It's a Will one

[Nelly555]

There is so much backstory to this but I don't want to bore you.

My aunt & uncle didn't have children and their estate was to be split between all nieces and nephews.
After my uncle passed away my aunt changed her will so that 3 of my cousins got the bulk of the estate . We knew about this and my aunt had expressed her regret and wanted to change her will back to the original one as she thought she had been coerced into chancing it.
One of the cousins (who was due to get the bulk) husband was executor. We told my aunt to contact him to change the will as if we had taken her the fallout would have been huge.

Anyway, she sadly passed. For all kinda of reasons there was a huge fallout within the family. Her will was sorted and everyone paid except myself and my brother. I contacted the executor (cousins husband) and he said that he had sent me a WhatsApp message but I hadn't replied. That he had 12 years to contact me and we had a huge argument.

He eventually paid myself and brother our inheritance but I have the feeling he wasn't going to if I hadn't got in touch. He seemed surprised that I have a copy of the will.

A few of the beneficiaries live abroad and have not been in contact with my aunt for many years. I'm suspicious as to wether he has paid them as I'm sure he had anted to keep mine and my brothers.

I am going to try and contact them to see if they have got theirs. If they haven't can the executor be liable for anything?

He really is a nasty piece of work and I would love to wipe the smile off his face

The executor needs to execute the will as it is. I am not clear whether your aunt changed her will to split the estate equally between all her nieces and nephews or not.

If she did then that's what should have happened and all the cousins should have received their share. If she didn't, then the money should have gone only to the three cousins.

It seems odd to reopen this now, but if you have any doubts about whether your cousins received their share, I don't see why you shouldn't ask them.

Sorry @Fifthtimelucky I had to pop out last night.

My aunt didn't change her will back, so the majority of her money was split 3 ways with a much smaller sum to the rest of the cousins.

My query really related to the fact that the executor contact myself or my brother to inform us about our inheritance. I had to ask him and he tried to start an argument to delay paying us.

If I hadn't asked I don't think he would have paid it. The other cousins are in a different country and I have no contact with them, we don't know them at all. I'm just thinking if he has done the same to them? I do have their addresses and I will contact them to see.
Hw told me he had up to 12 years to contact everyone, which I'm not sure is correct.

The falling out was nothing to do with my aunts will but accusations he made against my mother who looked after my aunt.

The 12 years is somewhat correct. Beneficiaries have up to 12 years to make a claim on the estate, so where there are uncontactable beneficiaries, it's wise for executors to take steps to protect the estate from claims - this might include setting aside the unclaimed legacies in an alternative account so the remaining funds can be disbursed to those known beneficiaries without undue delay, or there are alternative legal routes.

The executor should make a reasonable effort to contact all beneficiaries in a timely manner. However it sounds like the executor may not have a way to contact them - have you provided the addresses to the executor or asked if he has them? Obviously, he's not expected to turn into Hercule Poirot to track these people down - if he's made reasonable attempts to do so, for example placing notices in newspapers local to their last known place of residence, he will be protected to some degree from delayed claims if these people should "come out of the woodwork".

I sometimes find there is something quite unpleasant about delayed claims from people who are named in a will as a beneficiary, but whose contact with the deceased was so minimal, they are unaware that the person is deceased.......

I am not a lawyer but it might be worth adding that I'm pretty sure that unpaid legacies attract interest a year starting a year after the person's death.

"I do have their addresses and I will contact them to see."

That's a great place to start.

Also, an executor is required to keep account of the assets and how and when they have been distributed.

As a beneficiary you are entitled to a copy of the estate accounts to see exactly how much the assets were and exactly who got what.

If the executor refuses to supply this then you can apply to the Probate Registry for an "Inventory and Account". There is no charge for doing this. The court will then send them a Summons to them to provide the accounts.

Thank you @Another2Cats
After much pushing he did provide me with these details. But he was very hesitant to do so.
I know he was up to something because he didn't contact myself or my brother about our inheritance.
The accounts were settled in the October and I contacted him the following April to chase ours.
I really don't think that he had any intention of paying us.

This really is part of a huge backstory but rightly or wrongly I don't want to let this go. They have caused my mum so much pain. I have left it for a while as my parents have been very ill so just wanted the to get better.

There was also around £4k in cash that my mum told them about but that isn't in the accounts.

I will contact the cousins abroad but if they haven't received their money he will hide behind the 12 year rule.

Honestly, they are a bunch of money grabbing twats. I would love to see him get his commeuppance.