Executor stole the proceeds of the will.

[sarge]

Hi, I've joined to try to get some advice. A Japanese friend's daughter died in London, the friend of the family that he entrusted to handle her affairs ended up inheriting the vast majority of her estate, having blocked my friend from any information about the sale of property and conditions of the will. Now all parties (solicitors, estate agents, executors) involved refuse to provide any information as the executor (who we believe is the criminal) was the client that they dealt with and they claim client confidentiality. I will post the details in the probate section, but I'm not sure if I should be pursuing it as probate or as a fraud case. At this stage just being pointed in the right direction would be a great start. Thanks everyone.

[Amethyst]

Firstly, Does your friend have a copy of his daughters will ? https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Tagging Peridot for you xx

[Peridot]

Hi Sarge,

Can you confirm whether your friend's daughter who died was a Japanese national. What was her status in the UK?

As far as obtaining details of the estate the solicitor, estate agent etc are correct. Unless you are a residuary beneficiary to the Will you would not be entitled to any information and even then only once the final estate accounts have been prepared. If solicitors were appointed by the executor then (depending on what they were instructed eg deal with probate and the estate or only a part of the process) they would have been following the Will.

Do you know if a Grant has been issued as yet? If there is a Grant you can

obtain copy of the Grant and Will as they become public documents at that point.

I would use the link provided by Amethyst above to search whether Probate has been granted and then apply for a copy of the Grant and the Will yourself.
At least you will know what the Will stated and also have an idea of the gross and net figures for the estate value. Was the property in London? Have you tried googling the property to see the sum it was marketed for?

Of course this is all assuming the UK Probate Registry is dealing and not Japan. If the matter is dealt with in Japan I'm afraid we are only able to provide pointers on Eng/Wales law. You would need to speak to a Japanese law specialist if that is the case.

You state that the 'executor' is suspected of being a criminal, I assume this is because there is a belief he has not dealt with the estate correctly? Can you give some more detail of why you believe this to be the case. Here is a link to what things are included when dealing with estates for probate and also the sorts of expenses that are deducted from any estate values before distribution under the Will can take place:- https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died
and a link to how probate is obtained in Eng/Wales:- https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance

Once we have further clarification from you we may be able to give more pointers.

[sarge]

The executor did not inform him of the existence of a will. After waiting a long time and being constantly fobbed off by the executors, he eventually asked me to help him find out what happened to his daughters house. I had to obtain a copy of the will vis you.gov which he has now seen

[Peridot]

Hi again,
So what did the Will state? Was her father meant to be a beneficiary under the Will?

[sarge]

She was Japanese, she had a right to remain and she was a classical musician and professor at the Royal college of Music for many years.

I am not in any way a beneficiary, I am just an English teacher in Japan. I understand I have little or no right to information, but my friend signed a document explaining that I was making enquiries on his behalf but I still got no joy. He is Japanese and elderly and speaks little English now although he used to speak fairly well when he was younger. It is not possible for him to find out the information himself. The will was completed over 3 years ago, I realise the limit for contesting wills has expired but there are exemptions that can be made in exceptional circumstances (like when the executor never informs you that a will has been made ?? ) I know nothing about a grant. Solicitors were apponted but declined to disclose any information.

I know what the will stated, it listed the main beneficiaries as the children of the two executors, using different name in one case and listing the will as shares of 1/100th but never specifying any financial amounts ~ all designed to make it difficult for her father to understand it if he ever got to see it. It has all been dealt with in the UK nothing to do with Japan.

As for the executor being criminal. When I first got involved, I thought I was just asking a long time friend of the family for an explanation for whether my friends daughter's house had been sold or not. The friend of the family would not communicate with me, I sent her a signed letter from my friend asking her to deal with me, registered mail, she refused to accept it. The solicitors said they had been instructed not to divulge any information. The estate agents the same. The contact at the solicitors suddenly went on holiday for 3 weeks and never returned any calls. The joint executor also went on a lengthy holiday, bith in February this year.

I found that the house (via rightmove website) had been sold almost 3 years previously, but they had not informed the father. That a will had been made about 10 days before the daughter died of cancer leaving nothing to the parents and everything to the friend of the familiy's friends and relatives. She(executor, friend of family) never informed the father that there was a will. Every attempt I have made to contact her for an explanation has been blocked.

It may be that these were in fact the dying wishes of the daughter and the estate has been handled perfectly honestly. If this is the case then why hide all the details and refuse to give any explanation ??

I understand there are probate costs and inheritance tax, but the executor has refused to provide any financial breakdown of anything at all.

Thank you so much for helping if you can.

