late fathers estate, step brother involved

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Any costs he incurs will be his.
You have Letters of Administration and therefore the authority of the court to settle your father's estate.
The house is registered in your name, and so is legally and beneficially yours.

He claims to have a signed piece of paper (of which he claims to have given you a copy).
This piece of paper is of no value until he has a grant of probate and the court calls in your LoA
If the will (if it exists) is so plain why has he not obtained probate?

Sit back and do nothing and nothing will happen.
He will have difficulty securing any debts against the property

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

well the will hes now sent me looks very similar to his mums, but some sentences are different lengths. check the law forum, ive posted.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

So if you think the will is genuine, you can just let it ride.
Of course, if the will is genuine, galling though it be, morally the property is your sb's but eventually, he or his heirs will have problems with land registry.

If you think the will is dodgy, you could try for a possession order and see what he does.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

i don't want the place left in my name if the will is genuine.

what are the reasons for not at least sending him a letter confirming receipt of his letter and telling him to do probate sort LR?

on a side note his mums will was done on the same day and witnessed by the same people, are couples who do mirror wills allowed to have the same 2 witnesses?

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

1. IF the will is genuine ............. so do nothing until he has probate. If you feel generous you could gift him the house but you would then have probs if the will was fraudulent.
2. cos it will cost you a stamp, and why do you want to advise someone who has been so unhelpful.
3. yes. Witness only witness the actual signing.

[MissFM]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

This is such a bizarre situation, as it would appear that your stepbrother is either a bad hat of pantomime villain proportions or a bumbling innocent - there doesn't seem to be any possibility of a grey area.

Either he has forged the Will (along with other documents?) - which might explain the length of time taken to show it to you - or the Will is genuine and for some peculiar reason he has not only not observed the correct processes following your father's death but also financial institutions have forgone their strictly prescribed procedures.

Why didn't the bank, or the solicitor, or the insurance company alert him to the need to obtain probate or LOA? I know from experience that getting through their checks to release money from accounts of the deceased makes a Special Branch interrogation look sloppy. All the required documents have to be originals for them to unfreeze funds - and that's in a country bank to which the whole family has been known personally for generations. You can't just waltz in with a Death Certificate and an unproved Will - you have to provide documentation showing that you are entitled to execute the Will/administer the Estate.

Forgive me for asking this - but do you have any reason to believe that your estrangement from your father was such that he would disinherit you so thoroughly?

Do you have any reason to believe that he and your step brother were indeed so close?

Of course, the other possibility is that there was a subsequent will that has been destroyed or mislaid, but that still doesn't explain the above.

I know this isn't legal advice but in your position I would need some sort of closure - quite apart from the money itself - to know for sure what had transpired. The powers that be are likely to accept the Will for what it appears to be unless they are given formal reasons to doubt it.

You must also be grieving for your father and the fact that you had no opportunity to say goodbye - I'm so sorry for what you're facing, with this utterly surreal situation on top.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

have you followed the thread on law forum? I posted some blanked out letters on there today.

im not sure what hes upto. the background noise suggests defo not to be trusted, but some people can be quite snobby about how other people live. I still think this maybe an exwife issue hence selling his property then moving into my dads thus appearing to be asset empty and not doing probate.

of course he could be following these threads and second guessing my next move having a good laugh at my expense.

then theres the £53k in cash that my dad might have given him in 2010. again it seems asset hiding.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I don't get the impression of someone having a laugh.
If you think the will is genuine (and that does seem likely) perhaps you should point out the problems having the house registered in your name is likely to cause him.
Suggests he gets probate so the house can be re registered.
If you want to check out his financial position you could do an online search to see if he has any CCJ's registered against him.
Perhaps you should take up his offer and accept the photos.At least that way you would have something of your fathers.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Why didn't the bank, or the solicitor, or the insurance company alert him to the need to obtain probate or LOA? I know from experience that getting through their checks to release money from accounts of the deceased makes a Special Branch interrogation look sloppy. All the required documents have to be originals for them to unfreeze funds - and that's in a country bank to which the whole family has been known personally for generations. You can't just waltz in with a Death Certificate and an unproved Will - you have to provide documentation showing that you are entitled to execute the Will/administer the Estate.

That's odd, because just over a year ago my wife waltzed into a bank in Margate, and emptied her late aunt's account of approx £20,000 on production of a will prior to probate and a driving licence!
Must have an honest face, unlike her OM!

[wales01man]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

On the surface it looks a bit strange here ,If probate has not been granted the deceased still owns it all as in their estate.

Maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the step brothers failure to complete the legal side of this a Divorce or deep in deep trying to avoid having any assets until debts are SB ?

The taxman needs to be informed via probate if the estate is subject to tax and the DWP may be owed for overpayment of benefits.

The OP needs IMO to seek some advice from a solicitor this can be done once they obtain probate and costs can come from estate ,does the OP know if an execuoter was named in the will?

A lot of questions to be answered before this may turn into more of a farce than it is now

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

Step brother named as executor in will.

[wales01man]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

And if he has not got probate and sorted it all there must be something wrong

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

the second letter which he refused to sign for. apparently was rejected, according to hearsay, because he thought it was from his ex wife. at that oint I didn't know he had married his long term partner in 2009, then sent her packing when my dad died.

[adamk]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

I don't get the impression of someone having a laugh.
If you think the will is genuine (and that does seem likely) perhaps you should point out the problems having the house registered in your name is likely to cause him.
Suggests he gets probate so the house can be re registered.
If you want to check out his financial position you could do an online search to see if he has any CCJ's registered against him.
Perhaps you should take up his offer and accept the photos.At least that way you would have something of your fathers.

which is the best online system to use to check? ive used 192.com, but that seems a little generic and covers lots of other stuff that's not useful.

[des8]

Re: late fathers estate, step brother involved

At the risk of advertising, try here: trustonline.org.uk
There is a charge (£4 I think).