Just found out I’m executor - several years after relative’s death

[metterklume]

I’ve been an executor before so I’m not completely new to this - however I am new to this situation. I’m in a predicament and I don’t know how common it is; I’d be grateful for any advice or pointers.

I recently discovered, quite by accident and certainly to my surprise, that my late grandfather named me as an executor in his will, alongside another, older relative. He died in 2017. The other executor did not inform me about the will, not through malice but because they didn’t want to trouble me and were sure they could handle it themselves. (Spoiler alert: they could not.)

Now that I’ve found out, I’ve also uncovered a bit of a mess. Older Relative was new to executorship so called the Which? Legal Helpline for instructions, which Older Relative then bodged because they didn’t understand the difference between probate and IHT.

The bottom line and current situation is this: the estate falls (fell?) beneath the IHT threshold. It appears to consist of a property held as tenants-in-common with my grandmother (still living) and a small amount in bank accounts held in joint names. The will said that my grandfather’s half of the house is to be held in trust until my grandmother’s death, whereupon it is to be distributed to his children. A charge was entered onto the property’s title register after his death, to reflect this status.

However probate was never applied for, and so a grant of probate has not been obtained.

Am I going to be in trouble if I submit the probate application, and IHT exemption form, 8 years late?

I’ve also been piecing the post-death finances together with some difficulty, because it was 8 years ago and Older Relative simply handed everything over to my grandmother. I haven’t found anything amiss so far - just some joint bank accounts, thank goodness - but I don’t want to submit a probate application until I am certain I have captured everything. Or should I just crack on?

if you have read this far, thank you!

Personally, I would get all the paperwork in order and draft the forms etc. e.g. inventory & accounts, IHT 400, probate form. Then draft a covering letter to both HMRC and Probate Office explaining what happened and that you are now sorting it out. I would then pay for an hours legal advice just to make sure it’s all OK then submit the application.

There maybe a penalty and the solicitor can advise what this would be and how to appeal it.

You don't have to agree to be executor if you don't want to be,brand it back to the solicitor.

I'd double check to see if you actually need a grant of probate. What would be the purpose of getting one now if everything has been dealt with?

Slightly different situation but my dad was executor for a family friend & we discovered that she had never applied for probate for her late husband so the property was still in his name.

my dad wasn’t his executor but was still able to get probate 10 years later.

if it’s before a certain date you have to do it on paper, not online.

The property won’t be able to be sold if probate isn’t granted.

It'll be sold by the grandmother's executor when she dies. They will then hand over half the proceeds of sale to grandad's executors to distribute. That's what the charge on the title is for.

Do double check though. If the house is the only thing to be sorted, ask the Land Registry.

Because it was owned as tenants in common & not joint tenants Without probate the grandmothers executor won’t be able to sell the property. That’s the problem my dad had.

@metterklume Please don't try and sort this mess out yourself. It would be best to take the documents to a solicitor and ask for proper legal advice on how the heck to sort it all out. You can't afford to get this wrong.

If everything was left to your grandmother, it should be fairly straightforward. My parents had ‘mirror’ wills and we did not need probate when my mum died as everything went to my Dad. Do get some legal advice to be on the safe side but don’t lose any sleep!!

You probably won’t have to do too much at all. I was executor for my late father and sounds like a similar situation in that the property was TIC and small amounts of money in joint accounts. Land Registry confirmed they didn’t require any action at all, they said it could all be sorted once the property was eventually sold. I did need to register the trust but this was done online, if I’m remembering correctly it needs to be done within two years of the death so I would contact HMRC regarding that and explain the circumstances. The banks weren’t interested in seeing probate documents because the accounts were joint anyway.

I wrote down exactly what I’d done and hadn’t done and concerns that I had and then arranged an appointment with a solicitor, I was in there less than 30 minutes and they confirmed everything was above board. They then followed it up with a letter, I think I paid about £150 two years ago, money well spent for peace of mind.

It doesn’t sound like you need a grant of probate, I’d just leave it until your grandmothers death.

As tenants in common, I don't think ownership of the grandfather's share of the property would transfer to anyone though. As a pp says, it could cause issues when they need to sell.

Edit - I may be wrong, so would be interested to know what OP finds out!