Ward of Court - Executors concerns

My father passed away recently. He was a ward of court for approx 3 years with proceeds of the home which funded the nursing home and has left a sum of €50K in the courts to be split four ways as per his last will and testament of which i am executor.

My older brother was heavily involved is influencing our father(stroke victim) into a nursing home when my siblings and i were more than happy to care for him in the home for a while longer. During this time he proceeded with the sale of the family home without telling any of the siblings which at first attempt fell through and when put up for sale a second time thankfully the solicitor involved raised a concern of my fathers state of mind to approve the sale and insisted on him being placed under a ward of court. This at least protected my fathers financial future at that time.

I have been informed by my brother that since he and his solicitor had been dealing with the ward of court over the last 3 years, it is his opinion that he is now entitled to look after the reminder of his affairs and the execution of the will. He has become quite defensive over this matter and is very reluctant for me to contact the ward of court solicitor(also his) and is preventing my access to the death cert from the doctor(also his). I am concerned about this.

As executor of my fathers will i am holding firm in order to follow his wishes and look after the interests of all the siblings.

My concerns are as follows:

1. As executor, can i be cut out of this process and is it possible that the whole process of dissolving the ward of court and receipt of funds be carried out without any of the other siblings being made aware?
2. As executor can i check the outgoings of the ward of court funds as i feel he could be trying to cover up some of the monies spent over the last 3 years?
3. Is it possible he could be proceeding with the winding up of the estate and not informing the courts of the existence of the last will and testament of which i have a copy.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated as i may not be seeing all the angles if any.

MH2

Here is a link regarding ward of court information - [broken link removed]

Your late father's status as a ward of court ceased upon his death and his affairs, will and estate are now the responsibility of the executor named in his will (you) unless someone mounts a legal challenge to the validity of the will.

It is not possible for anyone apart from the executor (you) to take the steps that concern you.

Get legal advice immediately, and perhaps threaten your sibling with going back to the High Court to have your late father's wishes carried out.

Many Thanks Mathepac

Will do


MH2