Selling a car which is part of an estate in probabte

[wigginke]

Hi,
My father recently passed away and had written quite a specific will.
He remarried some 12 years ago and left the contents of his house to his new wife a good sum of cash also, he specified how to dispose of some property he had to my brother and i, and allowed her to live in his house until she passed on, it was in trust for my brother and I
He stated in his will that assets that were no specifically mentioned in the will be turned into cash
he noted his stepson as a beneficiary to any residuary once the wife had died and a second probate had been settled on the property she was permitted to live in as it

Before the crematorium had cooled my stepmother re-registered my fathers car, and passed it to her son who then d sold it for in excess of £10k and pocketed the cash
They were not in need of cash and the car had zero finance against it

My question is regarding the disposal of a car before probate has been agreed with the state. is this allowed?
She also sold off a couple of motorcycles as well in the same manner

The executor is not in communication with my brother and i, he is the financial adviser of the new wife and is working for her and not all beneficiaries so the situation is not the best

Thanks for any thoughts or reference regarding the vehicle disposal

Kevin

[Peridot]

Re: Selling a car which is part of an estate in probabte

Hi Wigginke,
All your father's assets including those items gifted to people, form part of the estate and should be included in the calculation of inheritance tax. Generally valuations would be obtained for inclusion in the estate values. If the Will is worded as house contents it could be argued this doesn't include the car and bikes, however generally the wording would refer to 'personal chattels'. Personal chattels means anything excluding money or investment property or items solely used for business. She can do whatever she wishes with those chattels, however their value must be included in the valuation of his estate.
Who is the executor? If it is your step mother then she has the authority to deal with the assets, although she also has responsibility to declare the estate value and deal with tax, debts etc.
Although frustrating, unless the vehicles were for the sole purpose of a business then they would be classed as personal chattels but their values must be included in the necessary forms.