passing the solicitor and arranging the capital gains amount and will then pass it on to the probate.

Can my brother whom has access to my fathers bank accounts because it was he who stayed at the house to look after him, can he in any shape or form plunder the estate in anyway and if so will the probate beable to pick up on any activities that have occurred.

Thanks

[Pezza54]

Have you got a copy of the will? Who is named executor?

[PallasAthena]

Probate do not investigate how the Estate is being or has been managed so the Probate process will not "pick up on any activities that have occurred." Their sole task is confirm that the Will has been correctly written from a procedural point of view and confirm who is legally authorised to administer the Estate, ie one or more of the Executors.

It sounds like "we are to use a solicitor to deal with his estate" is an expression of wishes rather than a binding instruction. Generally speaking Executors do not have to follow expressions of wishes. There is no legal requirement to use a solicitor (unless the solicitor is a named Executor), it's at the discretion of the Executors. And you don't need to use a solicitor to deal with the whole Estate. You can use one for specific purposes only if you want to.