Claiming interest in inheritance

[Lazycatx]

Hi,
A friend of mine is currently seeking a portion of her inheritance. Long story short, her father passed away in 2002 and has 5 children, her being the youngest. Her father did not leave a will and as he was divorced her eldest step brother became the administrator and sold the property in 2006. Since this date, he has not given her share or shared the property account as she is a beneficiary. We don't believe he will respond and will unfortunately have to go through a solicitor which is costly both time and money wise. The property sold for £160k (below inheritance tax threshold) and split 5 ways is £32k. My question is as the property was sold in 2006 and he has held onto the money, can she also ask for interest to be paid on the sum owed to her? Also can she ask for the solicitor fees to be paid by him as he is non cooperative? Thanks!

What in earth has she been doing allowing this to continue. It seems unlikely the money will still be there and the decision will,be to waste money on solicitors fees. It is possible this could be a criminal offence if the money has been stolen

She might be too late. The limitation act applies. Not sure if it's 6 years or 12 but I strongly suspect she may be too late, but best for her to take advice from a solicitor on that.

Hi both, thank you for your response!
She was 13 when her dad died and then was busy at uni etc. I think I've got timings wrong, he died in 2012 and house was sold in2016. She also has no relationship with her other siblings, they've never met. The limitation is 12 years so she is just in time as there is 2 years remaining.
He has not responded to an email where she requested a property of account, the deadline is next week and thereafter she will involve a solicitor.
If he has spent the money would it be a criminal charge against him?
It is an usual situation so I appreciate any feedback!

When you say step brother, do you mean half brother?

Yep half brother same dad different mum

This depends on the size of the estate if the dad died intestate. What was the value of the estate and is there a surviving wife? The best she can get, if there is a surviving wife, is 1/5 of the 1/4 of the estate reserved for DC if the estate is over a certain value: currently £270,000 I think. Not sure about 10 years ago.

I would look at how much the house sold for on Zoopla and then see a solicitor if it looks like substantial money might be involved. Also get advice on time limits and legality of what was done.