Executor of estate

[Catrin jones]

My name is Catrin Ihave lost my grandma who died over a year ago. I had to wait till it was confirmed I was next of kin. I am 20. The pub I inherited was put up for sale firstly at £1.2 m by the solicitor of the executor of the will and all the contents auctioned off. I have been requested to sign for £300k and will recieve £10k per house sold by when the developer sells the 9 properties which 5 will be selling at £525k and 4 at £450k. I’m also being charged £100k+ for debts incurred and solicitors fees of £250 an hour. I am not sure what to do should I sign for the money or seek better advice. They no I am a 1 parent family and on benefits.

[Amethyst]

Hi Catrin, I'm sorry for your loss, and for your having to deal with all this at your age.

Do you have a copy of the will at all - are you the sole beneficiary or beneficiary of the residual estate ? or did your grandma die intestate ( without having made a will ) ? ( next of kin doesn't really have any legal meaning )

With regards to the sale of the pub - I think you're saying that the seller and purchaser have done a kind of 'uplift' deal whereby they paid a reduced amount for the pub on the condition they later pay a % or fixed amount of the value when the land is redeveloped ?

Your grandma owned the pub outright when she passed away ?

Do you have any details of how much the sale of the contents of the property raised ?

Where does the £100k debt come from ? Was that debt incurred by your grandma before she passed, outstanding mortgage on the pub maybe? or is it debts incurred by the estate/executor? ( and is that £100k being taken out of your £300k or has it been assounted for before passing the £300k on to you? )

Is the solicitor fee from your solicitor, or the executors solicitor ? Who is the executor ? And do you have your own solicitor ?

Tagging Peridot for you, but as this does sound complex I think you would be well advised to gather all your documents together and sit down with a solicitor yourself to find out what your options & rights are here so that you aren't taken advantage of.

[Catrin jones]

Thank you for responding I very much appreciate it.I do have a copy of the will showing I am sole beneficiary. The property and land was owned by my gran. I have been told I will be given relevant information about contents and other assets when I go to sign for the money

[Catrin jones]

I forgot to mention that the executor is my Aunty who has left everything with the solicitors to sort out. She is owed for transporting and burying my gran in her native town in Ireland the rat I believe is fees of the solicitor.

[Catrin jones]

The fees will come out of the £300k

[Peridot]

Hi Catrin,

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandmother. As you are not the executor you shouldn't need to worry about the debts etc. I am confused why the solicitors appear to believe they should take their fees from your legacy. It would be helpful to see the wording of the Will if you are able to post it here (with all identifying details redacted (blocked out) of course.

In the usual course of things the beneficiaries would only see estate accounts once the estate has been finalised. The executor (or her solicitors in this case) should be dealing with any debts of the estate and solicitors fees etc and it would be for them to query any fees incurred. If you are a residuary beneficiary you should also have received the information about fees so we need more clarification as to what sort of legacy you have been left.

It does sound like a complicated estate so it is sensible that solicitors have been appointed to deal. They would have quoted the likely cost to the executor but they are also aware that not only do they have to act for the executor but also they need to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries too such as obtaining the best price for the business. They are also expected to deal with all the debts, testamentary expenses (such as funeral costs which would have been quite high if your grandmother was flown to Ireland).

I think there may be some confusion on exactly what you are due here and without seeing the Will it is difficult to try and unpick things from what information you have provided. It may be that the £300k is an interim payment and you would expect to receive more in due course as the estate is finalised. This may be in addition, as Amethyst suggested to the new properties on the land being sold but it does seem a rather big leap from £1.5 mill to effectively £390k once all properties are sold (9 properties £10,000 on each sale to you).

I suspect that you need more information to understand what is happening and to enable us to give you some more pointers. Seeking your own advice may not be appropriate once you have a full explanation of what is happening and we have a better understanding of the wording of the Will. It is always an option of course but if you can let us know further details we may be able to guide you better.