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I'm the administrator of a deceased estate. Estate accounts have been sent to all four residual beneficiaries, three are happy however the solicitor of one has requested a long list of invoices and further details on receipts and payments, a pain but que sera, sera.
The fly in the ointment is that a significant part of the estate that I dealt with came from an inheritance from a third-party. The beneficiary's solicitor is asking for a copy of this third-party's estate accounts. I have such a copy but am reluctant to supply it as it seems to be just a fishing exercise. If they do the same again and ask for invoices/payments/receipts for the third-party accounts then I simply don't have that information (I was not the executor of the third-party estate) which means the third-party solicitor will need to be involved which will obviously come at a not-insignificant cost...
The checking question therefore is whether a beneficiary is entitled to see the estate accounts of a third-party's estate?
I was planning on just supplying the final summary page of the third-party estate accounts which simply confirms how much my estate was entitled to without supplying the pages of individual payments and receipts that made up that figure. Would others agree this is a reasonable response or should I provide the complete detailed accounts?
If the complete third-party accounts are provided and consequently even more details are requested then who pays for the subsequent solicitor/accountant fees? Is it reasonable for me to insist the unhappy beneficiary foots the bill? It seems grossly unfair for 3/4 of the costs to be paid by the three beneficiaries that are perfectly happy with the accounts.
Thoughts welcome.
The fly in the ointment is that a significant part of the estate that I dealt with came from an inheritance from a third-party. The beneficiary's solicitor is asking for a copy of this third-party's estate accounts. I have such a copy but am reluctant to supply it as it seems to be just a fishing exercise. If they do the same again and ask for invoices/payments/receipts for the third-party accounts then I simply don't have that information (I was not the executor of the third-party estate) which means the third-party solicitor will need to be involved which will obviously come at a not-insignificant cost...
The checking question therefore is whether a beneficiary is entitled to see the estate accounts of a third-party's estate?
I was planning on just supplying the final summary page of the third-party estate accounts which simply confirms how much my estate was entitled to without supplying the pages of individual payments and receipts that made up that figure. Would others agree this is a reasonable response or should I provide the complete detailed accounts?
If the complete third-party accounts are provided and consequently even more details are requested then who pays for the subsequent solicitor/accountant fees? Is it reasonable for me to insist the unhappy beneficiary foots the bill? It seems grossly unfair for 3/4 of the costs to be paid by the three beneficiaries that are perfectly happy with the accounts.
Thoughts welcome.
