What will the Probate Office do?

[saraclara]

My mum's sole executor is planning to renounce her role, and is intent on sending the form and my mum's will and other documentsto the Probate Office, rather than letting us, as next of kin, have the will so that we can do probate ourselves.

I called the probate office earlier this week. They promised to get back to me that day, but didn't. So I emailed them and they haven't responded to that either.

The only thing I got from the inexperienced woman I spoke to on Monday, was that she thinks once they've received a will, they can't return it. Does anyone know if that's right? And as we can't apply for probate without the original copy of the will what happens next?

Normally if an executor renounces their role the process would be for another person, probably yourself and/or siblings, to apply for Letters of Administration With Will Attached.

I don't know what the Probate Office will do with an original will in these circumstances but I cannot imagine the situation is unprecedented.

Explanation here:
https://www.bishopslaw.co.uk/renunciation-of-probate/

Probate office says the Form to renounce should be filled in then passed to the person beneficiary of the will who will apply for probate https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-pa15-give-up-probate-executor-rights. Yes usually if an original will is sent to the probate office it’s not returned. I would try to make sure you have a solicitors certified copy of the will and ask the excutor who’s renouncing to contact the probate office before renouncing so you all understand the process.

Thanks for those links. Unfortunately as far as I can see, they only give instructions for what to do with the form when there's another executor available.

Is there another person who could act in place of the executor?

It doesn't need to be a person nominated by the deceased. I did it for a late aunt of my Father's who was predeceased by both her chosen executors.

I would say you need urgent legal advice on how to prevent the current executor from doing this. Is this a case where relations have broken down within the family?

I find it hard to believe that the Probate Office would hang on to the original will if they were advised, ideally by a solicitor, that this had been done in error and the new executor would be unable to proceed at all without the signed witnessed will.

Good luck!

I'm happy to do it @Bromptotoo but without an original copy of the will, I understand that I'm unable to.
So if the will has ended up at the probate office, how does probate get done?

It's not a family member, it's a friend of my mother's. I've tried to talk to the solicitor who holds/held the will, (and who the executor has talked to, but not instructed at any point) but they're not returning my calls or responding to my email.

Has the will been sent to the Probate Office out of malice of some sort or just because the appointed executor is ignorant of the process?

I don't think the position will be insoluble but you need to speak to somebody in the probate office who knows their stuff.

If the executor sole executor on the will renounces my undersatansind is the next of kin can apply for probate with the will. When the probate office processes the application they will need evidence of the renouncing hence the form if you intend to apply for probable the renouncing executor should give you the original will for you to send the application along with the PA15 form to the probate office.

In answer to your question, I suspect both. She's definitely malicious, but she's also spectacularly ignorant of the law, which is how the problems with her began.

if you intend to apply for probable the renouncing executor should give you the original will for you to send the application along with the PA15 form to the probate office.

But she won't. That's the entire problem. She's insisting that she has to send them to the probate office.

You need to speak to a solicitor yourself rather than the one who wrote the will. An initial consultation will cost maybe £200 but be worth it.
Do you know who the beneficiaries of the will are and the approximate value of the estate?

Would the executor react to a seperate solicitor instructed by you? If you know they are renouncing have must they been in contact to you to advise this. They may think they have to send the will to probate office as that is usual if they are applying for probate not renouncing.

Either the probate office or a legal solicitor would be best placed to advise you.

The original solicitor who created the will probably won’t talk to you as you have no automatic authority since you are not the named executor on the will, from your comments the will will have been given to the named executor therefore those solictors are likely no longer involved unless the executor has instructed them with the estate.

My sibling and I are the beneficiaries, but in reality everything will go to the council towards the massive amount of care debt that is owed through her deferred payments.

Thanks everyone who's responded so far. @Avidreader12 yes, I think that's why they're not responding. All I wanted really was for them to say whether they still have the will or not, so that we knew how to progress.

I'll be on the phone to the probate office again tomorrow, as soon as it opens. My problem when I tried last week is that I was on hold for half an hour, and none of their automated options allow for this kind of enquiry. So when I finally got through, it was to someone who didn't know., and wouldn't put me through to someone who would. She said she'd make further enquiries and call me back, but she didn't. And the email I sent on Tuesday hasn't been replied to either.

It's all incredibly frustrating

I'm sorry to hear what a messy situation you're in, @saraclara. Given the eventual outcome, would it be worth trying to the local authority legal department to intervene? Not sure if that's even possible, but from a practical point of view it's very much in their interest to get this sorted out asap so they get their money back.