Brother & Wife Executors

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ritamc

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Can you advise, my brother and his wife are executors to our mother's will. We have received a copy of the will from my brother's solicitor which states that her estate is to be divided equally amoung all her children (5) + my brother's wife.
Should we the rest of the family appoint a solicitor to look after our interests in my brother settling my mother's estate according to the will?

Tku
Confused
 
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normally there is no need for the beneficiaries to have their own solicitor - the executor appoints the solicitor and is responsible to ensure the will is carried out. A beneficiary would only appoint a solicitor if they had grounds for suspecting that the administration was not being carried out properly.
 
Hi, Thank you for your reply, don't have anything to go on except that when I asked Executor about will, he said contact the solicitor. Solicitor sent a copy of the will but the executors involved we don't trust and 2 of the beneficieries aren't in this juristiction, therefore left to me, advice please.

Tku
 
How long is your mother deceased?

What does the estate consist of? Did she have property, is it up for sale?

What do you think the executors might be doing?
 
Deceased just over 1 month.
Had house but brother hasn't contacted any of the family since the will was copied to us by his solicitor.
Don't know what he's up to but did up the house some time ago and suspect he will say that he wasn't paid. Just hard to know because he's been so devious.
 
Nothing much will have happened in one month. The executor will have the assets valued and submitted to the revenue for approval before making an application for probate - this oftern takes up to a year! When the probate is granted you'll be able to get a copy of the revenue document and grant of probate either from the executor or if he's not playing ball from the probate office.
At some stage the solicitor or your brother should come looking for your pps number you could then explain that you'd like to be kept informed of developments and that you'd like to see the draft final accounts - if you are residuary beneficiaries you are entitled to see them.
However as I say 1 month is v v short time in these circs and it may be that you are overreacting. Suggest you wait and see for a while.
 
Thank you for your help, I realise it's a short space of time, however the family were concerned because of his general demenour towards us. Will wait and see and let u know what happens. Again thank you for your help.

 
Have found out yesterday that my brother (one of the executors) has ownership of the house, apparently my mother transferred ownership to him - don't know when or circumstances. Earlier when I asked him about the house, his reply was "the house is just there", didn't tell us that he had ownership, I wonder why?
 
If you think that undue influence of any sort was brough to bear upon your mother either in the matter of transferring the house to your brother, or in the matter of preparing the will, or if you think the transfer was done very shortly before her death, at a time when she knew she was dying, then you might want to consult a solicitor. However, bottom line is that as long as your mother knew what she was doing and was happy to do it, the house was hers to give away. Any competent solicitor would be particularly careful to ensure that someone in your mother's position definitely wanted to go ahead with such a transfer. Almost all solicitors would insist that your mother have independent legal advice. Despite this, there are always a couple of cases each year where such transfers get overturned, so it is no harm to mention it.
 
I don't know when the transfer was made. All I can tell is that a planning application was made in her name in late May 2007, final grant given in Sept 2007. When the application was made, my brother wasn't mentioned in the application as having an interest in the property which I understand is a legal requirement of a planning application. My brother's solicitor and my mother's solicitor are one in the same. According to advice we've been given so far, if a transfer is made in life, it is almost impossible to have it overturned. Tku
 
Was there a financial transaction relating to the transfer of the house i.e. did your brother buy the house, even at less than market rate or did your mother just sign it over?
 
That's the 60million dollar question. The only thing we know is that his wife told my sister the house is my brothers, she didn't elaborate further. Why?
 
It's now 11 months since my mother passed away and to date my brother nor his wife nor my mother's solicitor has contacted any other members of the family, what should we do, I would be grateful for any help?
 
ritamc said:
That's the 60million dollar question. The only thing we know is that his wife told my sister the house is my brothers, she didn't elaborate further. Why?
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I wouldnt take their word for it - was the house actually legally conveyed to your brother? He could be just simply saying that he owns it.
 
Only thing I know is that his wife told my sister that my mother's house was not part of the estate, ownership was transferred to my brother!!!! Any ideas on what we should do next as both my brother and his wife are executors and they do not appear to have done anything about executing the will since my mother died. The only other thing I can tell you that the house was unoccupied before Xmas so if he owns it why has he not moved in, rented it, or sold it?
 
It would be very easy for another solicitor to check the title of the house and see whose name it is in- or whether an applicaiton for registration is pending. They could also, on your behalf, request a copy of the schedule of assets and see what assets are said to be part of the estate. The 'executors' year' is not up yet, but you can still make enquiries.

If you feel competent to do so, you could contact the land registry yourself ( if title is registered) and check whose name it is in and also make the request from the solicitor dealing with the estate for the schedule of assets.

Also if you do involve your own solicitor it could be taken as an indication that you are not happy with the executors so could cause ill feeling.
 
Apologies it's been 13 months since my mother's demise and there has been no communication from either my brother or his wife since her demise, there was no ill as far as other family members were aware but it is very strange behaviour from my brother that he won't speak to us at all!!!!. I will do as you suggest and ask my mother's solicitor for a schedule of estate assets. Thank you.
 
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