Suspicions about an Executor

[meggle]

It has been a year since the benefactor died but the executor seems to be finding reasons to not distribute the estate. There were three specific bequests, one of which is to the executor and the residue to be split percentage wise to six beneficiaries - one of whom is the aforementioned executor. The executor said she needed with wait for a response from DWP as to whether the estate owed any money to them. They have now confirmed that it doesn't. She then said she was ready to distribute the estate but wanted to keep back some of the money "to give to friends and neighbours who were there for [the benefactor]". When four of the beneficiaries objected (I don't know what the fifth said), saying they wanted their full inheritance and that the estate should be distributed according to the Will, she claimed they were being greedy and that she needed to consult solicitors (at the estate's expense) and that it would further delay the distribution, perhaps for a year. She's now saying she needs to keep some money back until the end of the tax year to be ready to pay any taxes due from the estate.

The beneficiaries are concerned that something underhand is happening. Can anyone suggest what steps they should take to protect their inheritance?

[PallasAthena]

meggle Beneficiaries are right to be suspicious. The executor sounds like they are either being underhand and trying to disburse estate assets wrongly or are incompetent and simply don't understand an executor's legal duties.

Can you give us a rough idea of the value of the estate?

Has Probate been issued? You can check that here: Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales) [It's free to search and find out if Probate has been granted but there's a fee to download a copy of the Will and the Grant of Probate that will tell you the value of the Estate].

Whether a year is too long is not possible to say because it depends on how complex the Estate is. Was there a house that had to be sold for example?

No the Executor cannot give money or property to "... friends and neighbours who were there for [the benefactor]". At least not unless all residual beneficiaries agree and they clearly don't. As the executor is a residual beneficiary she can make cash payments from her share of the esate if she wants to, but not from everyone else's. As you say she must distribute the estate strictly in accordance with the Will. If she has wrongly gifted estate assets to non-beneficiaries she can be personally liable to reimburse the estate. Beneficiaries may wish to remind her of that

Legal fees incurred by an executor can be charged to the estate if it is reasonable and in the interests of the estate and its beneficiaries to do so. So it depends what she is seeking legal advice about. It is open to beneficiaries to challenge charging the fees to the estate if they felt it was unreasonable. That could result in the executor being personally liable to pay the solicitor. Beneficiaries may wish to remind her of that too.

It's hard to imagine, from what you have posted, that she could be consulting a solicitor about something that could take another year to resolve. That sounds like BS to me.

The vague references to "any taxes due from the estate" shouldn't be accepted by beneficiaries. They should demand more detail of precisely which taxes might still be due and why they can't be paid now. A year has already gone by since the death and we have just completed the 2025-26 tax year. Even if there were a small amount of tax not yet finalised that wouldn't justify paying out nothing to beneficiaries. The executor can pay out most of the estate and keep a small reserve for any possible tax due.

If informal discussions between the beneficiaries and the executor do not resolve this there are formal legal steps the beneficiaries can take.

[meggle]

Thank you for that. Just to be clear, I am trying to take an objective view of all of this but, although I am not a beneficiary, I am related to four of them.

The estate was valued at just under £311 000 on the probate application and the executor claims the residue is just over £300 000 One of the beneficiaries has obtained a copy of the Will and Grant of Probate.

The benefactor died last June but the house wasn't put on the market until the end of the year. I believe it was sold in April so the delay is not as unreasonable as I first thought. I was concerned that getting a reply from DWP seemed to take an inordinate length of time. I suggest the executor file a complaint about that last year, after a couple of months had passed. The idea being that, if necessary, she could exhaust their complaints procedures at the same time as dealing with the rest of the estate. Then, if the matter had not been resolved, refer it to the ombudsman. She wasn't willing to do that, saying she wanted to deal with the rest before chasing up DWP.

I found it very strange that she only said she needed to consult a solicitor, "which means more costs to the estate", after some of the beneficiaries said they wanted their full inheritance. Up to that point, it seemed she was ready to distribute the residue.

She claims taxes might be due on the interest accrued on the money in the bank. I thought interest usually paid nett of tax though.

One of the other beneficiaries is the religious sect the benefactor was and the executor is members of. The beneficiaries I am writing on behalf of have expressed suspicions that the benefactor might have been pressured to make those bequests but, as there appears to be no hard evidence to support their suspicions there seems no point pursuing that. It is interesting that the benefactor describes the executor as "my friend [friend's name]" when, in fact, she was paying her as a carer.

I understand the beneficiaries have a right to inspect the accounts of the estate. Do they have to be filed with the probate office or do the beneficiaries have to request them from the executor. Either way, is their a time limit on providing them?