So, probate then?

Snap

marantz1300 said:

My wife's sister and one of her two brothers were the executers.

They are upstanding ,church going pillars of the community. He's an ex headmaster, a labour councillor  and a magistrate.

They refused to tell what was in the will and filled their pockets.

The bank called us (they were going to hand it over to the bank, but that would have cost £20,000) and we found out there was over £500,00 in assets.

My wife and her other brother ended up getting £75.000 each.

Apparently what the executer says is law.

Her family is now broken.

If you are in charge ,be open, sit down and share with the rest of the family..

nasty story. An executor is not the law at all. An executor is charged with executing the will, so they can't contradict the will. THey actually have no real power at all, but lots of obligations. For example, if an executor doesn't do executor's adverts (notice in a newspaper re the death, and inviting anyone owed money to make a claim) then they are liable for any of the deceased's debts.

the underlying problem is that at times like this, the wankers always rise to the surface, especially if they get what they perceive to be some level of responsibility.

IMO, in times of dispute or uncertainty, a solicitor is worth their fee.

On wills - its one of those things everyone should do. Ours was relatively complex, involving a trust but still came in at around 500 quid, using a solicitor.

marantz1300

We did get a solicitor to protect land my children inherited.The solicitor also managed to get back another £12,000 that was in an account they had "just found."

siremoon

marantz1300 said:

My wife's sister and one of her two brothers were the executers.

They are upstanding ,church going pillars of the community. He's an ex headmaster, a labour councillor  and a magistrate.

They refused to tell what was in the will and filled their pockets.

The bank called us (they were going to hand it over to the bank, but that would have cost £20,000) and we found out there was over £500,00 in assets.

My wife and her other brother ended up getting £75.000 each.

Apparently what the executer says is law.

Her family is now broken.

If you are in charge ,be open, sit down and share with the rest of the family..

What the executor says is not law at all.  Their job is to do what the will says.

That story sounds very odd to me.  I've done two estates in the last year or so and unless the estate is fairly small you don't very far without a Grant of Probate.  Once that is given then the will becomes a public document and anyone can get a copy.

Executors are also supposed to produce accounts and get them approved by the beneficiaries.

marantz1300

When we got the solicitor involved, they sent a pretty dodgy account, lots of things missing funeral costs,£2,000 for his expenses etc.. That's when the surprise money was found.

 This was two years after the funeral, which he insisted on reading the will at. I had had my left ankle fused and couldn't walk. My wife didn't want to make a fuss ,they would have used that to blame her for their actions. we were supposed to move into her mums house and sell ours to pay the other siblings their share. We had the house valued by three estate agents,£270,000 at the time, they wanted us to pay £300,00 and sold it to a stranger for £267,000 after we offered £280,000.

 I'm aware this happens quite often.