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.

But the beneficiary needs to at least be notified and…
there needs to be a very compelling reason WHY a sale is necessary
it can’t just be that an executor fancied it

I genuinely don't understand your point on this. A beneficiary only needs to be notified once the estate is settled and their share is ready to be distributed. Of course, when families/beneficiaries get along, then they are often informed of the steps as they go, but there's no legal requirement for this.

It's up to the executor to wind up the estate and distribute the proceeds to the beneficiaries according to the will. As long as the will doesn't directly say that the property itself should be shared/left to a particular person, then the executor can do what they like with it (sell it, don't sell it as they see fit) , as long as all the beneficiaries get the correct share of the estate. The executor does not need the beneficiaries permission to sell the house (unless it has been specifically mentioned in the will).

Not sure I say I’ve been fannying around on zoopla 😄 or that I have an issue with spending £3 (took me a mo as had a few tasks to fulfil for the DC). And I was on zoopla for 2 mins. I’ve got the land registry in front of me now.

in this moment it’s pretty confusing. On zoopla it said sold in 2021. However, on the register under ‘charges register’ it says 2019 proprietor then name of bank.

Under proprietor register it has my parents name from when they bought it. Since then it says ‘restriction & some info about nothing being registered without consent signed by banks name.’

I’ll check in with a solicitor and go from there as I can’t make head nor tail of it. Really appreciate everyone contributing today and sharing their thoughts.

He would have had a solicitor to sell . And then on land registry there should be a record of any mortgages. I would engage a solicitor quickly just to ask what funds will be distributed.

But the executor HAS to notify
AND there has to be a specific reason why a property is being sold by the executor when there is a beneficiary that has full faculties

it can’t just be on an executors whim

And trust me when I say HMRC will be very aware of everything being sold for IHT and CGT

the legal paper trail for probate is novel length

If he’s taken all the money from the estate there is pretty much NOTHING that OP can do besides spend a fortune on lawyers and get nothing in return.
He will unfortunately get away with it as the law is toothless.
The worst thing she could have done was give up her position as joint executor, she effectively handed him the money the minute she did it.
All the Solicitor involved in the property sale would have been interested in was proof of Probate and who the executor was.

It sounds like bank had first or second charge so they just had to be paid first when house sold.

OP, if a property is mortgaged (or put up as security for a loan) it is normal for the mortgage company to have a charge on the property.

OP, I've just sold my late in-law's house as the sole executor. I'm a solicitor, but not acting as a professional executor here. Had I wished, I could have trousered it all. Everything came to me, be it cash in the bank, the post-office, or the proceeds from sale of the house. That's the point. As sole executor with a grant of probate, I have sole authority to receive the funds. Yes, I'm supposed to distribute them according to the will, but no-one is checking that other than the beneficiaries (my husband and my two SILs ;-) ). The one exception is a life insurance policy, which doesn't form part of the estate and, as such, is distributed at the discretion of the trustees, usually in accordance with any expression of wishes.

That's not to say you are without remedies here. If there's a surplus, that's half yours.

The land registry didn't use to name the transferor (unless inadvertently when reciting a conveyance that contained covenants etc to be noted), but rather the new registered owner (along with the charges register, price paid and some restrictions). Has it changed now the new system has been implemented? Hope you got value for that £3!

(to be clear, I haven't deducted a single solitary penny when distributing proceeds to the beneficiaries and I was only momentarily tempted when DH was being an arse...)

If it was sold six months ago, it's very unlikely that the land registry have updated the register. They have a massive backlog at the moment.

You need to find out if your mother's estate was insolvent in which case your brother either walked away from the administration (unlikely given he was renting out the property) or he would have had to apply for an insolvency order but I doubt he did that either.

If he has wound up the estate then as a beneficiary you are entitled to a copy of the accounts for the estate which will break down what is left as the residue to be shared.

If probate was obtained then you could pay for a copy it's £1.50 and it will tell you who is responsible for the administration and I believe also the estimated size of the estate (I could be wrong).

I think have a chat with a legal adviser and also weigh up whether the emotional distress is worth pursuing this.

But the executor HAS to notifyAND there has to be a specific reason why a property is being sold by the executor when there is a beneficiary that has full faculties

Since when? The executor has to distribute the estate. They don't need permission from the beneficiaries as to how to go about liquefying the estate.

