My late fathers will

[Lifeswhatyoumakeit73]

My dad died last year in December. He had a Will and left a nominal sum in it to me & my brother. My stepmother & the children they had inherited the majority of the estate- 2 houses, all the money. That isn’t the issue though.

My dad told us that there was provision in the will - £50k each for me & my brother. Since he died my stepmother won’t talk about it, won’t tell us where the will is, won’t talk about probate- any of it. It basically feels like she doesn’t want us to have the money. I don’t really understand it to be honest- she is financially set up for life, her kids will get the houses & the money. My Dad just left this amount for me & my brother (our mum is alive so we will inherit her house)

Do we have legal rights? Surely if it was written in a will then she can’t withhold that money.

It’s really upsetting to be honest as my Dad spoke to us about it before he died- he wanted us to have it and was clear it was in the Will. But she won’t tell us anything - not even the solicitor.

I don’t want to sound grabby- she’s had everything & her kids will get all they need too. It’s just upsetting as it’s what my dad wanted & he was very clear about the will & I don’t know what to do.

@Mooshamoo, I'm sorry it was all so difficult for you, but that's not everyone's experience. When my parents-in-law died, my husband was the sole beneficiary of their wills, they had no debts and few assets, and it was straightforward for him to get probate. Why should people like us have to pay a solicitor or a bank when we are perfectly capable of doing this ourselves?

Some points :

Probate can take a long time. I think there is an informal concept known as the "Executors year" which is a test of reasonable amount of time for sorting out probate etc, but it can take a lot longer than this under certain circumstances.

Wills are public documents, so once probate is granted, you should be able to see the will, plus the value of the estate. You can get this info from UK government sites for a small fee.

I think there is no obligation on the executor to supply a copy of the will to beneficiaries, but I would have thought any sensible solicitor would advise an executor for this to be done. If you are granted a % share of the estate I think you are entitled to the estate accounts, otherwise not.

Personally I think any reasonable executor would inform beneficiaries within a few months of death that a will exists and that a person is entitled to something from the estate. They may not have the exact knowledge of exactly what that would be at that point though. But what possible reason could they have for doing otherwise ?

What I would do :

If a year is not up, I would continue to check the probate register.

I would check the land registry for the title to the houses that I thought that my father would have owned/have a share in. If property is owned, then the will would almost certainly have to go through probate in order for the owner to be changed. I am not sure about the situation with the various different ownership rights (tenants in common etc) so I would find out about this.

Check the will register, as someone mentioned earlier to see whether that would provide any info.

Check the London Gazette to see whether there are any death notices placed in it. This is a very common thing for solicitors to advise to executors to see whether there are any debts exist that should be paid by the estate.

Get proper advice from a solicitor as to anything else I could do or should be doing.

The problem isn't really with the system, it is with your fathers choice of executor.

It's a sad truth that wills are often a way in which estranged family members wield power over each other.

It's really up to the testator to organise the execution of the will in a way that this doesn't happen if they know there are likely going to be issues.

Beneficiaries have a right to information during the probate process. It is the executor’s responsibility to keep beneficiaries up-to-date with how the estate administration is progressing. They must keep accounts for the estate and show them to beneficiaries when asked.

Beneficiaries can take legal action against an executor if they breach these rights or if the executor is otherwise mismanaging the estate.

Many beneficiaries are not always sure what to do if they suspect the executor is mismanaging the estate, or simply not working fast enough.

As a beneficiary, you only have legal rights over your share of the inheritance once the estate has been distributed. You do however have a right to information before then, so you can be kept up to date with the administration of the estate

The person in charge of administering the estate is called the executor . They have discretion over what information they share with beneficiaries, but it’s good practice to make everything as transparent as possible. They should agree with you at the start how often they’ll give you an update and stick to this throughout the administration process.

Once a Grant of Probate has been issued and the administration is underway, the executor – or executors, if there’s more than one – must keep accounts of the estate and be ready to show these if you ask for them. If you’re worried an executor is not being as open as they should be, we can help you make a request to see the accounts.

