Brother has appointed himself executer of will AIBU to be concerned about this

[User00000043297]

My parent died a couple of years ago, with an incomplete will, I think it was drafted but not finalised but apparently that doesn't matter and for all purposes, no will has be left so laws of intestacy applies instead. For various reasons a couple of years went by (I'm not sure how relevant the reasons are, but I'm caught between creating an unreadable long post and drip feeding!) and now new solicitors have been engaged by surviving parent as estate really needs to be wound up. I don't know much about law. I know my surviving parent did not want to be an executer and I thought there would be a discussion about who among our siblings would. There are 4 of us. I have since found out that a couple of months ago my brother applied to be sole executor. Now I understand this isn't a fun job, it's time consuming and can be stressful, so on one hand, I feel I should probably just be grateful I don't have to worry about it and appreciate it has been taken out of my hands. But on the other hand, I'm struggling with there having been no prior discussion (or update since). I'm not saying there's any reason to assume there's something fishy going on. But could there be? Is this just an attempt to expedite things? Is there any benefit to being executer that I am missing? Would it be sensible or a waste of time to apply myself... sorry for the long post. I just don't know if I'm being silly or it is a little off. Any thoughts very welcome.

We were following the lead of the former solicitor who was also dealing with the sale of the business, there are complications there and we were under the impression from previous solicitor this needed to be resolved and finalised before the estate could be dealt with. We weren't sitting around on our laurels, we thought we were following the experts lead. I also think, you would surely check if it was your siblings,rather just assume?

Thanks, OP. When I said

‘The remaining estate is divided into thirds. One third to the parents…’ I should have said ‘One third to the surviving spouse…’

I was thinking of that first third as going to your parent (as staying within the parental unit)

I don’t know how much discretion there is in the allocation of the free estate, the final third. If there is a choice to be made by the executor, judge or another authority figure, then I think your parent does need to have a solicitor looking out for them.

Who was originally appointed to act as executor/administrators? If your surviving parent instructed a solicitor to do this then surely your brother can't just become a sole executor unless the original solicitor resigned or was dismissed and replaced. Have you asked your parent or the original solicitor who is appointed now and dealing with the estate, probate and distribution..

Original solicitor was dismissed, my brother and parent did this and appointed a new one chosen by my brother. I don't think there was ever a question of a solicitor acting as executor or administrator, I've been under the impression it had to be one one of us siblings if our parent didn't want to, is it standard for a solicitor to do this?

Yes, it's very common but it costs more, the executor is whoever is appointed, you need to find out. If your brother is sole administrator there will be paperwork to prove it.

How are things owned?

Anything in joint names automatically passes to the survivor

Are you in Scotland or England @User00000043297 as the interstate laws are different.
In Scotland it's 50% to spruce and 50% split evenly between all children

Op has stated several times in Scotland

Yes i missed the 2nd page like a twit

Your parent needs their own lawyer if there's a conflict of interests between them and your brother. The current lawyer should advise them of that. I am in England but I imagine rules about conflicts of interest are very similar for solicitors in Scotland.

Also I know that property is held on a different basis in Scotland but in England if a house is jointly owned as joint tenants it passes to the surviving spouse and would not form part of the estate. I don't know if there's an equivalent in Scotland - the document I link to below doesn't mention it.

This might be useful: https://bprcdn.parliament.scot/published/2025/2/18/43c63885-3956-494f-b541-3f83954cc07c/SB%2025-06.pdf

How was the house owned? Owned jointly means it will go to the surviving spouse, if it's owned as tenants in common then they should have mirror wills in which they say what happens to their half of the house on death.

There is no will. Op might find it useful to read up about Scottish intestate law and rules, appointing executor/administrators and get in touch with the parent and brother to ask who is doing what. Whoever is administering the estate has to follow the law, there's a responsibility on all beneficiaries to try and find out themselves who is taking on the role.