late fathers estate, step brother involved

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

on the SB side of thing apparently since he found out about me coming on the scene hes gone into a complete recluse mode. one neighbour even thought he was dead, because they hadn't seen him for so long. on the car side of things apparently the Police seized it a couple of weeks back. so he doesn't go out much now.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Stop worrying about what he is doing.... become proactive and force the issue otherwise you'll still be in this position in 10 years time

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

think I might, in view of what has happened in the past regarding what we thought we knew, let sleeping dogs lie. after all time wait's for no man :tinysmile_twink_t2: .

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

on the bank side of things. I have written to them a couple of months back warning them to cough up. then they sent there final response to my original fso complaint.

is it worth pursuing them independently of the fso or do you think the fso breathing down there necks will prompt them to just pay up?

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

would a LB admin give Barclays a nudge, as was suggested some time ago?

also spoke with another solicitor. they are concerned that i should get some indemity insurance, and that if i leave things as they are my SB may acquire rights over the property which he may not have. is this correct?

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

would a LB admin give Barclays a nudge, as was suggested some time ago?
Can you indicate where this was suggested?
also spoke with another solicitor. they are concerned that i should get some indemity insurance, and that if i leave things as they are my SB may acquire rights over the property which he may not have. is this correct?

If you leave things as they are, and do nothing for the rest of your life, it won't matter to you if he does acquire rights over the property. I cannot understand why you are not taking action which has been advised here and elsewhere.
As to executor's liability insurance, if you continue to do nothing you don't need it! Basically I am in favour of insurance to protect one where there is exposure to risk. It would be for you to assess the risk and decide whether or not to insure it

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I f I act and the will is valid I will end up worse off and have to pay the SB costs.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

What costs?
If he has a valid will he will need to obtain a grant of probate. His dilatoriness in obtaining that grant would not help him in any claim for costs order.
If you don't act you will never know if there is a genuine will and you will continue going round in circles while SB remains ensconced in what may be your house.
Its your call.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

if I proceed with a possession order he has said he will seek his costs from me, and seeing how things have gone so far im not sure I want to take the risk to find out I end up out of pocket more than I am already.

the ref to an LB admin was in post 22,

"If they prevaricate an LBA might get them to come round to your way of thinking"

I thought this was a reference to LB admin?

it doesn't matter if they cant help ill just wait and see how far the FSO get.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

LBA =Letter before Action. Part of protocols before starting court action is a letter warning the other party that you will commence court action if they don't comply with your demands.

If you proceed with a possession order, and he opposes it on the basis of a valid will, he will need to obtain a grant of probate. If he is successful in obtaining the grant, and this will shows he inherits the house, you then discontinue your action and how can he successfully claim costs when they are all of his own making by not obtaining a grant of probate earlier?

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

that's assuming the court see it that way. hes likely to say to the court "I didn't know whah whah whah, this nasty man's trying to steel my inheritance ". then the nice mister judge awards costs and I end up with a big bill.

plus we don't know if he forged that will with his mother, while she was alive.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Sorry, but you are too much of a fantasist.
The system doesn't work like that.
If you aren't prepared to take the risk of winning, then retire from the fray, let your SB have it all and get on with your life.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[bb41]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I have read this thread with interest and I am not a professional but I'm going through probate after the death of my Mother in February and all I can tell you is my experience (not that it will help your case much.

A few weeks after my Mum died I had to face up to the fact I must sort out the financial affairs. I knew I couldn't do this on my own and thought it was best to get a solicitor to act for me.

I took a copy of the will which contained the names of the executors and where and when it was done. My first point is that on this so called will that turned up it must surely say who composed it and where (Solicitors office etc) If it was a DIY will then I was advised when I enquired on making mine that they really weren't worth the paper they are written on and it's best to get them done through a solicitor which I then did. The original is electronically filed along with my house deeds etc.

Could this will be a DIY from the post office ???

When I went to see the solicitor I had to take all my Mum's bank books etc and all credit cards. I then had to get a surveyors valuation on her house so that the IHT form could be completed and IHT paid from her accounts and a receipt from HMRC before sending off for probate.

My point with the house surely is that it needs a proper market valuation to prove exactly how much it's worth as very few houses are under200k mark and I would have thought HMRC would have requested this by now.

Any pensions that were being paid must have been overpaid as in my case , although only by a month but nevertheless they still have to be repaid back. The banks will not release any money unless probate has been issued over and above 5k as a rule of thumb (not all but any competent bank will need this first when a death is involved) They will allow the IHT to be paid first though as probate can't be obtained . .... Just a thought but could your SB know that the amount he has received could put him over the level of the tax threshold which is why he never went for probate and has not sold the house. Living rent free in a house that doesn't legally belong to him is still making him fairly comfortably off.
If I was him I would have sold the house and started from fresh if all was legal and why would he wait so long to empty accounts.

As I'm no expert my thoughts are that maybe the will is not an original, or the SB wants to avoid paying any IHT and that the property is worth more than you realise.



He must also know that by going to probate then the will is a public doc and can be viewed by anyone . An executors job is to deal with a deceased financial affairs and to distribute any inheritance and close everything, why won't he let you see the full account of his executorship. ?

My personal advice would be to contest the will , try and get a cost from a solicitor upfront. I know you say it's too expensive but what if the estate does belong to you ? If no will is ever found it then gets split between family members and non blood relatives are out of the equation

I had to prove everything to my solicitor of who I am in relation to what my Mum specified in her will.

I feel that the will is the document that needs validating as it makes no sense that a legal will making him sole beneficiary would not be disclosed from the outset.

I had to sign all the forms to close my Mothers bank accounts before they will release any funds when probate has been issued

I would contest this will and I'm pretty sure that if there is any skullduggery then it will come to light fairly quickly . If this will proves to be a fake then you as next of kin can then lay claim to the estate and remove this person from your house. It also seems very odd he never informed the land registry as it would be the first thing I'd do so that I had the deeds in my name.

It all sounds very odd and I can honestly say that it seems the will is a fake.

One other question , why was the car seized (i may have missed a couple of replies) If it was left to him surely he'd go mental.

Just goes to show what good sense it is to make a will and let your loved ones know who has the original,

[bb41]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Just one final thought and certainly an emotional response, but if this will is original and all proceeds were left to SB as he claims then surely he would want to be even more transparent to prove that a next of kin is officially cut out and to make sure you won't contest it from the start rather than lying low and hope you'd never know.

[meellis]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I have been reading this thread with interest as well but I don't think we will ever know the true state of affairs. The op seems to rather keep themselves in the dark and worry themselves into an early grave wondering which dark forces are at work instead of getting on with the task at hand. I believe that you should research possible outcomes before commencing action but there will always come a time when you either have to ignore things and move on or take a leap of faith. Neither seems to be happening in this scenario.