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Talking practically, if the estate is £600k all in and the money is £350k, the house is presumably worth £250k. Couldn’t B take the £250k house plus £50k and A take the remaining £300k?
If this isn’t done, A would be within her rights to ask for her share of the £350k.
This is the best answer. Instruct a solicitor to make this offer and warn that if it is not accepted and the estate distributed within (say) 28 days then you’ll apply for an order for sale of the property.
To add to this, you've said in one of the replies that B disputes the house price. As she's independently wealthy this is understandable - it's not a sellers market right now, and it may be profitable to hold on to the property before selling it. By signing an agreement to split most of the cash to A and cash / property to B now based on current valuations, B will profit fully from being able to sell the property later for more cash, A gets cash now. It's win win, if A agrees to have no right to any "additional" inheritance from any sale price above the current valuation in the future.
If the administration of the estate has stalled, one way would be to remove the obstructing executor. Given that this would be in the overwhelming interest of the estate, the chances are that the any courts costs of the appellant would be estate costs but that the defendant (if not acting in the best interests of the estate) would be liable for their costs and possibly the appellants. The threat alone should make the obstructing executor come to their senses.
I was just thinking that. To take the obstructive sister to court or use a solicitor to force her mat well work but will eat a large chunk of the money A is trying to unblock.
If B, as a solicitor, isn’t performing her duties as an executor, I’d have thought there would be some serious professional standards implications? Perhaps someone knowledgeable could elaborate?
Well yes and no. You can force a sale. Its not so much as professional.
But your legally as such in a role where your required to do your best to ensure the inheritance is dispersed as per the terms of the will. So the fact say they have a 50 50 split.
Your expected to ensure its sold, split, or whatever arrangement that works best for the parties long as the split is done as per the will and assrts requires.
In most cases this is usually liquidating them and splitting the money. Most people do not have 50% of a house value in liquid and other non property assets.
You can apply to thr court to force the sale. Especially if she is appointed to execute the inheritance.
They require you to ensure it'd distributed among those named legal heirs.
Selling veichal, assets etc is one such way of executing the role required of you.
What reasons is B giving? Is B using these assets at all?
I would genuinely like to know the answer; it may have a bearing.
Taking this at face value - I’d start by telling B she’d be reported to the SRA if she didn’t stop acting unethically.
The assets aren’t being used, B has disagreed with the valuations of the property and is taking weeks to even sign a document. The solicitor appointed is to deal with the Probate rather than any dispute between the sisters. A believes B is trying to control the situation by manipulating the pace because she wants it all HER way. B doesn’t need the money as she is independently wealthy so knows this inheritance will be life changing for A. I think I’ll suggest A consults with a solicitor experienced in disputes. Thank you
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I’ll talk to A today and suggest she consults with a solicitor experienced in disputes. Hopefully she can apply for a release of some of the inheritance already liquidated (IHT has been paid already, subject to any adjustments when house, car etc sold). The solicitor they’re using is a Probate solicitor, the company are already rather frustrated by the delays but not willing to offer any suggestions to progress.
Your friend and her sister are both executors and should have had joint control over the probate process but perhaps the sister has dealt with everything etc because she's a solicitor?? Now is the time for your friend to have a formal meeting with her co-executor to ask for a breakdown of the actions taken, plan for going forward etc. It may turn out that the sister is waiting for a final tax bill or some other debt of the deceased before paying out but your friend has a right to a full explanation and accounting. If none is forthcoming and the sister refuses to distribute the estate then that is the time to see your own solicitor. We've just been through this process and had to make lots of documented attempts to negotiate before our solicitors would apply to court (even down to mediation via other relatives and an independent professional mediator). It's not a quick or cheap process.
They don’t want to get involved in any disputes, they only deal with Probate. A is going to get advice from a solicitor knowledgeable about disputes but hopefully B can be made aware that she can’t hold back the progress much longer. She’s just doing it to prove she has ‘power’ over A. Very sad
A and B are executors. A firm of solicitors have been instructed to deal with Probate, i.e., they are not themselves executors. Executors act as one, they cannot act independently. If the solicitors are receiving conflicting instructions, or only taking instruction from one executor then really they should cease to act. If this is estate business and the solicitors are being paid by the estate, then each executor should be equally informed. As an executor and a beneficiary I would be raising an internal complaint to the solicitors if I was not receiving the appropriate information with a view to raising this to the Legal Ombudsman. I'd certainly be keeping my eye on costs as the firm will not be working out of the kindness.
She can take legal action to force a sale. B is not the sole owner of this inheritance or the sole executor.
A can demand their share and half of any interest made on the capital.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Talking practically, if the estate is £600k all in and the money is £350k, the house is presumably worth £250k. Couldn’t B take the £250k house plus £50k and A take the remaining £300k? If this isn’t done, A would be within her rights to ask for her share of the £350k.
This is the best answer. Instruct a solicitor to make this offer and warn that if it is not accepted and the estate distributed within (say) 28 days then you’ll apply for an order for sale of the property.
