Executor has gone off the rails - mass fraud and installed renters

[scc25]

So from solicitor advice so far I have been advised that going to court to remove an executor is stupid because it will cost £50-100K and I can only get 60-75% of legal fees awarded back to me even if I win and even though there's a mountain of evidence showing that they executor has stolen from the estate and abused/violated their position and there's literally no dealing with them. To complicate things there appears to have been historical stealing going on as well which they have now tried to blame me (the co-executor) for so they can effectively steal it twice. They've taken possession of the house changing the locks, sold all the items and after having sat in the house like a guard dog for an extended period and having short-term lets have installed renters (they are obviously doing all this under the radar and pocketing all the money for themselves and definitely haven't made the house safe or maintained it). Surely I have to go to court to get access to their bank records and the access to the bookings on his account on the letting website anyway as they will refuse to provide records or play games and pretend the rent/amount of bookings was much lower than what they actually received. (The lettings website is hiding behind GDPR despite seeing evidence of my executorship over the property.) I also suspect that they had been moving money through a crazy amount of cash withdrawals from the deceased' accounts and then depositing into their partners (or even teenage children's) accounts so they can keep their account/accounts looking empty for HMRC (they're definitely committing benefit fraud). How on earth do I get someone to look at the partner's account? They've also been racking up quite the bills for the estate but aren't paying them so the estate will have a ton of debt when this is all over.

Also, as a executor (although probate hasn't been granted yet) they have a right to be on the premises. So even if you went to court and got the judge to rule in favour on the financial stuff and managed to get an eviction order for the renters, there's nothing to stop them jumping back into the house and blocking any potential sale or even installing a family member or another renter. The court won't be able to move fast enough and any financial punishment is useless as they don't have assets in their name to go after other than a house but charging orders are redundant if they never sell (they won't). Changing the locks is pointless as they've taught themselves how to do it and have already changed all the locks to block my access.

On a side note - if probate hasn't been granted surely the rental agreement is invalid (we'll never get to see a copy as the renter has already refused to communicate and runs to them thinking that they are the owner, one of them even called the police and claimed harassment) so do you actually formally have to evict or are they trespassing instead? (They haven't been in long enough for squatters rights to kick in yet I think).

So to sum up: they have effectively successfully stolen the entire inheritance (including money prior to, during and after the death of the deceased), have possession of everything and are using the police as a weapon despite them being the criminal. So a total shitshow...

What are my options? What sort of strategy can I use to get my inheritance (both stolen money and get the house sold) and go after them for the stolen historical cash/transfers/card payments?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Pezza54]

Please read CPR 8.9 (c). CPR 26 is omitted and the claim is treated as if it is allocated to the multi-track
If the defendant employs an expensive solicitor/barrister who successfully defends the claim, then the claimant will probably be ordered to pay most of the defendant's legal costs

[EXC]

We wouldn't advise seeking legal advice from mainstream AI. Posts deleted.

I'll give atticus a shout.

[atticus]

This does require professional assistance. There is no easy or cheap answer.

Legal action is going to be necessary if anything is going to be recovered from this executor.

As to getting the property sold, it may be possible to seek a court order for sale under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, but the proceeds of sale will go into the estate, to be managed by the executor.

I think you should consider instructing your solicitor to write a very detailed claim letter covering all aspects, and seeing whether the other party can be persuaded to go to mediation.

[BlakSheep]

You have my sympathies this sounds like an extremely complex situation and you should seek solid legal advice. Have you produced a up to date timeline, supported by any evidence(emails, messages, screenshots etc) to help the solicitor. Do you have a trusted friend who enquire as a prospective renter and enquire about costs and T&Cs for a short term lease? Then at least you will have proof the property is on the books. Easier if it has been listed with an established letting agent, becomes tricky if they have used a smaller outfit.