Intestate query

[Sassie]

Hi
My brother died in May - he had a LD and lacked capacity , hence there was no will
I have 2 sisters who with me are beneficiaries of his estate
My 1 sister was his trustee for finances prior to his death and she verbally informed me in June he had approximately £2k in the bank
I have asked her for an update into his affairs but had no response
My sister has bought the care home he lived in gifts without running any costs by me and I am assuming she closed his bank account to do this
Please can you advise if she should have applied to be an administrator and if so would I have been advised?
Many thanks in advance
Claire

[des8]

How large is the estate and does it include real property (land or buildings),and/or any stocks and shares?

[Sassie]

Hi - there is no property or savings and I was advised but not shown any documents to say there was approx £2k in his account
it is more the principal of the matter than monetary and doesn’t seem fair my request for information is allowed to be ignored

[des8]

Small estate and no property means that grant of letters of administration not needed.
The rules of intestacy apply, so whoever is dealing with his estate should apply them
It would not be unusual for the person who was assisting your brother during his life, to settle the estate.
you will be entitled to a full accounting when the estate is finalised, but honestly is the principle worth the stress?

[Sassie]

Thank you for your response
My concern is my sister has bought numerous gifts for the care home and staff my brother lived in and I was not made aware of any costs etc
Under the rules of intestate can she spend his monies like this without my knowledge?

[des8]

All she can do with his money is pay his funeral costs, his taxes and debts and her own expenses incurred in dealing with the estate
She has a duty to his beneficiaries to do this with due diligence.

Buying gifts for third parties with the proceeds of his estate is not something she should be doing.

[Sassie]

Thank you
Please can you advise who oversees this and who she needs to report to, if anyone?
What can I do if she continues to ignore my requests for information as a sibling/beneficiary

[des8]

no one oversees it
it is up to beneficiaries to call foul by taking court action, but with an estate that only totals £2000 it is going to cost you more than it's worth.

Just try and shame her into giving you te information
Won't your other sister help?