Probate question / no access to house

[LakesLovely123]

I was just wondering if anyone knew about this. My parent died and didn't leave a will. Probate was granted and my sibling is executeur. Communication is difficult. They leave a pile of rubbish they've sorted and get angry if I haven't taken it away but aren't allowing me to see the house or access it. It's been left as 50/50 ownership. They've always been money-minded and greedy. Said parent would buy them Christmas presents and birthday but not for me. They have grown up thinking they always deserve more.

Anyway I was just wondering if I had any rights. I can imagine they're taking/have taken anything of value, but I don't actually have photos of me as a child and I'm keen for the house to be sold and not have to have anything more to do with her.

Does anyone know? Have any advice?

This doesn't make sense.

If there was no will then there is no probate just intestacy. Which means nothing has been left to anyone but you will BOTH equally be the legal executors of the estate which will be split equally between benefactors (you and sister).

Problem is you both have to agree to do anything but they cannot legally deny you your share but to enforce it it is a long and expensive court battle. You would have to have the court remove their 50% executor rights for failure to carry out duties and then have the court order a solicitor to sell the property. Could take a year + and cost over £20k (which will eventually come out of the estate but will likely need paying upfront). The system is really flawed and unfair because getting justice for your rights is often financially out of peoples reach.

You can also try mediation, its about £600 per session where a professional solicitor tries to get a compromise where you both agree (kind of like therapy) but theres no grantee it will be successful.

As your sibling is the executor of the estate it’s their role to look after the property and other assets. They will also need to manage the sale process. However, as you are joint beneficiaries your sibling should be updating you on the process and deciding how to proceed - eg perhaps one of you wants to buy the house. They should not be disposing of the contents without consulting you as there may be items of sentimental value. Clearly as joint beneficiaries your sibling should need to agree on how to divide these items.
my dm died last year and I was the sole executrix but joint beneficiary with my brother. I handled all the paperwork but we made joint decisions eg what to do with contents: sell, donate and how to market the house etc.
sorry for your loss and that you are having a challenging time with your sibling.

You still need probate - letters of administration in the case of intestacy. I assume the op didn’t apply to be an administrator and the sibling did. They don’t both need to apply.

Op - I have used the term executor, but for intestacy it’s an administrator and letters of administration, but the role is effectively the same in terms of managing the estate, dealing with debts, distribution of assets etc.

You can deal with the estate equally if there’s no will but you have to apply for that OP

No idea if it’s too late for you to do that now.

Thank you that is really helpful.

But there was no will OP so your parents didn’t chose an executor

so the core problem is you and your sibling do not get on with each other

if you cannot reach mutual agreement over the division of the estate then your ultimate sanction will be a legal case against your sibling for "mal-administration" of the estate, assuming of course that they do something wrong;

Wrong would mean not distributing the money from the estate in absolute accordance with the order of closest relative as set out in the rules of intestacy.
I assume your other parent is already dead, so in that case as it appears there are only you 2 children left then the state must be split 50-50 between the pair of you in money terms only. If the administrator wants to sell the house but you don't, there is nothing you can do to stop them. You are course entitled to offer half of its value to buy it once it is on the open market, but even then the administrator could potentially still choose not to sell to you if they can justify their chose of another person instead.

Crucial fact is sibling has attained formal administrator status. Therefore in the eyes of a court they, and they alone, have the authority to dispose of assets of the estate as they wish. BUT, they are legally required to do so equitably, ie 50-50 in your case as there are only 2 of you (as nearest surviving relatives?)

For an intestacy the person appointed as administer will be the first person to apply for it who ranks highest in the order of relatives. As children of the deceased you each have the same rank, but your sibling got in first.
The only way to now challenge that is via a court case - that will be expensive, see this recent example of 2 brothers going to court to get the adminsitration moved from one to the other... the court took option 3, appoint an external professional person (which had to be paid for from the estate)
https://www.boyesturner.com/news-and-insights/letters-of-administration-right-to-apply

I'm sorry but where you and sibling are fighting over the spoils then unless the estate is worth £millions, you could easily end up wasting a lot of your inheritance on legal fees.

Without a will there cannot be an executor. You need to get some legal advice.

letter of administration ("probate") has already been obtained.
Your comment is irrelevant.

But the role of administrator is the same. So as per my situation one sibling has sole authority to deal with the estate, but both are beneficiaries.

But the role of administrator is the same. So as per my situation one sibling has sole authority to deal with the estate, but both are beneficiaries.

You can have more than one administrator though

I have no idea, however, if they both have to apply at the same time but it may be worth looking at as currently you
don’t have many rights.

All you can do is wait to see what you inherit.

So it seems it’s too late for OP to be joint administrator then

legal advice is never irrelevant and is exactly what OP needs.

You think she should listen to you and what? just give up.

My advice was spot on as I have literally HAD the legal advice when I was in OP situation and unfortunately the system is shit. OP need to challenge her sister in the courts to have her removed for failing to settle the estate which is long and expensive. Unfortunately even if you are legally in the right theirs no cheap or easy way to do it.

How did the sibling become executor, that's what I want to know.

They applied to become the administrator of the estate. They could both have applied, but perhaps one sibling lives nearer the property and felt it would be easier with just one local person to deal with the admin. From info given both were eligible to apply.

I thought parent had a will. Me and sibling weren't speaking. They didn't contact me until probate had been issued and I was informed that we were joint beneficiaries through a solicitor.

There's also an issue with the house looking derelict and sibling seemingly not keen to clear it and then market it.

Contact the solicitor, it sounds like they are handling the probate, they may send you a copy of the Will and you can also ask about accessing the house and what is happening.

Thank you. I'll do that.

it appears you misunderstood the scenario because you refer to executor, that is factually incorrect as there is no will, so your comment is irrelevant.
OP confirms probate already obtained under intestacy rules.

if you read my earlier post it explains what can be done to overturn an extant administrator... no where did I say "just give up". However, I did point out that challenging the situation can only be by mutual agreement (which appears unlikely) or by going to court, which will be expensive and may be counterproductive... as explained when you read my post !

without getting a court order, yes that boat has sailed.
For intestacy it is the highest relative who is first to apply

That’s a terrible system
They should change that to everyone who
inherits agrees and has to sign the application

there is no best solution

if someone is motivated by money then getting agreement of "all" could be at best somewhat fraught

if the "closest" person gets in first and others later object then the legal process is there to be followed

Applying for probate: If there is not a will - GOV.UK