If you feel the executors are mismanaging the estate, you also have the right to take formal legal action against them.

I thought that you are only entitled to view the accounts if you have a % share of the estate ?

In this case the OP mentioned that they may have been gifted a specific sum (£50K) and in that case I didn't think that they would be entitled to view the estate accounts ?

Happy to be corrected on this ...

The trouble with using a solicitor is that they take a % of the estate in payment. So by doing it herself she is saving you money. These things are never fast, they take time, and the only things that get paid out fast are funeral plans. Sometimes it can take years before the accounts are finalised. You just have to wait, keep good lines of communication open and a solicitor on hand in case she is playing games.

tough situation though for you

Good luck OP. I'm still waiting on my brother to finish our late mothers will after 12 years. It involved selling her house and splitting it into four equal parts. Three of us haven't had the full amount yet. The only way to get it is to go to court which will cost more than what we could receive so the lying thief wins. Be prepared to never see that money.

In this situation, it sounds like she is saving her own money. The OP and sibling are expecting what their Dad promised, specific named sums of money. As I understand it, all those specific bequests have to be paid out first, plus executor's fees, and what's left goes to the residuary legatee, in this case probably the widow/stepmother. It's in her interests to keep the amount paid out on executors' fees and so on to an absolute minimum as it will all come out of her part of the estate.

It’s a long time to wait - I think private service is struggling afaik- even so she should communicate with you.

I don't understand this post. 5 months is ages and I would fully expect probate to go ahead quite quickly after a death. What do you mean?

There is nothing to stop you engaging your own solicitor to act on behalf of you and your brother with you sharing the cost. A letter might be all that is need to remind the stepmother/executor that they have obligations and that your solicitor is now engaged to keep an eye on things.

Whilst solicitors' bills can add up for the sums involved for you and your brother it would certainly be worth the cost of one letter now and maybe a follow up one after probate has been granted requesting timescales for you and your brother to be paid money owed. Hopefully that will be all that is needed. Good luck.

Have you been through the experience at all?

Five months is not ages.

After my father died,

it took 8 months for probate to be granted, and it took three years before I got any money from the estate.

I didn't realise it took so long, until I went through it myself.

A lot of things slow the process down.

A lot of companies take months to reply to the solicitor.

HMRC was the big one that slowed things down for me. The dead persons tax affairs have to be dealt with .

If I emailed the solicitor and asked him was there any progress, he would usually tell me that he was waiting to here back from The HMRC.

The tax office are extremely slow, and will often take months to reply about a dead persons tax affairs.

These tax affairs HAVE to be sorted before the estate can be administered.

It depends on executor and the estate.
So it’s a none professional executor here a grieving widow she might not be up to facing it immediately.
Depends on complexity of estate. Assets abroad, unusual assets that need valuing eg antiques. All needs to be accounted for before applying for probate.
I know probate was taking a long time to be granted due to Covid delays not sure if improved.

Did your dad have a solicitor for buying his house or if it’s a small town he may well have used a local solicitor. You can ask if they hold a will for (dad) or if they are instructed by executor of (dad)

An executor can be relieved of their duties if they are not doing what is needful e.g. https://www.holmes-hills.co.uk/news/2022/january/can-you-remove-an-executor-from-their-role but for the sake of £50k you'd need to self-represent because if lawyers get involved the legal fees are humungous.

Is there a set sort of time once probate has been legally granted/shows online? Or is that a bit like asking how long a piece of string is?

Is t the Will public, even if probate has not yet been granted?

It goes public once probate has been granted.

I check the website every day. We’re also waiting to hear about a probate application and like the OP the executor won’t speak to us. We’ve received letters occasionally telling us probate has been applied for and how they are still waiting for it to be granted, as they are legally obliged to do, but it’s very upsetting and worrying.

You can just get a copy of the will
online - have to pay a couple of quid and it’s available