Executor taking valuable items home

[Greekcatmug]

My sibling is the executor of my father’s estate. He will not communicate with us 2 other siblings and hasn’t done for a number of years.
He has taken jewellery and quite a substantial amount of cash from the property. The safe has been smashed open.
The property has been left to him I understand but nobody has seen a will yet.
I know that this is wrong but I have no evidence to support this and it is only our word against his apart from the smashed safe. Who do I report this to? I’m scared of repurcussions as he can be quite nasty.

You get a copy of the will.

Yes, start by getting a copy of the will. You shouldn’t take his word that he’s been left the property, let alone the contents. If you’re able to get photos of the smashed safe, I’d do that.

The will hasn’t been read yet.

@BruFord we have taken a photo of the safe. My dad’s funeral was only over a week ago so no will has been seen yet. My father told me that he’d left the property to my brother but as far as I know until the will is read then the executor can’t touch anything.
I don’t know if I should report this or who to?
thankyou

Do you know if the will was made by a solicitor? If so, just ask them. You don't need a 'reading'.
It's a really difficult situation to deal with without involving (expensive) solicitors so if you can speak calmly and professionally to your sibling, it would be far better. Won't you need to liaise to arrange the funeral?

Sorry for your loss.

Is your brother definitely the only executor? You can def. order a copy of the will after probate has been granted. Before that, you have to ask the executors to see it.

Will reading is not something that happens in the UK. There is no requirement to gather all the beneficiaries together and read the will to them. Your sibling, as executor, will need to apply for probate so that he can sell the house or transfer ownership. Once he has done so, your father's will becomes a public document and you will be able to get a copy from the probate office.

Contact the solicitors explain that the safe has been smashed open, items removed from the house and should you contact the police.

OP how have you come to know about the safe being smashed? AFAIK the executor is expected to take inventory. They are allowed to remove things from the home for safe keeping and things such as substantial amounts of cash, jewellery, important documents etc are exactly the kinds of things that should be removed.

It's true that valuable items are probably safer in a lived in house.

They should be distributed according to the will, they don't need to be left in the house.

You really need to ask for a copy of the will from wherever it may be. Was a copy in the house at all, can you look for it?

That’s good advice @justasking111.

Thankyou all. My brother organised the funeral and wouldn’t speak to us only over WhatsApp so that was very difficult.
He has been very abusive in the past and I think I have trauma from it and he won’t speak anyway.
I know that the safe is smashed as I went round after and saw it.

@justasking111 thanks I will do that

Ok, be wise about going round to the house as you don’t have lawful authority to be there at the moment. If your brother has been abusive in the past he may accuse you of taking things etc from the home.

My advice is to sit tight and let it play out for now. He cannot keep you from accessing the will once probate has been granted.

@vitalityvix yes Thankyou for this. I have been round once as we weren’t allowed round before and it has been difficult because I wanted to go into dad’s home just to be near him. He knows we’ve been round and now I am worried about accusations. I am keeping quiet now because I am worried about what may happen next.

wills are not read, they are submitted for probate or, if no will, for letters of administration. You can check online to see if a will has passed through probate or letters of administration have been granted.

Executors become executors as soon as the testator dies. At that point they can make decisions about what is done with the estate but they cannot contravene the will (if there is one) or make decisions which are against the interests of the beneficiaries.

Thankyou all for your advice. It has really helped. My brother saw the smashed safe, and said that dad never left any money.
Im just very sad with the whole situation and I won’t go round as I feel like his home is tainted. For the sake of my MH and also the fact I can’t do anything about it I’m just going to leave it. It has overtaken the grieving and I don’t want that.

I'm sorry for your loss.
Is the property now empty ? If so, the house insurance may now require that all valuables are removed from the property for safekeeping

Although smashing the safe doesn’t sound good, you’d probably find anything of value wouldn’t be insured if left in an empty house. It makes sense to secure anything of value.
We’ve always removed everything asap as it’s usually pretty obvious when a house is empty.
Sorry for your loss.

Thankyou all. I’m going to let it go because there’s nothing to be done about the situation.