Role of deceased solicitoe in the event of a dispute

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18 Months ago, my Mother passed away leaving a valid will, declaring that her home to be sold and the residue to be divided between her 5 children,

Last July a granddaughter of the deceased made an offer of almost 90% of the asking price, but the executors(2) rejected the offer and said that all the five beneficiaries would have to agree to sell it to her at that price 90% of the asking price, and that since there was not full agreement, they could not sell the house to her.

I maintain that it is not necessary for all beneficiaries to agree on a sale price, in order that a completion to take place, especially since the offer almost matched the asking price.

What I would like to know is, where does my mothers solicitor come in to all of this, since I intend to contest the decision not to sell, especially as after 18 Months on the market there was only one offer in total.

I will be getting my own solicitor, but do the executors have to employ their own solicitor to defend their case, or does my late mothers solicitor act for them
 
But have you not already answered your own question?

Not all of the beneficiaries agreed to the sale and, therefore, the executors took the view that there was the possibility of a dispute if they sold to a granddaughter?

Now time has passed, and with the benefit of hindsight, it would have made sense. However, the executors are charged only with doing their best and they thought what they did was the best.

If you intend to challenge their decision, you will have to prove that the executors did not act prudently , and that is a very subjective matter. It is unlikely that a court would find the executors negligent.

I suggest that you take legal advice on your position as a beneficiary. I suspect you will find that the advice will be - well, we are in a recession and you are in the position of many a disappointed beneficiary in the current economic climate.

You could also talk to the other beneficiaries and see if any of you can reach agreement on how best to move things along.

I think you would be better off doing that rather than suing the executors.

The executors can appoint anyone they want to act for them. They are not limited to the solicitor who acted in the estate.

mf
 
mf1,
I take your point, and appreciate you taking the time to reply, but firstly I should have said this is a very small property, and only worth about 180,000 gross, and my mothers will specifies that it has to be sold. So in 18 Months , there was only one offer, and apparently two of the five beneficiaries thought that the offer of 90% was not enough,( one executor and one other)
Now we all know that the executors have the final say in such matters, but is it really a NECESSARY PREREQUISITE, that in order for a completion to take place, that all 5 would have to agree on a final sale price.
Wouldn't that be a bit like getting 5 cats to walk in a parade, or if there was a large family, would every member of the family have to agree whether each offer was enough to close the deal, and if so couldn't that take forever and a day, just one or two could disrupt every offer because they were better off than the rest.

I did try to raise the matter peacefully, over the Christmas period when people were in a relaxed mood, but the reason for refusal to complete was because two of the beneficiaries are quiet well off and said they didn't mind if it took another 10 years to complete, or until the market picked up.
Actually I am not disappointed with the value of the house at all, because whoever buys it will have to spend approx 80,000 to bring it up to modern standards, so personally I would be willing to take less just to have my mothers will completed.
The point I was making about the solicitor, is that My mothers solicitor is an honest broker in all of this, and if it came to a challenge say over purposeful delays, would it be necessary for the executors to get their own solicitor, or could the deceased's solicitor protect the wishes of my mother and defend the actions of a purposeful delay, on the part of 2 beneficiaries at the same time.
 
For what its worth, I set out Section 62 of the Succesison Act.

I don't think this query really has anything to do with the solicitors involved and has a great deal more to do with the personalities of the beneficiaries.

You should be very slow to get into litigation - it is painful and expensive at the best of times and is incredibly divisive and corrosive in family situations.

mf



Time allowed for distribution.
62.—(1) The personal representatives of a deceased person shall distribute his estate as soon after his death as is reasonably practicable having regard to the nature of the estate, the manner in which it is required to be distributed and all other relevant circumstances, but proceedings against the personal representatives in respect of their failure to distribute shall not, without leave of the court, be brought before the expiration of one year from the date of the death of the deceased.
[GA]
(2) Nothing in this section shall prejudice or affect the rights of creditors of a deceased person to bring proceedings against his personal representatives before the expiration of one year from his death.
 
One thing to bear in mind is that the executors have an obligation to sell the house and distribute the proceeds within a reasonable timeframe - usually 12 months. The asking price for the house should reflect the current market value. I'm guessing that there have been no other bids, so the asking price is unreasonable?
 
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