FAQ Rights of a beneficiary; Who is entitled to see a will? and related issues

Sympathies for your loss reenee.

...executor of... has given out bequests & is clearing his house & has taken all his possessions of value into her house when she hasn't even applied for probate yet.
So removing valuable items for safe keeping is a sensible thing to do, you can't leave anything of value in an empty house. The executor is responsible for safeguarding the assets of the estate. Has the executor given out money bequests?

Clothing/books and other possessions are of little or no value so house clearing and the like is not unreasonable to get a property ready for sale. Your father may have asked that some items of a sentimental but no real monetary value be given to certain people. It's not unreasonable to do this before probate. In the estate for which I was executor, I had 10 pages of items listed including books, pictures, religious items etc., to be given to specific people. It took me six months before I had finally finished and I started straight away. It would have been daft to wait for probate to do that.

She refuses contact with me & barely speaks to my other sister.
I suspect this is the nub of the problem....
... she hasn't applied for probate yet?
How do you know? When did your father pass away?
 
Thank you so much Thirsty for replying to me. You are exactly right, the nub of the problem is that she hates both my older sister & myself & my older sister has a recording of her (made the day after my dad died) saying she hated us both & dad hated us both & only loved her & that she was going to make sure we got nothing. Sorry to go on about unsavoury details but they give a gist of what we are dealing with.

Yes she has given one bequest of £1000 out of my dad' s money. She is also selling his car in the next couple of days & his furniture.
Probate has definitely not been applied for yet but my mother has seen a folded portion of the will that states the youngest daughter is executor.

Is she allowed to dispose of these items before probate? I understand the house clearance should b done in order to prepare the house for sale.

One other point, I am concerned that she is throwing all my dad's business receipts in a skip when they may b needed by the tax office etc. Surely it would b better to save the last 6 years worth?

Sorry my father passed away 6 weeks ago. So I feel this is being rushed through when I am still coming to terms with his loss.

Again thank you so much. I am very grateful for any assistance in this.
 
Ok, so starting at the top... your Mum is still alive... were your parents were still married at the time of your father's death?
 
Ok, thought that, but didn't want to make any assumptions. Probably safe to say that all the children of the marriage (you and your siblings) are now grown up & I take it that your father didn't re-marry either.

So to answer your questions... (and please keep in mind IANAL)

Yes she has given one bequest of £1000 out of my dad' s money. She is also selling his car in the next couple of days & his furniture.
Based on what you have said, I would agree that she appears to be disposing of assets of the estate without having a Grant of Probate. I wouldn't have expected that after 6 weeks she would have completed the CA24, even going at a galloping pace it would take longer than 6 weeks to get all in information/ statements / valuations etc., together. I don't understand how she was able to make a withdrawal from your father's bank account(s) as they are frozen as soon as the bank is notified of the death. She certainly won't be able to sell the house with out the Grant of Probate.

As regards the business receipts & documentation, she will come a cropper with Revenue if all your father's taxes and returns were not fully completed.... not casting any aspersions here - it wouldn't be too unusual for a sick person to let Revenue returns lapse, perfectly understandable.

So... the question is what can you do? I think if I were in your position, I would take legal advice. Leave out the emotional factors (hard I know) and stick with your concerns that the Exectuor is not properly exercising their duties, particularly in regards to cash assets and business documentation. You don't yet know if you or any of your siblings are beneficiaries, if not then it doesn't impact you (that's not to say I don't understand how hard it can be seeing someone's life being dismantled). If you are beneficiaries then yes you have a valid claim in regards to the management of the estate.
 
It probably wouldn't hurt to point out that there are legal implications to acting as executor, and she can be pursued in her own right, both by the heirs and the authorities.
 
Yes she has given one bequest of £1000 out of my dad' s money. She is also selling his car in the next couple of days & his furniture.
Probate has definitely not been applied for yet but my mother has seen a folded portion of the will that states the youngest daughter is executor.

Is she allowed to dispose of these items before probate? I understand the house clearance should b done in order to prepare the house for sale.

One other point, I am concerned that she is throwing all my dad's business receipts in a skip when they may b needed by the tax office etc. Surely it would b better to save the last 6 years worth?

