Beneficiary rights

[Lilly100]

I am a beneficiary of my late mother's will
My sister is the executor, with the help of solicitor, that was used when my mother made her will ,
My sister and I have fallen out, as she was transferring money from my mother's account to her own, for personal gain, when I flagged it to be paid back into the estate she blocked me, I am now completely in the dark as I can't get any information about the estate, I got a solicitor who is also being ignored, I am seeking accounts which are still not available to me, the house was sold 2 months ago, they were late paying hse loan, which they are now disputing, which is causing another delay, surely the executor is liable for this fine, and assets should be distributed, my mother died 14 months ago and I still don't know what I am getting in my inheritance, I have a ballpark idea but , no information that surely I'm entitled to see, my solicitor tells me at this point my opinion is to go to high court and get delays up to 3 years at a huge cost, I'm at a loss, any advice would be appreciated

 

[Bronte]

Sorry for your loss. Is the solicitor for your sister not replying to a letter from your solicitor?

On a separate topic, the HSE loan, how do you think an executor can repay the HSE on time if they don't have the money from the sale of the house. The fact the executor is disputing the HSE figures would seem to suggest a careful executor. As executor one would be slow to distribute until all figures are final. Does your sister/the executor even have the proceeds of the estate. I'd say unlikely as they are with her solicitor while there is an ongoing issue over the final HSE bill.

 

[thedaddyman]

The solicitor cannot distribute funds until probate is complete and a tax clearance cert have been received from Revenue. End to end, 12 months + is not uncommon in complex cases.

I'm not clear as to how you are aware funds were being transferred from one account to another. Were they potentially being done to pay funeral costs etc.

 

[Clamball]

Yes once the estate is distributed you as beneficiary can see the accounts of the estate. You should closely follow the advice of your solicitor. People often underestimate the costs associated with paying bills, paying tax, paying solicitor, but once the estate is distributed you can see what the assets were, what the costs were and how much you are given.

If at that stage you consider the assets on death were less than you expected and if you think your sibling took money illegally from the estate then you can report the crime to the police. But at the risk of falling out very badly with your sibling you would want to be on very solid ground.

14 months does not seem overly long in getting probate and selling the house. The next steps are to pay the HSE loan, then get a tax cert from revenue.

It would be very unusual for the executor solicitor not to reply to your solicitors letter. How long has it been since it was sent? But you should closely follow the advice of your solicitor in terms of your next steps.

 

[Lilly100]

Thank you for your reply
The house went sale agreed in October 23, it was only finalised in January, the reason it took so long was the cg50 was sent out to the house and wasn't picked up for weeks causing a delay, the grandchildren have been paid out and the siblings money is being held on grounds of dispute,
Is my sister responsible for this bill ?
I received the executors account this morning and note that all the money my sister transferred (€30000 roughly) from my mother's account into her own over a period of 2 years while she was living with my sister before going into the nursing home has not been paid back, do I have the right to dispute this, (my mother was in her 90s with dementia
Also the solicitor dealing with the estate is ignoring most not all emails, I have been requesting the executors account for months and she has been ignoring that, she is aware of the money my sister took as I flagged it on the bank statements
Kind regards

 

[Premos]

I received the executors account this morning and note that all the money my sister transferred (€30000 roughly) from my mother's account into her own over a period of 2 years while she was living with my sister before going into the nursing home has not been paid back.

Was your mother living in your sister's home? Could that money be for her keep (food, transport...)?

 

[Pmc365]

Your sister will probably argue that that sum was used for your mother's upkeep. If so, I'm not sure how you would go about disputing it. The solicitor is at the final stage of distributing the estate and probably has paid the beneficiaries. What does your solicitor say about the €30,000.
Is this the main issue?

 

[Bronte]

Thank you for your reply
The house went sale agreed in October 23, it was only finalised in January, the reason it took so long was the cg50 was sent out to the house and wasn't picked up for weeks causing a delay, the grandchildren have been paid out and the siblings money is being held on grounds of dispute,
Is my sister responsible for this bill ?
I received the executors account this morning and note that all the money my sister transferred (€30000 roughly) from my mother's account into her own over a period of 2 years while she was living with my sister before going into the nursing home has not been paid back, do I have the right to dispute this, (my mother was in her 90s with dementia
Also the solicitor dealing with the estate is ignoring most not all emails, I have been requesting the executors account for months and she has been ignoring that, she is aware of the money my sister took as I flagged it on the bank statements
Kind regards

Who is sending lots of emails to the solicitor? You can't have an executor's statement of account until the executor knows the full figures.

House Sale

Your mother died in February 2023. House went sale agreed in October 2023, that's less than a year and would be considered very good going. In fact it's impressive. 4 months from sale agreed to transfer is also not unusual, nothing gets done in December. Some CG50 form got waylaid for a while. It happens.

Executorship

Less than 14 months from death the grandchildren get their bequests. Excellent.

HSE/Fair Deal

The HSE is being dealt with, which can be complex. And as figures are based probably on the Fair Deal it's not surprising there might be an issue. My own solicitor told me yesterday there is some kind of fine from the HSE if you don't pay by a certain date, and that it would be a problem. Which I said will not be a problem as I'll pay personally the costs so there will be no fine to the estate. Not everybody can do that.

Mother's Cash

It seems your sister took your mother in and she only went into a care home very late. What exactly is your issue over the 30K you say your sister withdrew from your mother's bank account? Why do you think she used it for personal gain?