Probate and executor not sure what’s happening

[Pippo871]

Hi, I’m a little bit confused as my uncle passed away on 2015 and I know that I’m a beneficery.

 

 

 

The executors that were named on the will no longer wanted to act so the solicitors had nominated my cousin as he is the main beneficiary. Well I hadn’t heard anything since my uncles passing and I haven’t got the greatest relationship with my cousin, so I looked on the probate registry and found that in actual fact my Aunty who works in the solicitors and is in the will is now the executor and the date of death on probate is wrong and she’s used her mothers address and not her own is this aloud?

 

 

 

Also probate was granted in August 2016 and my cousin who is the main benefactor and had had the farm has actually moved in and is renovating the place, how is this possible if other benefactors have not had anything or any correspondence? Sorry for the long post but I’m not sure how else to explain.

Edited October 31, 2018 by honeybee13
Paras

[AndyOrch]

Hi and Welcome to CAG

 

I have moved your thread to the appropriate forum...please continue to post here to your thread..

 

I would suggest you get a Solicitor on to this.

 

Andy

[Ethel Street]

Short answer is that if you are a named beneficiary and you have obtained a copy of the Will that shows that then you are entitled to ask the Executors what is happening and when you will receive your legacy. Do it in writing. Ultimately you could go to court to force the executors to pay you the legacy but that is expensive and very much a last resort and you'd have to appoint your own lawyers to do this. If the solicitors you mention are still involved in sorting out the Estate I'd write to them.

 

Whether it is unreasonable for you to wait this long it's impossible to say without knowing the full circumstances. It also depends what you have been left in the Will. If it was a specific item of your uncle's property it really shouldn't take very long - provided the Executors can find it! If it is a share in something that needs to be sold, or if it's cash but there's no cash in the Estate until assets are sold, that can take time.

 

Are the solicitors a named Executor in the Will, or have they been appointed by the Executors to administer the Estate on behalf of the Executors?

 

Executors can be, and usually are, beneficiaries themselves. There's nothing wrong in that.

 

I don't know how the date of death on Probate can be wrong unless the date of death on the Death Certificate is also wrong. Probate documents take the date of death as that shown on the death certificate. Is the difference significant, or is it just one day out? That could just be because someone died overnight and the person registering the death didn't know whether he died before or after midnight.

[Pippo871]

Thankyou for your reply executor wasn’t named in will but I’d guess my cousin had appointed her.

 

With probate and date of death it’s 2 days out so maybe just a clerical error.

 

I will write to the solicitors and see what’s happening to be honest it’s not so much about the money its just I feel there doing things morally wrong.

Edited October 31, 2018 by dx100uk
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[Mr.P]

Ultimately you could go to court to force the executors to pay you the legacy but that is expensive and very much a last resort and you'd have to appoint your own lawyers to do this.

 

It really depends on the size of the inheritance. Under £10,000, it could be dealt with in the small claims court relatively inexpensively. I recall someone posting on the forum having to chase a bequest a year or so back and made a successful claim in the small claims court. Anything over £10,000 would be more expensive, and it would certainly be prudent to take qualified legal advice. It may be, a suitably worded letter from a solicitor would get things moving.

[Ethel Street]

 

I don't know how the date of death on Probate can be wrong unless the date of death on the Death Certificate is also wrong. Probate documents take the date of death as that shown on the death certificate. Is the difference significant, or is it just one day out? That could just be because someone died overnight and the person registering the death didn't know whether he died before or after midnight.

 

Sorry, I'm wrong about that. It's not the person registering the death who says when the death took place. It's the stage before that, when the doctor certifies the person is dead. The doctor gives the next of kin a form called the Medical Certificate of Death stating the cause of death and the date of death. The next of kin gives that form to the Registrar when registering the death and that is the date that goes on the death certificate. The date on the death certificate is in turn used by the Probate registry when it issues the Probate document. It's possible for a clerical error to be made at either of the points where the date of death is copied over but unlikely. In my experience they check things like that very carefully. Or I suppose for some reason the doctor who certified death could have written the wrong date down and the next of kin who registered the death didn't notice. In the legal sense the date on the Probate isn't "wrong" if it's what's shown in the Registrar's record as what the Registrar has recorded is, for official/legal purposes, the date of death irrespective of when someone actually breathed their last (if you see what I mean).

 

Are you certain the date is wrong?

[Pippo871]

Hi yes I remember the date was the 26th as he died the day after my birthday and the 28th is what’s on the probate.

 

So maybe the 6 looks like an 8 that’s all I can think has happened!

Edited October 31, 2018 by dx100uk
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[Pippo871]

It really depends on the size of the inheritance. Under £10,000, it could be dealt with in the small claims court relatively inexpensively. I recall someone posting on the forum having to chase a bequest a year or so back and made a successful claim in the small claims court. Anything over £10,000 would be more expensive, and it would certainly be prudent to take qualified legal advice. It may be, a suitably worded letter from a solicitor would get things moving.u

 

Hi thanks for your reply, I think contacting a solicitor is what I’ll have to do, it’s just annoying that I know my cousin is making changes to the house whilst other beneficiaries haven’t even been contacted!