HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

[Charlb1]

I was a beneficiary of my grandmothers estate. Included in her estate was a house. all the beneficiaries wanted to put the property up for sale in its current condition (it was extremely run down) and split the money accordingly, except my brother who said he'd be willingly to buy the property from us so he could reneovate and make extra money. My uncle the executor really pushed for this, and I felt railroaded into agreeing But I had only finally agreed to this on the understanding he'd be renovating the property . My uncle had the house valued at £360k I was alarmed at how low that was so I suggested we put the house on the market to gage how much people would be willing to pay to give a more accurate sale price, this was throw on out and I was railroaded again by my uncle and other beneficiaries to accept this price. My brother went on to buy the house at £360k, only 6 weeks later it was sold completely untouched for 100k more. I've also since discovered the house secretly went up for sale for 425k 3 months prior to my brother buying it, so it was for sale whilst it still belonged to the estate which none of the other beneficiaries were aware Of. Have I got a case? If my uncle was involved in the covering up of the houses true value has he broke the law? Can my uncle or my brother put the house up for sale without the other beneficiaries consent?

[leclerc]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

If you have signed any paperwork to agree to the sale of the property to your brother then the answer is NO, you have no further right to the house. If the property was £360K then probate would have been sought and accounts signed off. Have you received your portion of the estate and paid it into the bank?

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Yes I believe I had signed it over, but that was based on false valuations of the house. Can the executor or another beneficiary put the house on the market without the other beneficiaries consent?

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Also, yes the money has been paid to me, as I have only discovered this 4 months after the event

[leclerc]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Also, yes the money has been paid to me, as I have only discovered this 4 months after the event

If it went to probate, did the probate state an amount of the probate? Did you receive a copy of the accounts prior to the dispersal of funds?

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Sorry I don't quite understand the question, the house went to probate for £360k (which is another reason they under valued it) I was given a list of everything that was sold and how much for after all accounts had been settled.

[leclerc]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Sorry I don't quite understand the question, the house went to probate for £360k (which is another reason they under valued it) I was given a list of everything that was sold and how much for after all accounts had been settled.

Just to clarify, I am not an expert on the law but from my perspective, you have signed the house over without any written down terms ie to do the house up, and have signed the accounts and received the money. Personally, you might feel cheated but I am not sure that this is actionable. However, others may disagree with me on that.

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Thank you for you help, it's greatly appreciated

[MissFM]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

I was a beneficiary of my grandmothers estate. Included in her estate was a house. all the beneficiaries wanted to put the property up for sale in its current condition (it was extremely run down) and split the money accordingly, except my brother who said he'd be willingly to buy the property from us so he could reneovate and make extra money. My uncle the executor really pushed for this, and I felt railroaded into agreeing But I had only finally agreed to this on the understanding he'd be renovating the property . My uncle had the house valued at £360k I was alarmed at how low that was so I suggested we put the house on the market to gage how much people would be willing to pay to give a more accurate sale price, this was throw on out and I was railroaded again by my uncle and other beneficiaries to accept this price. My brother went on to buy the house at £360k, only 6 weeks later it was sold completely untouched for 100k more. I've also since discovered the house secretly went up for sale for 425k 3 months prior to my brother buying it, so it was for sale whilst it still belonged to the estate which none of the other beneficiaries were aware Of. Have I got a case? If my uncle was involved in the covering up of the houses true value has he broke the law? Can my uncle or my brother put the house up for sale without the other beneficiaries consent?

Leclerc may be correct in what he says above, but to me what you describe has the appearance of a blatant fraud.

As Executor, your uncle would have had the right to dispose of the estate without recourse to the opinions of the beneficiaries (although IMO this wouldn't quite be cricket) but he had an absolute duty to protect the assets and the responsibility to distribute those assets with scrupulous fairness to all the beneficiaries as stipulated in the Will.

Unless your brother was a joint executor he would have had no legal right to market the house before probate was complete as you have described.

The executor's duty, whether also a beneficiary or not, is to act with the utmost integrity and fairness towards all the beneficiaries.

What your post suggests to me is that your brother was unfairly (unlawfully) favoured financially and, if I were to be ultra cynical, the secret pre-marketing of the property could indicate that they already had a buyer lined up before the agreement that your brother was to buy it at an undersell was even reached.

Hindsight is an amazing thing. There should have been an uplift clause in your brother's contract to protect the other beneficiaries against this sort of eventuality - presumably there wasn't?

One further observation is that HMRC might be interested in this arrangement. Unless your brother used the house as his principle residence during his brief sole ownership he is likely to have had a liability for CGT upon sale.

Also, although £360K is (slightly) over the threshold for IT, the Taxman might also be interested that it (the house) was so undervalued for probate.

It's difficult to know, though, what you can do without shooting yourself in the foot - the sums you are talking about, large though they seem, could very easily be gobbled up in a matter of hours in the event of a legal dispute. :mmph:

[des8]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Just to add to what MissFM said:
Was a professional valuation obtained from, eg an independent estate agent perhaps? This should be for the market value on the day your grandmother died.
If the executor sells assets too cheaply he can be sued by the beneficiaries for their loss.
If the executor acts fraudulently he can be sued.
Was your uncle sole executor?

Do take note of the caveat in MissFM's final sentence.

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Thank you for your comments, I really can't stress enough how helpful they are.

My uncle has now confirmed it was him that put the house on the market for my brother to gage how much he could sell the house for in its current condition.

He's promised to call me this evening to discuss, I'm really unsure what I need to be asking, one thing I do intend on asking him is did he profit from this arrangement with my brother, although I can't see how he hasn't. Surely he would not go to these lengths to help my brother make money and not make any himself, especially when had the property been sold fairly he would have made more than he did selling it to my brother.

it also appears my other brother and sister also helped fund my brothers purchase too as their share of estate was used to help buy the house. So 4 of the 6 beneficiaries have been involved in this.

I just can't believe family are capable of doing this.

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

I was lead to believe professional valuations were conducted, although I never asked to see them, as I had no reason to suspect anything at this stage? Can I ask for copies, does he have to provide them?

Yes he was sole executor, the will did state that he and my father were executors of the will, however the will was written before my father passed away.

[MissFM]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

To be absolutely fair, the other side of the coin may be that they were trying to conserve any profit between themselves rather than give it to the taxman - the thinking being why shouldn't at least one of you profit.

We'd need to see the sums to work out who did what to whom. Maybe that's what you should ask your uncle tonight?:confused2:

[Charlb1]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

I will, I can't guarantee I'll get the truth

the hardest task will be remaining calm.

Thanks you again

[MissFM]

Re: HELP! conned by brother over family inheritance

Stay cool - prepare yourself and ask questions rather than letting off steam.

You need to find out the truth of the situation first of all. x