Another Will one I'm afraid

[BackforGood]

I know some MNers think making any enquiry about a will makes you 'grabby', but I'm getting to the stage that I've got to stop being terribly 'British' and polite about this and do something about it.

Just don't know what / how to start, and am looking for any advice.

Over 18 months ago, a person died, left money (no house sale) to be divided equally between 5. All friendly at small funeral, exchanging contact details etc as realised we are now 'the older generation' and no longer have anyone else to pass on news of each other, etc.
The 5 people (cousins) aren't close, but equally no 'history' of bad blood or falling out previously. One of 5 is executor and told others he wanted to let solicitors deal with it, and felt spending a couple of £K on that was well worth it as none of us really knew what we were doing and didn't have time nor expertise. Other 4 all happy with that.
Other 4 still not heard anything about the will. Person who died was a very efficient, organised person, no dementia, no reason we can see for anything to be complicated. It was the executor who told others it was split evenly between 5.

Have been trying to contact the exectutor person on and off (not about the will, but about visiting, as another relative now living with them- although they wouldn't know that I suppose) for a year now, on and off. They never pick up phone nor reply to texts. One number is now 'disconnected' + the other says 'Phone is switched off' and there is no facility to leave a message.

Person who lives closest went to visit, and has recently discovered the executor person has moved house (presumably taking the other elderly relative!) and none of other 4 have been told a forwarding address (or the fact they moved).

What can the other 4 do ?
(The one who has disappeared isn't on FB or any other social media that I can see).
Can anyone give any advice as to where we start?
Partly because we'd like to visit the other relative, but of course, I'd be lying if I didn't also want to know what happened to the money.
Thanks

There's a government website where you can look at Wills. I would start here.

You could always ask our resident Will writer, @mumblechums01 (I think that's the right name!)

Wow!
I didn't know that. Thanks, OohhThatsMe, that is really helpful.

Now, what about finding the person that is alive / has moved ??

Once you read the will, you will have the contact details of the solicitor who dealt with it, they may have information about the missing relative.

I think between the four of you, you'd be able to do it.

Speak to the new people in their house. If they don't have the address, there must be a forwarding address. I'm not sure whether the Post Office will reveal this, but you could speak to the PO about sending something by registered post to an address and see whether it would be forwarded to the new address. 18 months might be out of their time frame, though.

Look at where they were working. Are they likely to be in the same company? You could try phoning the company and asking to be put through to them.

Ask your local council? Try 192.com? Try to think like a private detective - would you do in those circumstances? If you hit a brick wall, consider hiring a private detective - they're good at that sort of thing and if you split the bill between the four of you, you should find it affordable.

How much did you each stand to inherit? Is it enough for the executor to emigrate?

I don't know to be honest.
I mean, I know it's not likely to be millions
But I also know she worked all her life and hated spending money on anything, so I also know there were considerable savings, so enough to make a considerable dent in each of 5 people's mortgages, so certainly not an amount I'd want to write off.

I just (maybe naively? - not something I've ever thought about) assumed that any solicitor would only release money to the named people, that - even if he wanted to - he wouldn't be able to actually spend the other 4 people's money. Isn't that right ?

It depends on what capacity the solicitor was engaged I.e. sometimes a client will just engage a solicitor to obtain the grant of probate and then it will be up to the executor to close accounts, pay bills, legacies and distribute the residue.

If this is the case then the solicitor would not have had the cash to distribute. As a pp said start off by obtaining a copy of the will and grant of probate from the site above; it costs about £10 and should be available almost immediately.

The grant will show the name and address of the executor. If you're lucky the executor moved before getting the grant and so their new address will be there in black and white. If not then as a pp said it will show the details of the solicitor who obtained the grant. It would be worth then contacting them. They will not tell you the executor's address but may pass on a message for you.

If they don't have the up to date details then you may have to hire a tracing agent. This could be a couple of hundred pounds depending on how hard they are to trace.

Brill. thank you all.
I knew MN would know