There was obviously a mortgage on the property though. Maybe equity release? The probate valuation should tell you how much that was. It could well be that once the secured debt was paid there wasn't anything left.

If OP remained an executor, the brother wouldn't have been able to do anything without OP knowing.

However, OP has already sought the advice of a solicitor which is in the post. OPs solicitor would have advised of next steps if they are or were a beneficiary of the estate.

Not random on Mumsnet. 🤷‍♂️

As @nowlook says, it's really easy for an executor to just pocket the cash. It's unethical and illegal, but sometimes no-one is keeping an eye on the executor. Once it's done it's costly and stressful to challenge it. It's really based on trust, which is ridiculous when hundreds of thousands of £ are sometimes involved.

@nowlook could I ask you a question, before you sold your late in-laws property, did you need to change the details of the owners with the Land Registry from the late PILs to the beneficiaries of the will? My situation has some similarities with OP’s.

An executor is disqualified if they have been convicted of a crime and sent to jail since he or she was appointed. I think OP mentioned that brother had a conviction and was jailed. He could also be disqualified for "intermeddling" with the estate, e.g. benefitting personally from the rental income that actually formed part of the estate.

Worth mentioning if OP engages legal advice on other aspects. But if probate has been granted already, and brother has done a moonlight flit with the residue..... ?

At the very least the executor should produce his estate account for perusal.

No, I didn't need to change it... and I did ask the question of the conveyancer too at the time! This is all dealt with as part of the application to register the new owners who have bought the house. In my case, I had a registered title which showed joint tenants (owners in legal speak) as being FIL and MIL. FIL had died in 2019, but MIL had never done anything to transfer into her sole name. MIL died in 2021, so ours was a case of two registered proprietors who had both died. It didn't matter a jot. As a pp has said, the backlog at HM Land Registry is quite serious, so no-one's doing those tidying up applications at the moment.

OP, sorry I haven’t read all of the replies, but even if the property was repossessed and sold by the bank that doesn’t mean there were no sale proceeds that went back to your brother after the bank took their share - if there was equity in the house then there still would have been money to share between you and your brother which you would have had a right to.

I have to say, it's frankly terrifying how easy it was to get the money. Made me realise how open the system is to abuse. I've told DH that we'll be appointing professional trustees/executors when our time comes. As you said, it's hundreds of thousands of pounds in some instances.

*But the executor HAS to notify
AND there has to be a specific reason why a property is being sold by the executor when there is a beneficiary that has full faculties

it can’t just be on an executors whim*

The executor only has to notify beneficiaries when the estate has been sorted and is ready to distribute.

And the executor can do what they like with the property (even sell it on a whim if they choose) as long as there is enough money in the estate to let all beneficiaries get their share. I'm very confused by the statement there has to be a specific reason why a property is being sold by the executor.

I've mused on this @budgiegirl and can only think that the poster is confused between having power of attorney (while the donor of that power is still alive) and being an executor (when the testator demonstrably is not).

How about you stop being so rude. That might help.

LadyLapsang I recently sold a property and Land Registry were notified of the new owners’ names as part of the conveyancing actions by my solicitor.

I don't understand what you wanted to happen OP. The executor of a will can sell the property, unless there is a clause forbidding a sale. You didn't want to be an executor and didn't want to be involved.

Order a copy of the grant of probate here www.gov.uk/search-will-probate this will show the gross and net value of the estate, so the value of the house plus other assets like savings then the net figure will deduct debts owed so you will see if most or all of the house value was needed to pay outstanding loans.

OP; solicitors will give free advice on whether it's worth proceeding with legal action, but first try and find out what it was worth when your parents bought it, and what it was worth when it was sold by your brother; e.g. how much you maybe should have inherited.

Different scenario, as my (bellend) brother and I were both executors, but he worked it so that he got around 10-15k more than me. I asked a couple of solicitors about legal action to get it back (I was coerced into selling it to him at a lower price, as he was already living there and refused to move or allow viewings etc.) Anyway they both told me it wasn't worth pursuing for that amount, even though as an executor, he shouldn't have benefited more than the other beneficiary (me).

For 50k or over, I imagine they might suggest legal action, especially as having been in prison, he should not have been an executor anyway. Sorry for ramble; it still pisses me off.