Sorry my father passed away 6 weeks ago. So I feel this is being rushed through when I am still coming to terms with his loss.

Again thank you so much. I am very grateful for any assistance in this.

Well being an executor pretty much gives her carte blanche to do what she wants to sort out the estate. She was given this task, which can be an onerous one. People forget that.

Your father did not have to leave you anything. If there was acrimony there, were you expecting something?

Is there anything wrong with her selling his car. As in, isn't that what's she's supposed to do. Should she leave it sitting there for a year or two.

Ditto the furniture.

In relation to valuables, the first thing I was told to do as executor was to get everything valuable out of the empty house, well known for the local thieves to strip houses in these situations.
 
It probably wouldn't hurt to point out that there are legal implications to acting as executor, and she can be pursued in her own right, both by the heirs and the authorities.

That's true, but what so far have we heard that was in any way not a normall action of an exector in relation to dealing with the assets.
 
Thank u for all your responses. I got on extremely well with my father, I worked with him for years & we met up nearly every week & spoke on the phone several times a week for years. I did his banking every week until a few years ago when I went to work for myself. The problem is b/w my younger sister & myself & my older sister (my older sister & myself get on well).

The reason my younger sister doesn't get on with anyone in the family is that she is violent & alcohol dependent. She has attacked several family members, landing some in hospital. She was arrested for attacking me 2 years ago. When my dad became ill, she took over, moving in with him, denying him nursing care & insisting on only attending to him herself although I managed to visit every day for several hours to help him. I am severely disabled myself & my older sister lives over 500 miles away & we think that is why my dad made my younger sister executor as well as the fact that he was scared of her & she bullied him. He did not write the will until the week before he died. I had no idea he was writing it.

My younger sister has told us the contents, although refusing to show us the will. According 2 her we are jointly residual beneficiaries from the sale of his house, its contents & all his assets.

2 wks after his funeral my younger sister wants to gut his house, without either myself or my older sister being there & without us seeing a copy of the will. I am reluctant to throw all my dad's stuff away until i know what his wishes were. I fear that she will go ahead & do this.

To answer the question "shouldn't she be doing this anyway is if she is executor?" I have doubts as to her suitability due to her violence, her threats to my dad (which I & a witness have heard), her violence to myself & other family members, her alcoholism & drug abuse, her telephone conversations (recorded) with my older sister, stating that she is going to make sure we don't get a penny & that she is going to take as long as she can to execute it in the hopes that we will die in the meantime.

Do you think I have grounds to challenge her as executor? I do not wish to do it myself but would rather someone independent.
 
To clarify: the reason I wanted to see a copy of my dad's will was to ensure his wishes are being complied with as I don't trust my younger sister. I know I have no right to see it (even though I am a beneficiary) until probate has been given. However I did not think it unreasonable to ask. My younger sister has not replied to my request & refuses all contact with me. She has told my older sister that because I asked to see a copy of the will she will make sure I am not there when she clears the house. She has had the locks changed already to ensure neither my other sister nor myself have access to the property.
 
Thank u for all your responses. I got on extremely well with my father, I worked with him for years & we met up nearly every week & spoke on the phone several times a week for years. I did his banking every week until a few years ago when I went to work for myself. The problem is b/w my younger sister & myself & my older sister (my older sister & myself get on well).

The reason my younger sister doesn't get on with anyone in the family is that she is violent & alcohol dependent. She has attacked several family members, landing some in hospital. She was arrested for attacking me 2 years ago. When my dad became ill, she took over, moving in with him, denying him nursing care & insisting on only attending to him herself although I managed to visit every day for several hours to help him. I am severely disabled myself & my older sister lives over 500 miles away & we think that is why my dad made my younger sister executor as well as the fact that he was scared of her & she bullied him. He did not write the will until the week before he died. I had no idea he was writing it.

My younger sister has told us the contents, although refusing to show us the will. According 2 her we are jointly residual beneficiaries from the sale of his house, its contents & all his assets.

2 wks after his funeral my younger sister wants to gut his house, without either myself or my older sister being there & without us seeing a copy of the will. I am reluctant to throw all my dad's stuff away until i know what his wishes were. I fear that she will go ahead & do this.

