Time limit to pay will?

[burmo]

Hi,

My mother's father died over a year ago and there was a will. She was told by our solicitor that he had up to a year and a day to pay the amount. This time was almost passed and my mother inquired and was told that 'probate had only been taken out that week'.

What is the time limit to pay the willed amount?

Thanks,
burmo.

 

[burmo]

Thanks for your quick reply.

The only other thing is that my Uncle (only him and my mother) is not on good terms with my mother so he likely wants to delay it.

Could you please outline the stages that this should go through? Our family solicitor is not very good in my opinion...

 

[mf1]

Unless there were complications it should have been sorted in about 6months.....otherwise seems to me you could very well be dealing with another gangster in the legal profession....... plenty of them there......with nil regulation and PROBATE is their utopia......you need to ring this guy and see whats he up to be firm also then send your complaint in writing to him for future reference........demand your mums legal inheritance fortwith......... i am of course presuming that there were no other complications......can you let us know if there were as that may change your action just a little

So- absolutely no bias there then!

I suggest that the OP get in touch with their own solicitor ( or indeed somebody new! given this comment - "Our family solicitor is not very good in my opinion... ") and ask a few very simple questions.

The extent of the estate? Approximate value of the estate? Does property need to be sold ?

I would also say to OP that as soon as an outside solicitor sees this comment:

"The only other thing is that my Uncle (only him and my mother) is not on good terms with my mother so he likely wants to delay it."

you can begin to see family breakdown rather than solicitors negligence as root cause for angst!

mf

 

[burmo]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies... yes I found out that the Uncle is the executor. I'm not sure if properties will have to be sold to meet the payment... he has a lot of land, many multiples of the value to be paid.

I told my mother to get onto her solicitor... I said that I have found him to be slow moving in the past around different issues, but it is their choice to make.

My mother wanted a general opinion on the timeline for these things, and given the responses above she is going to get in touch with their solicitor and push things forward. Thanks everyone.

 

[Padraigb]

Let's be clear on the legalities. From the Succession Act, 1965:

62.—(1) The personal representatives of a deceased person shall distribute his estate as soon after his death as is reasonably practicable having regard to the nature of the estate, the manner in which it is required to be distributed and all other relevant circumstances, but proceedings against the personal representatives in respect of their failure to distribute shall not, without leave of the court, be brought before the expiration of one year from the date of the death of the deceased.

On the tightest reading, the executor has a year to finalise things, but the passage I have bolded means that the courts will often accept a longer period as reasonable.

I get the impression that your mother is to receive a particular amount rather than a share of the total. As she does not have confidence in the executor (her brother: the solicitor is acting for the executor, but is not actually the executor) it might be wise to write formally asking about progress, and when she might expect to receive her bequest. I see nothing wrong with her engaging her own solicitor to represent her interest. One advantage of professional representation is that the manner in which things are handled would be formal, and not clouded by anger or ill-feeling between your mother and her brother.

 

[rockofages]

I would recommend your mother talk directly to her brother and leave solicitors as a last resort.

Technically, as pointed out above, the Exector has as long as is reasonably practicable. (The one year thing is often misquoted)