How long does it take for a Will to be settled?

[natben]

Hi, I am the executor of a Will for a distant relative, I am not down to benefit in any way from the Will.

The appointed Lawyer is also Power of Attorney for the relative who was in a Care home until she died.The day she died her house sale went through and the new owners moved in that day.. She has relatives in Canada that are due monies from her estate. She was not married and has no immediate relatives. She was 81 and was not working. She has never married. She had a small employee pension and her state pension. No Debts and did not own a credit card.

I and another executor have signed all the papers and the Will has been posted in Court and no objections were raised.

My Question is How long does this all take, the relative Died on the 4th February 2015, so we are approaching 5 months and still there is no settlement.

I have been trying to keep the Canada relatives informed of progress but a few are saying it is taking way to long, and I tend to agree with them.

Just thought I would ask in here before I phone/meet with the lawyer as I have never been in a Will situation before so this may well be a perfectly normal timescale.

[Cyberprog]

It can vary tremendously, my gran's estate is still open as they're still in the process of selling the property, but once everything has been settled then usually everyone gets their bit once the tax is paid, and the estate is closed.

EFA: Gran died in October...

[anonymous-user]

It can take quite a while, there are notices to be posted and then they have to wait for responses etc, then there's all the tax paperwork.

If no-one is contesting the will and it's straightforward I wouldn't expect it to take too much longer than it already has - based on the experience of my Grandfather's will which was extremely straightforward. Best thing to do is to discuss it with your solicitor.

[V8forweekends]

Like everything else in the legal system, it is run for the benefit of the participants, not the "customer". I found myself agreeing with everything Michael Gove had to say yesterday, which felt a little odd. Maybe he's noticed that there are still a few places that didn't get a kick up the Jacksy from Thatcherism.

[Mikeyjae]

When my misses Nan died it took just shy of 12 months. Seemed an awful long time but even thou the will didnt get contested, I was led to believe somehow savings that where left too granddaughter and grandson didn't get paid until the house was sold.

[Russ T Bolt]

Isn't all that down to you as Executor. When my Mum died I was Executor and drove everything through, including attending a meeting at the Probate Office, only took a few months, house being the final thing.

You have the added complication of the Solicitor but do they have any power now that their client is dead ?

[anonymous-user]

A lot of unpleasantness can surface, particularly when there have been family disputes involved. Not surprisingly, money is usually the driving factor

As the old adage goes: "where there's a will, there's relatives".

[V8forweekends]

My Dad's was straightforward - not a fortune divided equally between us two siblings, no-one making a fuss of any kind, but he'd taken the advice of his lawyer and made him an executor too.

DO NOT DO THIS there is no need for it and it slowed down the process beyond all reason.

In an attempt to move things along my sister took time off work to collect the forms from Dad's solicitor and take to the probate office. Probate office rejected the forms because some berk at the solicitors had tippexed something and apparently that's not allowed. Half a day totally wasted.

I complained to my Dad's lawyer and he was very shirty with me until he investigated and then grudingly accepted they'd been a bit crap.

[natben]

Thank you for you replies,

The estates value is less than £150K so I don't think Tax is an issue that could cause a delay. I think I will contact the lawyer and see If he can give me a timeline towards completion so I can keep the relatives in Canada informed more accurately.

Thanks Guys

[konark]

It can take up to a year to settle an estate, sometimes longer , particularly where a solicitor is involved so you can inform the Canadian branch of your family accordingly.

Why is the lawyer involved, is he/she an executor? If not they have no reason to be involved, the power of attorney ended on the day of death, all monies from the house sale should have been transferred into an executors' account months ago ,which you and the other executor should control.

An executor should not be asking others about when settlement will occur, you should be settling it yourself, perhaps first step would be to give the lawyer a kick up the arse.

Edited by konark on Thursday 25th June 00:29

[Cyberprog]

Huzzah, in between posting my earlier message and today we've managed to finally complete on the properties which is good! Supposedly another interim payment and then that's it until a final divvy up once all the taxes and other bits are resolved.

[Russ T Bolt]

natben said:

Thank you for you replies,

The estates value is less than £150K so I don't think Tax is an issue that could cause a delay. I think I will contact the lawyer and see If he can give me a timeline towards completion so I can keep the relatives in Canada informed more accurately.

Thanks Guys

As has been asked, is the Lawyer the joint Executor ?

As Executor you have certain obligations, you probably need to start reading up on this.