Trying to understand how inheritance works ( in advance)

[BeachTree]

Hello

I have no experience of inheritance or executor matters and wonder if someone can give a bit of general advice.

The child of grandparent is named as executor along with one other member of family for when grandparent passes.

There are 3 grandchildren who are the children of the child named as executor . The relationship between the grandchildren and their parent is extremely strained and essentially no contact. Grandchildren understand anecdotally they may receive some sort of interhetiance from their grandparent.

Are the executors legally obligated to inform and distribute (not sure if that's the right terminology) the will as per the written will? Or could they make attempts at withholding or not informing those who are left items/money in the will?

Thanks

Legally he has to follow the will. The grandchildren should get a copy of it. If it's been filed for probate it should be available on. If he doesn't follow the will, the grandchildren will have to hire a solicitor to represent them.

Available online.

Are peoples wills available online?

Thank you, so the people who are 'left' something in the will, should receive communication of some sort to notify them of this?

Is the will deposited with a solicitor and do all the potential recipients know this?

No animosity in our family but our wills are with our solicitor and our adult DC have copies.

I am not in the UK, but I've heard here many times that they, at some point after being filed with the court, they are. If it hasn't been filed or was just filed very recently, it will not be.

Since you are concerned about this, I recommend that you find a local solicitor who does estate work and have a consultation about how to protect your interests.

The executor will need to apply for probate and supply a copy of the will to the probate office. The probate office will then issue a document stating that the executor has authority to act on the deceased behalf and they will keep a copy of the will on record. This is a public record and anyone can apply for a copy. The executor is obliged to keep to the terms of the will when they distribute the inheritance.

Absolutely this.
I'm currently the executor of my mums estate.
The original will has to be sent to the probate office then it becomes a public record which anyone can apply for a copy of
The executor has to follow the wishes stated in the will.
The executor can't access and distribute the estate without probate being granted first.
www.gov.uk/search-will-probate
Hope the link works

An Executor must follow the terms of the deceased's Will but they do not necessarily need a Grant to administer the estate, it depends on the nature of the assets in the estate and their values.

Forgot to add that an Executor would of course usually contact the beneficiaries as part of administering the estate to advise them of their bequest in a Will. Hopefully the Executors will instruct a solicitor to assist in the administration. You might want to apply to the probate registry for a standing search (once grandparent dies) so you are then notified if a Grant is issued.

Thank you everyone for your answers, that's really helpful.

FYI until probate is granted beneficiaries are not legally entitled to see the will nor know progress of the probate application. A good executor will inform beneficiaries and provide regular updates, a controlling executor will state you are not legally entitled to see the will/be updated.

A couple of things to consider:

• if your grandparent owns a property it can’t be sold until probate is granted. Land Registry have a great free fraud prevention service which can be used in the circumstances to get alerts when activity takes place on a property. propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk I recommend this to everyone as it’s free and you will know when probate has been granted.

• Is your grandparents original will held by a solicitor? If not you might want to suggest it - it’s not unknown for wills to disappear (shredded) so laws of intestacy apply.

Yes. An Executor has to apply for grant of probate. The probate office will require the original will with the application. The probate office will not return the Wollage and it becomes a public document.

You can search antibes probate history and view wills through the gov site.

Put in a standing search of the probate office (gov UK) site. It costs very little and i believe goes for 6 months and then must be renewed. once probate is granted you will be informed. You can access the will online, although I'm not sure how this is done. Then you can check to see if the will is being followed by the executor.

Not every will has to go through probate - have you a rough idea of the value of the estate ? If it's small it may not need it.

I don't have any details, but I through conversation I understand the grandchildren are likely to receive inheritance, but have no knowledge of amounts etc....

I don't know much about wills/estates etc and was just worried that due to relationship breakdown between the grandchildren and their parent (named as executor) and wanted to confirm if it was possible for them to somehow withhold information about the will or not inform those named etc.... Thanks