To answer the question "shouldn't she be doing this anyway is if she is executor?" I have doubts as to her suitability due to her violence, her threats to my dad (which I & a witness have heard), her violence to myself & other family members, her alcoholism & drug abuse, her telephone conversations (recorded) with my older sister, stating that she is going to make sure we don't get a penny & that she is going to take as long as she can to execute it in the hopes that we will die in the meantime.

Do you think I have grounds to challenge her as executor? I do not wish to do it myself but would rather someone independent.

You need a lawyer on Monday. Is your sister using a solicitor? I would not speak to her, nor should your sister until you have taken legal advice.

Where and how was the will executed and witnessed?
 
Afaik the only solicitor she is using is the one who drew up the will. It was executed in my dad's house a couple of days before he died. We don't know who witnessed it. My younger sister moved a couple of years ago to within a mile of my dad. My other sister & myself live further away.

My younger sister has taken all the money from my dad's current account (about £15k) into her own bank account. I'm not sure how she did this. After paying for the funeral & giving out a couple of bequests of. £1k each she is saying the remainder has to go on household insurance.
Seems suspicious to me. I think you are right & I should see a solicitor on Monday. Thank you for your advice.
 
Well 15 k is not a lot really. The just regular coffins we priced seemed to start at 2 k.

How much do you think the funeral cost?

How much is the house worth? Your sister is very organised for someone you describe the way you did?

If you haven't seen the will how do you know when it was signed?
 
The funeral cost £7k. He has about £150k in investments & his house is worth about £350k.

I worked out the only day that I wasn't there was a day when my dad had a couple of people round & was quite secretive about it, was the likely day. A couple of weeks before an aunt told me that my dad should hurry up & make a will as she knew he hadn't at that point.

The main problem with my younger sister is that she gets violent when she drinks. The drug she abuses is coke. When she's sober she's more bearable, just about, but when drunk (every night) she becomes bitter & full of hate.
 
My younger sister has told us the contents, although refusing to show us the will. According 2 her we are jointly residual beneficiaries from the sale of his house, its contents & all his assets.

At the end of the day your sister, in her capacity as executrix, must act within the law, including tax law.

Her own wishes are irrelevant; this is not her property. She is required to administer the estate in accordance with the terms of your father’s will.

She is obliged to comply with any relevant sections of the Taxes Acts.

She is also obliged to keep proper accounts throughout the administration period and make these available to the beneficiaries.

In the circumstances you have outlined, I think you and your older sibling should immediately engage a solicitor to protect your interests as residuary beneficiaries.
 
Hi, I'm new too, i'm wondering about contesting a will and if a grandchild has a right to contest his grandfathers will. the will leaves one 3rd to 3 named grandkids only. is the one who's not included entitled to anything?
 
there's no entitlement to inherit anything; the only claim children have is if they can establish the parent did not adequately provide for them as children. There could also be a claim if one of the children had a disability/special needs that required greater support.

unless you believe it was a genuine mistake on the grandparents part, there's not really a great deal you can do and again, unless it's a very large sum of money, I don't think it's worth the cash you'll have to spend.
 
there's no entitlement to inherit anything; the only claim children have is if they can establish the parent did not adequately provide for them as children. There could also be a claim if one of the children had a disability/special needs that required greater support.

unless you believe it was a genuine mistake on the grandparents part, there's not really a great deal you can do and again, unless it's a very large sum of money, I don't think it's worth the cash you'll have to spend.

Thanks, do you mean the only claim the child can have if their parent (still alive)didnt provide for them that they could be entitled to the grandparents estate (deceased)
 
Thanks, do you mean the only claim the child can have if their parent (still alive)didnt provide for them that they could be entitled to the grandparents estate (deceased)

As far as I understand it grandchildren have no legal rights to challenge a will, children do, but this costs so much it's generally not worth it, in any case, grandchildren, and even children can be written out of wills. One has the freedom in Ireland to leave ones assets as one sees fit. Except the spouses legal right share.

I suggest your issue is with the parent who seems is either unwilling or incapable of providing rather than the grandparent who chose not to leave anything to some grandchildren.
 
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