executors rights.

Hello lads, My wife is the executor of her mothers estate, Which in essence is the family home, Probate has been sorted out. The details are there are 5 siblings who will share the proceeds of the house sale minus 50.000 euro owed to the bank. Here is the problem, My nephew wants to rent out the house which will generate some income and at least the house will be occupied by someone we trust. My questions are Can my wife rent out the house as the executor even though one of her sisters wants a quick sale, Also does the house have to be put up for sale within 12 months of probate, Thanks in advance for any advice given.

The executor has the same rights over estate assets as if he or she owned them, but those rights must be exercised so as to give effect the the wishes of the testator, and without undue delay. There is not a 12-month limit enshrined in law, but there seems to be no good reason why there be any long delay after the grant of probate before putting the house on the market. That would make it difficult for the executor to enter into a medium or longer term arrangement if it results in delaying matters. In my mind, the fact that one beneficiary wants things finalised as soon as possible makes it very unwise for the executor to rent the house to anybody.

She should also note that the property market may fall still further, and delaying the selling effort could bring trouble on her.

Families being what they are, I suspect that more than one of the beneficiaries might want things moved on, but some people are slow to express such views.

Also taking account of the nature of families, I think it might be unwise of her to enter into a commercial relationship with your nephew.

I am tempted to advise you about meddling in her role as executor, but will bite my tongue.

Padraigb, Thanks for your advice. I showed my wife your post and it clarified a lot for both of us. My train of thought was to use the rental income to pump in to the loan her mother had left behind for at least a few years, The reason being is if the house is still on the market in three years time the rental income would have offset the interest on the loan her mother had taking out which is 2,900 euro per annum. I take your point RE.. meddling in her role as an executor but between myself and my wife we have dealt with funeral directors , Banks , Credit unions , Two insurance companies, Form after form, and with a few thousand euro left over will have to pay the heating and electricity bills that we have had redirected to our house and when that few thousand does run out we will be caught as no one else has an interest in their mothers house only the check that comes at the end of it, I think your point is to just sell however long it takes and avoid confrontation and I agree , Thanks again Paidrigb.

salaried - the executor is obliged to act in the interests of the estate.
Why would there be a prlonged period for a sale?
The nephew could be given a 'licence' as in NOT a tenancy and the deal could be suitable to the estate so that vacant possession arises when needed.

Plus, any expenses incurred in the estate of a person that is deceased are refundable when the estate is liquid. (i.e. when the property is sold) and before the hand out to the beneficiaries.

Probate has been sorted out.

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Nephew's views or business proposals (i.e. become a landlord) are irrelevent and should not be taken into account. Do what the Will says and divide the proceeds.

Agree with the above.

What does the Will say specifically? Does it say that the house is to be sold and the proceeds divided between the kids? Or does it just say that it is left to all the kids, and the executor gets to decide what happens to it...use it as an investment property, sell it, let another family member live in it etc etc. If it is the former, then your wife has to sell it, and distribute the proceeds accordingly. She has no choice or wiggle room. She has a legal obligation do carry out the precise wishes of her mother if they were so stated. If your mother in law wanted family to keep on living in the house after she was gone, she would/should have made arrangements for it in her Will. If she didn't, your nephew is out of luck.

What your wife wants to do, what you want her to do, what your nephew wants to happen, what would be most convenient for you all, what you think makes financial sense is all irrelevant. You should not let yourself get so bogged down in family dynamics that you all lose sight of the fact that your wife has a legal obligation to carry out her mothers wishes to the letter. If she does not, the sister (that is pushing to sell now) could come after her for any losses that she sustained while your wife delayed selling the house. For example, if the house sells now for 500,0000 euros, each sibling gets 100,000. If property prices keep falling & it sells in a couple of years for just 400,000, each sibling only gets 80,000. The sibling (and the others) could come after your wife for the 20,000 that they missed out on if they sold now. Or be owed interest on it. Something like that. There are tons of threads here talking about dealing with the sale of a family home, and conflict between family members as to what should happen to it. I am pretty sure I have seen that additional aspect of it mentioned more than once.

If all 5 of the siblings were in agreement as to what to do, I suppose you could wing it with renting to your the nephew, cross your fingers and see what happens. There is no one to stop you doing that. But as one sibling is already not in agreement with that happening (with possibly more to follow) you are already on a slippery slope towards a big family bust up with all the rows and bitterness that that entails. You can avoid all that conflict, and its additional stress by doing what the Will says. Sell the house and divide the proceeds accordingly.

If all 5 of the siblings were in agreement as to what to do, I suppose you could wing it with renting to your the nephew, cross your fingers and see what happens.

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I'm not sure that this can be legally done. Executors role is to distribute the estate as soon as practical. Even if all the siblings were in agreement to the above, the Executor would not do this - they would get the house transferred into the siblings names and the siblings would rent the house without the Executor's involvement. An executors job is a temporary one and they are only supposed to 'tread water' with any property while the legalities of distributing the estate are being done.

What is position when 2 executors were appointed in the will and they do not agree on what should happen to family home - there are 2 other siblings to be considered Can the house be sold without the agreement of both executors??

marie martin said:

What is position when 2 executors were appointed in the will and they do not agree on what should happen to family home - there are 2 other siblings to be considered Can the house be sold without the agreement of both executors??

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What does the will say?

marie martin said:

What is position when 2 executors were appointed in the will and they do not agree on what should happen to family home - there are 2 other siblings to be considered Can the house be sold without the agreement of both executors??

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The siblings are irrelevant.

Has probate been granted yet?

A single executor can apply for the grant of probate and the application must reserve the right of the other executor(s).

A single executor may proceed with the disposal of assets before probate is applied for.

The 'opposing' executor can apply to the High Court to have the process stopped.
As this can cost c 10,000 30,000 per day, with the estate paying all the bills, it is better to try reach agreement.
If for example the estate has a big house with no income to maintain it then the HC may find favor with the sale.

if u have 60 euro to spend you coul d worse than by ISBN 978-0-19-954430-1
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Tks for replies Probate granted The will states all assess to be divided between children Will look into purchasing book from link Many thanks

marie martin said:

Tks for replies Probate granted The will states all assess to be divided between children Will look into purchasing book from link Many thanks

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Tks for feedback

If u have any further questions just post rather than buy the book unless u need it for a lot, if probate has been granted then limited enough use IMO