Wills and executor troubles
Discussion
Anyone with experience of wills able to help with some advice?
Friend of mine's mother died just over three years ago leaving a small amount of cash and a house to her and her brother. Her brother was living in the house at the time of his mother's death (had been there for some time, not sure how long).
The cash got divided and she received her share.
The brother has carried on living in the house and has been dragging his heels about paying my friend her half of the house. This has now reached a bit of a crisis point as her daughter has turned 18, so maintenance payments from her father have stopped, and she can't afford the rent on her house so she has to move out.
Is there any way that she can "encourage" the brother to get a move on and either agree to sell the house or pay out her half? He is the executor of the will, and doesn't really seem that keen on actually executing it!
Not sure it is relevant, but he is in his 50s, a school teacher (so presumably on decent-ish money), single, no kids... he also has no mortgage and no rent to pay so he should have a decent deposit saved up.
TL:DR
Is there a way of forcing the executor of a will to actually do it?
Friend of mine's mother died just over three years ago leaving a small amount of cash and a house to her and her brother. Her brother was living in the house at the time of his mother's death (had been there for some time, not sure how long).
The cash got divided and she received her share.
The brother has carried on living in the house and has been dragging his heels about paying my friend her half of the house. This has now reached a bit of a crisis point as her daughter has turned 18, so maintenance payments from her father have stopped, and she can't afford the rent on her house so she has to move out.
Is there any way that she can "encourage" the brother to get a move on and either agree to sell the house or pay out her half? He is the executor of the will, and doesn't really seem that keen on actually executing it!
Not sure it is relevant, but he is in his 50s, a school teacher (so presumably on decent-ish money), single, no kids... he also has no mortgage and no rent to pay so he should have a decent deposit saved up.
TL:DR
Is there a way of forcing the executor of a will to actually do it?
This is a useful link to follow:
http://www.lawpack.co.uk/probate/articles/article7...
If an Executor or Administrator acts unreasonably by refusing to administer an estate then a disgruntled beneficiary can apply to the Court to have that person removed by the Court in exceptional circumstances.
Try to get this sorted amicably. If he has no sense of urgency, and sees the house as 'his' because he lives in it, be prepared, this could get ugly if you have to get this sorted by lawyers as a last resort.
Also, if the estate is valued over the IHT amount then his hand will have to be forced. By law, the Will has to be executed and a grant for probate needs to be applied for as Tax returns need to be filed within 6 months of death.
http://www.lawpack.co.uk/probate/articles/article7...
If an Executor or Administrator acts unreasonably by refusing to administer an estate then a disgruntled beneficiary can apply to the Court to have that person removed by the Court in exceptional circumstances.
Try to get this sorted amicably. If he has no sense of urgency, and sees the house as 'his' because he lives in it, be prepared, this could get ugly if you have to get this sorted by lawyers as a last resort.
Also, if the estate is valued over the IHT amount then his hand will have to be forced. By law, the Will has to be executed and a grant for probate needs to be applied for as Tax returns need to be filed within 6 months of death.
As far as I'm aware the will has been executed. Your friend and her brother should both be owners of a house having an equal share each.
If the brother doesn't want to sell his half I don't think he can be forced to, of course your friend can sell her half if she wishes, although in practice this would probably be impossible. If she is having to leave her current rented property why doesn't she just move into the house with her brother. This may work very well, or may just piss the brother off enough that he agrees to sell.
If the brother doesn't want to sell his half I don't think he can be forced to, of course your friend can sell her half if she wishes, although in practice this would probably be impossible. If she is having to leave her current rented property why doesn't she just move into the house with her brother. This may work very well, or may just piss the brother off enough that he agrees to sell.
boyse7en said:
Is there any way that she can "encourage" the brother to get a move on and either agree to sell the house or pay out her half? He is the executor of the will, and doesn't really seem that keen on actually executing it!
Not sure it is relevant, but he is in his 50s, a school teacher (so presumably on decent-ish money), single, no kids... he also has no mortgage and no rent to pay so he should have a decent deposit saved up.
Awkward - there are ways to encourage an executor to act, letters, requesting inventories, removing executors etc, but these sound a bit difficult to me as it is brother and sister. Google provides the steps to take. Not sure it is relevant, but he is in his 50s, a school teacher (so presumably on decent-ish money), single, no kids... he also has no mortgage and no rent to pay so he should have a decent deposit saved up.
Sounds like he is going to need to mortgage half the house if he wants to stay in it and probably doesn't want to - I am guessing it would result in him effectively using all of his share of the cash to buy her out leaving her with a bunch of cash and him with nothing but the house and a new debt.
I could imagine this feels like he ends up with the raw half of the deal even though it is entirely fair.
Is there any point in trying to encourage him by helping arrange the mortgage - run some numbers to see whether it can be made to work or not. Depending on the size of the mortgage, it could be a relatively small monthly mortgage payment?
fat80b said:
Awkward - there are ways to encourage an executor to act, letters, requesting inventories, removing executors etc, but these sound a bit difficult to me as it is brother and sister. Google provides the steps to take.