[sarge]

Peridot, the will divided the estate into 100 shares, it did not specify how much each share was worth, 80 percent of the value was given to the executors son who is her child with an unmarried partner, so the name of the child is not her surname 15 percent of the value went to the children of the other executor and the rest to their various friends and family members. I know the house was sold for 858,000 pounds and there were also valuable musical instruments, which I hope were gifted to the Royal college of music but I have no way of knowing. The father gifted the house to his daughter (with a claim against it) and supported her throughout her whole life as although she was a gifted musucian she was by no means a businesswoman. Her mother gave up her life in Japan to nurse her daughter through her long battle with cancer and they spent huge amounts on medical care costs to make her last years more comfortable. It is inconceivable that neither of their names are not even mentioned in the will. They had a loving devoted relationship, it makes no sense that she wouldn't even mention some personal effects.

[sarge]

The father just assumed that the house would return to his ownership after her death and asked the friend of the family to organise the sale of the property and to sort out the estate and send the money when it was done. The friend of the family agreed to do that. He never knew there was a will, his daughter had never spoken of making one and he is sure she would never have organised making one herself as she was not a very practical minded person.

[Peridot]

Hi Sarge,

Such a sad situation for the family. In order for the property to be sold there would have been the need for a Grant of Probate so do use this like to obtain it. If the Will was prepared by lawyers there should be a lengthy attendance not explaining the checks they carried out to confirm that the lady had sufficient mental capacity to instruct this Will to be prepared and that she understood the implications of her wishes. This is something that would be usual in such circumstances where someone is in the last stages of a terminal disease or illness. You mention her mother was looking after her prior to her death. I assume the will was not discussed with her?

As you rightly indicate if this Will was her genuine last wishes then there may be little that can be done. Did she financially support her parents at all? Apologies I am brainstorming a little here, but this may be an opening for her parents if it was the case, although I suspect 3 years down the line as without a Will her parents would have been entitled to the estate under the intestacy rules it may be thought they should have acted sooner?
If the Will only left the estate in the shares as you indicate then this would have included all the lady's assets including instruments and personal items so they would be included in the division of the estate value.

You mention that her father had 'claim against it' Was this a registered right against the property, in which case it should not have been sold without his involvement or was this just an agreement between the father and his daughter? If there is any paperwork indicating an agreement between them this may be helpful.

Unfortunately unless the Will could be proved to be invalid and/or her father can demonstrate he has a valid claim himself as he received financial support from his daughter or that the father's 'rights' against the property are legitimate with evidence backing it up I suspect any further action could be an uphill struggle for the family.

It may be worth her father providing a power of attorney in your favour to allow you to instruct solicitors to provide some advice on any possible action he may have but unless he is able to prove any potential claim I suspect he would be advised there is nothing he can do. It may be easier for him to seek advice from an English law specialist in Japan although I suspect this may cost a considerable amount.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I think the only way to be certain whether there is anything that could be done is to get some face to face advice. Do search for the grant of probate which will give an indication of the estate value and is obtainable for a nominal amount here:- https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate Do request a copy of the Will as well as the Grant as the Will may give an indication of who it was prepared by eg a solicitor or if handwritten. If it was a lawyer then a request could be made for a copy of the relevant notes made at the time which could also shed some light on the reasons and wishes she had at the time the will was made.

Have you contacted the RCM? Just a thought they may be willing to confirm whether any of the instruments were donated?

Please by all means post again if we can clarify anything further or try and think of any other ways of getting further information to try and help her parents through this.

[andrew1]

Tragic case and sorry to hear this Sarge, these kinds of situations are extremely emotive and complex, but there's always a way or a chink in the armour where information can be obtained when subject to suspicions.

Would there be any chance some of the Data could be obtained via DSAR process (although I acknowledge the Data Subject is deceased and that complicates things there) on perhaps obtaining internal details of the instruction with regards to the sale from the Estate Agent or other parties involved?

You might not get much from solicitors if the data is legally privileged, but there may be an opening for some information.

In situations like this you have to think outside the box sometimes and go outside the normal formal routes to obtaining information to get what you need. Did the deceased lady have friends who could be asked about her state of mind or intentions at the time of her illness for example?

I can't add much, but a word with the Information Commissioner might be something worth trying.

I wish you luck.

[sarge]

Hi Andrew and Peridot, I wanted to pursue this further and at least hold the so called "family friend" to account, but the elderly Japanese man decided that it was too painful to pursue, and at his age 94 he didn't want to spend his last years battling and destroying his memory of his daughter. As such I have had no further involvement. I would like to thank you anyway for your helpful points.