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Could someone please advise what action is available for a beneficiary to take, if it is later discovered (1 yr later) that a financial account in my mother's name was purposely excluded when Executors (brother and sister) calculated the value of her estate.
The Executors are refusing to give any details or information of such account, despite the fact that one of them had a card for it. They also are refusing to give any financial details of my mother's monthly expenditure, although she was cared for only by the family.
Were they acting as the power of attorney for your mum before her death then and was the estate to be equally divided equally between her surviving children (with one being you) in her Will? Can you give anymore details? I am assuming their is animosity between you as brothers and sisters and that you have been excluded from whats gone on from the way your message sounded.
If they have obtained probate without disclosing this account to the court they will have lied under oath because as Executors they will have had to swear as to the estate.
So the question is have they lied to the court & if so tell the court & the Inland Revenue. Also are you a beneficiary & if not then you have no interest & as trustees their actions are lawful
They did not have power of attorney before her death and yes, her Will states that her estate should be divided equally between all her children - 5 in total.
I moved from the area soon after getting married and never realised there was obvious resentment over this, amongst them, until after mother's death.
When I asked to see closing statements of the estate accounts, they produced accounts which did not show any regular income at all, but were merely long-standing accounts of minute value. When questioned about this and asked what her monthly income actually was (she was 99), they refuse to give any answers, saying statements and letters showing her income have been destroyed and they have refused to apply to DWP for a statement of her income.
After much delay in waiting for their replies, I have now requested that they apply for a SAQ for the account in question. Should they again refuse, it looks as if I will have no alternative but to take the Court route.
Additionally, they received an excellent offer for her property (before the financial downturn), but refused it, for reasons best known to themselves...
Thanks for everyone's interest and hoping for a successful outcome
If the executors have deprived you of your inheritance then they are personally liable. Also as an 'interested person' you would have been entitled to see the accounts BEFORE their signing off.
Again I ask did they declare this bank account before obtaining probate??
If they haven't yet obtained probate place a caution on it with the court NOW! That will have the effect of stopping them of obtaining or disposing of any assets
They obtained probate in April. I asked a soliciitor to request estate accounts from them some months later and it was not included, as previously explained, so it has to be assumed, particularly in view of their reticence to discuss it, that it was not declared to the Court when they applied for probate.
If that's the case then they committed a serious criminal offence. Also to access the bank account they must have either concealed the death or if they did notify the bank they must have presented an invalid grant. If any of these scenarios are true they have not only committed perjury but also a serious fraud
Incidentally as a beneficiary you can force the sale of the assets (house) also if you can prove that their failure to accept an offer at the time & unless there was any other valid reason for not selling resulted in a loss you can sue the trustees
Report them to the probate Office, who can audit the account of the estate.
Good luck.
JonChris,
I assume to enforce a sale of asset, you would have to get a court order?
Chitchat, What did the Will say about the property? Was anybody else residing permanently there at the time of the mothers death?
No-one else was living in her house, she owned it outright and the Will states that the proceeds of sale should be divided equally between her 5 children. The asking price has dropped a lot recently I believe, so when it does eventually sell, I may well consider suing them for the loss incurred. I was not consulted at all before they refused the offer, just told about it afterwards.
You should write to your B and S outlining your concerns and your thoughts on the intended actions you may be forced to take ie report to probate office or even the police for fraud; suggest a meeting to discuss the position and the way forward, unless their is such animosity between you that no benefit would be forthcoming.
Be clear about what you want to see and for them to declare and maybe what you would accept to avoid taking what will be expensive litigation fo all of you. And no doubt catastrophic for them if criminal charges are brought and financial if they loose any civil action that you may bring.
Also it will demonstrate that you have tried to resolve the matter prior to taking court action.
No, I haven't checked the Land Registry - will do so asap...good point, thanks.
I believe in their capacity as Executors they can apply for a SAR for any account of the deceased. All I have ascertained about the account is where it was held - (which came out by chance when they were speaking to my soliciitor, whilst strenuously denying that there was any other account!) and that one of the Executors had a card for it... they will not provide any statements or details whatsoever about it, to my solicitor, so I have to try all methods I can, to see statements.
Probate - Undeclared Account
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