Sounds like he is going to need to mortgage half the house if he wants to stay in it and probably doesn't want to - I am guessing it would result in him effectively using all of his share of the cash to buy her out leaving her with a bunch of cash and him with nothing but the house and a new debt.
I could imagine this feels like he ends up with the raw half of the deal even though it is entirely fair.
Is there any point in trying to encourage him by helping arrange the mortgage - run some numbers to see whether it can be made to work or not. Depending on the size of the mortgage, it could be a relatively small monthly mortgage payment?
That's the jist of it.Sounds like he is going to need to mortgage half the house if he wants to stay in it and probably doesn't want to - I am guessing it would result in him effectively using all of his share of the cash to buy her out leaving her with a bunch of cash and him with nothing but the house and a new debt.
I could imagine this feels like he ends up with the raw half of the deal even though it is entirely fair.
Is there any point in trying to encourage him by helping arrange the mortgage - run some numbers to see whether it can be made to work or not. Depending on the size of the mortgage, it could be a relatively small monthly mortgage payment?
Awkwardness isn't an issue - she has no wish to speak to him once she has her money and can move. There's a lot of history there that she wants to leave a very long way behind.
The house is worth roughly £300,000. Mortgage would be, I guess, £150,000. She has no idea how much he earns or what he has in savings so can't approach a bank. He's said he will but just does nothing at all. The latest excuse is that his school has a new headmaster who "might make changes that affect my income" so he wants to "let things settle down properly" before he talks to the bank. God knows how long that will be.
It's funny really. He's said that if they sold the house he won't be able to afford a buy somewhere for himself...without really thinking that his sister also won't have enough to buy, and hasn't had the benefit of rent-free accommodation for the past 8 years or so.
oldnbold said:
As far as I'm aware the will has been executed. Your friend and her brother should both be owners of a house having an equal share each.
If the brother doesn't want to sell his half I don't think he can be forced to, of course your friend can sell her half if she wishes, although in practice this would probably be impossible. If she is having to leave her current rented property why doesn't she just move into the house with her brother. This may work very well, or may just piss the brother off enough that he agrees to sell.
I see your point. They are both now owners of the house on paper.If the brother doesn't want to sell his half I don't think he can be forced to, of course your friend can sell her half if she wishes, although in practice this would probably be impossible. If she is having to leave her current rented property why doesn't she just move into the house with her brother. This may work very well, or may just piss the brother off enough that he agrees to sell.
I suggested that she charge him rent for the use of her half, but I don't know how that would work.
There is no way she will move in with him. Family history means she would rather sleep rough than share a space with him.
boyse7en said:
Anyone with experience of wills able to help with some advice?
Friend of mine's mother died just over three years ago leaving a small amount of cash and a house to her and her brother. Her brother was living in the house at the time of his mother's death (had been there for some time, not sure how long).
The cash got divided and she received her share.
The brother has carried on living in the house and has been dragging his heels about paying my friend her half of the house. This has now reached a bit of a crisis point as her daughter has turned 18, so maintenance payments from her father have stopped, and she can't afford the rent on her house so she has to move out.
Is there any way that she can "encourage" the brother to get a move on and either agree to sell the house or pay out her half? He is the executor of the will, and doesn't really seem that keen on actually executing it!
Not sure it is relevant, but he is in his 50s, a school teacher (so presumably on decent-ish money), single, no kids... he also has no mortgage and no rent to pay so he should have a decent deposit saved up.
TL:DR
Is there a way of forcing the executor of a will to actually do it?
The ther beneficiary should ask a Solicitor to act for her and send the brother a letter requesting payment of her half share in the value of the house.Friend of mine's mother died just over three years ago leaving a small amount of cash and a house to her and her brother. Her brother was living in the house at the time of his mother's death (had been there for some time, not sure how long).
The cash got divided and she received her share.
The brother has carried on living in the house and has been dragging his heels about paying my friend her half of the house. This has now reached a bit of a crisis point as her daughter has turned 18, so maintenance payments from her father have stopped, and she can't afford the rent on her house so she has to move out.
Is there any way that she can "encourage" the brother to get a move on and either agree to sell the house or pay out her half? He is the executor of the will, and doesn't really seem that keen on actually executing it!
Not sure it is relevant, but he is in his 50s, a school teacher (so presumably on decent-ish money), single, no kids... he also has no mortgage and no rent to pay so he should have a decent deposit saved up.
TL:DR
Is there a way of forcing the executor of a will to actually do it?
Also ask for the completed accounts of the Estate
SantaBarbara said:
The ther beneficiary should ask a Solicitor to act for her and send the brother a letter requesting payment of her half share in the value of the house.
Also ask for the completed accounts of the Estate
Why does the brother need to pay her? I presume that after 3 years probate has been granted and the will satisfied. She has cash and the ownership of 50% of the property and he has the same. She has every right to either sell her half or move in and occupy her half. As far as I'm aware he can't be forced to sell. Also ask for the completed accounts of the Estate
I don't think there's any legal requirement to turn all assets left in a will into cash. Perhaps she should inform the brother that she is going to rent out her half of the property via an agent and he can expect a house mate soon.
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