My brother has sold my deceased parents house without telling me

[Coffeecup123456]

Not sure what to do or where I stand. My brother who I chose to go nc with & I were made joint executors. I relinquished my role after my DM died as he is very untrustworthy and I was concerned about my name being attached to probate & him not doing things as he should. He is very controlling and would not have involved me at all. Since then I discovered that for 3.5 years he was renting it out. Solicitor said I could only regain some control if I followed a lengthy /costly process of renaming myself to be an executor. Without that it was down to him doing the right thing by informing me of what was happening with my parents assets. Out of curiosity I just looked up their house. It has been sold within the last 6 months. There is many reasons that I won’t go into here that I have avoided my brother at all costs. I would love to know if there’s anything I can do or somewhere I can go to find out more. He would not willingly share any info and would be prone to lying.

Firstly, engage a solicitor and apply for the probate document. Secondly apply for the estate accounts, which you are entitled to see as you are a beneficiary.
Sounds like he has improperly managed the estate if he has been renting the property out for his personal gain, and has now sold the property and not distributed the proceeds. Therefore you should also apply for him to be removed as an Executor and pursue him for what you are rightly due under the terms of the will/wills.

I have literally just been through it

the executor cannot just sell!!!

he has to seek permission unless the person is shown not to have the faculties to do so or they can’t get hold of them.

But it’s not a matter of him simply doing it he hoops you have to jump through during probate if a solicitor doesn’t handle is incredible

This isn't true - it depends on the complexity of the estate and if inheritance tax is payable, but I did my father's estate and it took five weeks to get probate through.

It could be that he didn't involve lawyers. But if the OP was an equal beneficiary, she is entitled to half the proceeds of the estate, minus any debts. It would definitely be worth investigating further.

emotionally it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that your parents home has been sold without your knowledge but there’s nothing you can do about that now.

but I do suggest you contact a solicitor to write to him to ask for the estate accounts. It may be that there is no inheritance if there were significant debts. But you are entitled to 50% of anything leftover. And he was obliged to make astute decisions to realise the maximum from the estate and renting it out for 3.5 years (without clarity on what has happened to that income) may not have met that duty. Ask for the accounts and take it from there.

The executor’s duty is to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries

he would have had to get approval or if the property needed to be sold urgently to cover debts then he would have had to send notice to the op

I agree you need a solicitor - some will defer payment from any proceeds.

You should’ve put a note on the property to be informed if a sale is going through - this may have prevented this mess.

I doubt you’ll see any money.

Op

if you have a property - then Hmrc would have contacted you re CGT

the executor cannot just sell

yes they can, they can sell the house and then divide the proceeds between the beneficiaries. My MIL has recently died and my SIL is doing exactly that (she is using solicitors - her choice, I wouldn't have bothered as I think MIL's estate is even less complex than my father's was!)

Under section 25 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925, the executor(s) will be under strict duties to ascertain the assets and liabilities of the estate of the deceased, keep accounts and distribute the estate according to the terms of the Will and the law. It will therefore be very important who is appointed executor(s).

Seriously - there is thankfully little chance in this country of fraud when it comes to executors.

But if the beneficiaries can be contacted and have faculties they will, by law be notified and there needs to be a very compelling reason why an executor wells without a beneficiary permission ie large debts

I had a similar problem and went straight up to the house, kindly introduced myself and was invited to a cup of tea and biscuits. It was a nice well to do Asian family who had bought my parents house, they had no qualms in giving me all the details of how they got to buy it, from whom and how much they paid. My detective work did the rest. With all the information on hand I hired a solicitor.

Unfortunately I don’t think he’s too bothered about the law.

On whether the executor can sell or not without permission of beneficiaries , my understanding is that is dependent on the wording of the will. I could sell my parents house as executor without permission of my siblings (though I did keep them appraised) as the wills were written that as executor I could take all actions.

@Coffeecup123456 you can try tracing the property on Zoopla.com (full address and postcode) which will give you the sales history on the property and how much it changed hands for each time. That information is very accurate as Zoopla take their data from Land Registry (if the property is in England/Wales?).

.its more than likely you'll hit the barrier of GDPR DPA 2018 if you try to enquire about the vendor through the estate agent or via a trace to the solicitor as they may not be willing to disclose, due to data privacy of their client.

i would not recommend you sue your brother, it could be very costly and ultimately if your brother claims to have "spent the money" as he is highly likely to, you'll be faced with a long complex expensive court case that won't get you very far and will sap your own resource (££ and mental).

there are people out there who would happily swindle their own flesh and blood and walk off with the cash, and it sounds like he's one such person. It's coming to terms with it, that's all you can do, and keep him out of your life, his loss.

Ohthatsexciting you are making an assumption that the house was left directly to the op and her brother but that would be unusual normally it would be the estate in which case it is up to the executor to dispose of any assets. In that situation the op would not have to agree the sale nor would she be liable for cgt

Irrelevant

he would have had to have forged your signature multiple times

and do you own a property???

Pay the £3 on the link I sent you and you’ll know in a minute who sold the property

No, they are personally (so they are financially at risk if they get it wrong) responsible for the deceased's estate and it's distribution, not the beneficiaries. The OP has no links to the property, she's not a joint owner - if the proceeds of the estate are to be split 50/50 between the OP and her brother that means after the house sale. It doesn't mean she immediately owns half the house. There is no need for her approval before a sale.

Maybe you kept the beneficiaries informed during the process but there is no legal duty to do that - they should have a statement at the end. What kind of approval did you get to sell the house then?

Oh fgs

go on the link I sent you

i paid £3 on it last week to find out who purchased the property above me and also states who sold it

So in short he's stolen your share of the inheritance?

The executor can sell. You’ve relinquished your right as an executor

however he should pay her what she’s owed

if he doesn’t take him to court

(this is my friend who is a probate solicitor)

Under section 25 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925, the executor(s) will be under strict duties to ascertain the assets and liabilities of the estate of the deceased, keep accounts and distribute the estate according to the terms of the Will and the law. It will therefore be very important who is appointed executor(s).

What makes you think it was the right decision? Are you under the impression that being an executor makes you liable for the debts?

The OP could have appointed a solicitor to do the executor work on her behalf if dealing with her brother was that problematic. But by resigning she has relinquished all control and it looks as though she is now going to struggle to access her inheritance.

I think the claims regarding large bank debts are a lie - if the assets of the estate were outweighed by the debt he wouldn't have been able to retain the house and rent it out. He'd have had to sell it to pay off the debts.

When the OP relinquished her role as executor it did not stop her being a beneficary, she needs to get a copy of the will, if it's gone through probate it will be publically available, and see what her mother's wishes were.

And I agree with PPs that the executor does not need the beneficiaries' permission to sell assets of the estate.

The executors duty is to distribute the assets once the estate is effectively wound up (debts paid etc). Normally, beneficiaries would be kept informed, and consulted as they may wish to retain specific assets themselves (maybe buy out other beneficiaries), but it's not a requirement.

Presuming you are in the Uk

we have one of the best, if not the best, legal system re the administration of probate in terms of the law and hoops to jump through / boxes to tick.

the paper trail is obscene

and HMRC and land registry are very on the ball (understandably as both stand to benefit!)