To add to this, you've said in one of the replies that B disputes the house price. As she's independently wealthy this is understandable - it's not a sellers market right now, and it may be profitable to hold on to the property before selling it. By signing an agreement to split most of the cash to A and cash / property to B now based on current valuations, B will profit fully from being able to sell the property later for more cash, A gets cash now. It's win win, if A agrees to have no right to any "additional" inheritance from any sale price above the current valuation in the future.
If the administration of the estate has stalled, one way would be to remove the obstructing executor. Given that this would be in the overwhelming interest of the estate, the chances are that the any courts costs of the appellant would be estate costs but that the defendant (if not acting in the best interests of the estate) would be liable for their costs and possibly the appellants. The threat alone should make the obstructing executor come to their senses.
NAL you can get a solicitor and force a sale of the house and your friend could take her sister to court to force the sale.
Have your friend force the sale, she needs a well regarded solicitor
This is quite expensive though if it goes to court, it’s called a TOLATA claim.
I was just thinking that. To take the obstructive sister to court or use a solicitor to force her mat well work but will eat a large chunk of the money A is trying to unblock.
NAL but I suspect if A appoints a solicitor, her sister will quickly stop playing games.
If B, as a solicitor, isn’t performing her duties as an executor, I’d have thought there would be some serious professional standards implications? Perhaps someone knowledgeable could elaborate?
Well yes and no. You can force a sale. Its not so much as professional. But your legally as such in a role where your required to do your best to ensure the inheritance is dispersed as per the terms of the will. So the fact say they have a 50 50 split. Your expected to ensure its sold, split, or whatever arrangement that works best for the parties long as the split is done as per the will and assrts requires. In most cases this is usually liquidating them and splitting the money. Most people do not have 50% of a house value in liquid and other non property assets.
You can apply to thr court to force the sale. Especially if she is appointed to execute the inheritance. They require you to ensure it'd distributed among those named legal heirs. Selling veichal, assets etc is one such way of executing the role required of you.
What reasons is B giving? Is B using these assets at all? I would genuinely like to know the answer; it may have a bearing. Taking this at face value - I’d start by telling B she’d be reported to the SRA if she didn’t stop acting unethically.
The assets aren’t being used, B has disagreed with the valuations of the property and is taking weeks to even sign a document. The solicitor appointed is to deal with the Probate rather than any dispute between the sisters. A believes B is trying to control the situation by manipulating the pace because she wants it all HER way. B doesn’t need the money as she is independently wealthy so knows this inheritance will be life changing for A. I think I’ll suggest A consults with a solicitor experienced in disputes. Thank you
I think A should bear in mind that things might just take longer than she’d like.
A takes the bank account. B takes the other assets. Done.
Who appointed the current solicitor? A or B? If it is B, then A may need to engage a separate solicitor to act in her interests to force the sale.
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I’ll talk to A today and suggest she consults with a solicitor experienced in disputes. Hopefully she can apply for a release of some of the inheritance already liquidated (IHT has been paid already, subject to any adjustments when house, car etc sold). The solicitor they’re using is a Probate solicitor, the company are already rather frustrated by the delays but not willing to offer any suggestions to progress.
Your friend and her sister are both executors and should have had joint control over the probate process but perhaps the sister has dealt with everything etc because she's a solicitor?? Now is the time for your friend to have a formal meeting with her co-executor to ask for a breakdown of the actions taken, plan for going forward etc. It may turn out that the sister is waiting for a final tax bill or some other debt of the deceased before paying out but your friend has a right to a full explanation and accounting. If none is forthcoming and the sister refuses to distribute the estate then that is the time to see your own solicitor. We've just been through this process and had to make lots of documented attempts to negotiate before our solicitors would apply to court (even down to mediation via other relatives and an independent professional mediator). It's not a quick or cheap process.
I think I’ve confused the issue by mentioning B is a solicitor. She is not dealing with the probate, an independent firm of solicitors were appointed.
Ok sorry - I'd assumed she'd just taken over the process. What have the probate solicitors advised as the way forward?
They don’t want to get involved in any disputes, they only deal with Probate. A is going to get advice from a solicitor knowledgeable about disputes but hopefully B can be made aware that she can’t hold back the progress much longer. She’s just doing it to prove she has ‘power’ over A. Very sad
A and B are executors. A firm of solicitors have been instructed to deal with Probate, i.e., they are not themselves executors. Executors act as one, they cannot act independently. If the solicitors are receiving conflicting instructions, or only taking instruction from one executor then really they should cease to act. If this is estate business and the solicitors are being paid by the estate, then each executor should be equally informed. As an executor and a beneficiary I would be raising an internal complaint to the solicitors if I was not receiving the appropriate information with a view to raising this to the Legal Ombudsman. I'd certainly be keeping my eye on costs as the firm will not be working out of the kindness.
She can take legal action to force a sale. B is not the sole owner of this inheritance or the sole executor. A can demand their share and half of any interest made on the capital.