Holding executors personally responsible

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Shelby219

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Hi , I am a beneficiary along with my siblings of our late mother's will which basically consists of her home. The executors have purchasers ready to sign but the probate has not happened yet and the purchasers wish to go in as caretakers on a caretakers agreement as their own rental agreement is finished at the end of this month, they are prepared to sign a purchase agreement before hand. The executors want the siblings to reply with any objections. My question is
If we do not voice any objections can we hold the executors personally responsible if this goes pear shaped and we are left with a large bill or trying then to get someone out of the house
 
Shelby219 said:
My question is
If we do not voice any objections can we hold the executors personally responsible if this goes pear shaped and we are left with a large bill or trying then to get someone out of the house
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Not a legal expert.
But I would say no. If you are asked formally to voice any objection and don't voice any.
I don't know if that process is common. But I would not necessarily be happy with it.
 
IANAL but this seems to have no upside for you as beneficiary and a lot of downside risk, namely the buyers' finance falls through but they are now tenants with all of the legal protections that comes with a tenancy.
 
Shelby219 said:
If we do not voice any objections can we hold the executors personally responsible if this goes pear shaped and we are left with a large bill or trying then to get someone out of the house
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You are only a beneficiary of the estate so I don't think you actually have a say in what the executor does. I assume the executor is related otherwise you wouldn't really know the details

However, the executors role is to distribute the estate in accordance to the will. If the will states that the property is to be sold and the proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries then it leaves no room for a temporary rental/caretaker agreement. I would remind them of that and tell them they are creating a potentially huge mess. They should not be doing a favour for a potential purchaser

For example, further probate delays results in the tenant obtaining part IV tenancy rights. Circumstances change (e.g. job loss) so they chose to stay and pull out of the purchase while they look for another property or wait on a new AIP. You are stuck with tenants and can't sell the property to another buyer.
 
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Shelby219 said:
The executors want the siblings to reply with any objections.
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Executor is not obliged to ask you this, so fair play to them for including you.

IANAL - but I'm pretty sure there's not a solicitor in the country who would tell you this is a good idea.

I'd ring your exec and have a chat re all the potential issues; then I'd follow up with an email - 'thanks for chatting to me today and for all your work in winding up <relative's> affairs. I hope you'll agree with me that we shouldn't do this because... etc., etc., '
 
I had this situation last year. I thought the 'caretaker's agreement' covered any eventualities and protected the estate. In the end the probate came through in time.
 
The executor/s have a duty of care to act in the best interest of the estate.
If that means bringing in rental income to the estate while probate is deal with that should be fine.
However they are fully responsible for any issues that can arise from such a situation ( that’s why a lot of property is left vacant while probate is dealt with).
 
It is a fuuny question, all you seem to be interested in is whether you can sue the executors, who are doing a job with a lot of hassle and stress with nothing in it for them. By all means post a query to get views on the pros and cons of the idea but I would leave the suing bit out.
 
I'd be inclined to write back to the execs saying something like "Thanks for your idea and suggestion, but we believe the most urgent work, for now, is to complete the process of extracting the grant of probate."
 
Thanks for the replies, the Executors have in my opinion and the rest of the siblings seen sense and have backed away from the caretakers agreement. Replying to JoeRoberts we were only trying to show the Executors that we thought it was a bad idea and that letting them know they would be personally responsible seemed to be the only alternative, up to now they have been a disaster in dealing with as they are both living abroad and if things went wrong it could be a nightmare.
 
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