woodvale

[woodvale]

Can anyone help on this problem? My brother and I are joint beneficiaries of father's will. He is the sole executor. He has not sent me a copy of the will and has lied to me about estate assets. When challenged to confirm in writing his assertion that there was nothing apart from the house , he admitted to a small amount of investments whihc he thought should be his since I had not had a good relationship with father.. I applied to the Probate office for a copy of the will (equal shares of all assets for both of us) and the net value of the estate as shown on the Probate document was about £60,000 more than he had admitted to. The property has been sold and the net proceeds divided by the solicitor acting for the sale. There is no solicitor involved in the estate otherwise. I am now waiting for him to provide final accounts and final payout. I suspect that he will pay me half of the investments admitted to. Obviously I will let him know then that I know the probate valuation but what then? Can he get away with this? Is he actually breaking the law if he does this and can I take legal action against him.

[Caspar]

Re: woodvale

I would think you have recourse through the probate service.

[The Debt Star]

Re: woodvale

Hi Woodvale.

He has not sent me a copy of the will

As a residuary beneficiary you are entitled to a copy of the will.

and has lied to me about estate assets. When challenged to confirm in writing his assertion that there was nothing apart from the house , he admitted to a small amount of investments whihc he thought should be his since I had not had a good relationship with father.

You are entitled to a set of estate accounts, detailing the assets and liabilities of the estate.

I applied to the Probate office for a copy of the will (equal shares of all assets for both of us) and the net value of the estate as shown on the Probate document was about £60,000 more than he had admitted to.

The net value of the estate on the probate papers does not include the value of any jointly owned assets your father may have had.

This value does not neceassrily reflect the amount available for distribution in any event, since the liabilities included in the figures are those to date of death, such as income tax, utility bills and also funeral costs. Other liabilities such as tax for the administration period, utility bills to sale of the house, legal costs and any other post-death expenditure of the estate are excluded form the probate values. In short, the net probate valuation on the copy Grant of Probate is not neceassrily an accurate picture of the true net estate.

The property has been sold and the net proceeds divided by the solicitor acting for the sale. There is no solicitor involved in the estate otherwise. I am now waiting for him to provide final accounts and final payout. I suspect that he will pay me half of the investments admitted to. Obviously I will let him know then that I know the probate valuation but what then? Can he get away with this? Is he actually breaking the law if he does this and can I take legal action against him.

It is often the case that a beneficiary experiences diffilculty before any probate proceedings are commenced in obtaining information. especially where a lay executor has been appointed and a solicitor is not involved in the administartion. If I understand you correctly the solicitor was engaged solely for the house sale (conveyancing) work.
At the end of the day, if you really do believe that your brother has hidden assets from you and to which you are entitlled in law as a residuary beneficiary, then you will ultimately have to force disclosure from him by commencing a probate action. You will have to serve your brother with an application notice, which will state what order you are seeking, namely disclosure of the esatae's assets. There is however a lot of pre-action conduct available nowadays before you commence a court action. Athough there are not official pre-action probate protocols (unlike other areas of civil litigation), claimants should write a full letter before action setting out their case. Your brother as the executor should then respond in kind. Doing so will asist you against an adverse costs order.

However, the first step would be to write to your brother requesting full information on the estate and requesting details of ALL of your father's assets, including any jointly owned property he may have had at date of death.
If this does not satiosfy you then I recommend you find a suitably qualified solicitor (preferably a member of ACTAPS) who can advise you on contentious probate matters.

[woodvale]

Re: woodvale

Thank you - that is very useful advice. We have asked for detailed figures on many occasions with no response. I think if we are not satisfied when the estate is distributed we will simply appoint a solicitor to represent us.

[The Debt Star]

Re: woodvale

Often a letter or three from a solicitor has the desired effect, especially when your brother goes to see his own lawyer and is advised that as the executor he has a duty to administer the estate correctly and is accountable to the residuary beneficiaries for his actions.