The law when someone dies

You father could have had a house worth hundreds of thousands a car, cash, all sorts of personal items and investments.
It’s up to you what you want to do, that kind of money could be life changing and make your life much better, brother has got a lot of explaining to do.

Sassenach you do not need to get into any legal wrangle with your brother. You just need to get a solicitor to represent you in making sure the probate is properly sorted and that you get your fair share of the estate.

Thank you MOnica I can see I need to see a solicitor to at least, put my mind at rest. My brother told me he had had the house valued but I never saw the evidence and he gave me half what he thought it was worth and lived in it himself. He probably should have got me to sign something then but didn't, now he needs it and after 18 years he's contacted me to ask for it. I do feel he's probably sold me short but I think life is too short to start any legal wrangle with him

sassenach512. What you need here, and urgently is good legal advice. I would advise you to visit a solicitor (one who specialises in wills and probate) as soon as possible. Present him with the facts of the case and take his advice. If you really cannot afford that, then go and speak to your local Citizens Advice office.

You have not said how much money you received 18 years ago (and I am not askng), but was it sufficient to amount to at least half the value of the house at the time of your father's death and possibly more if your father had savings and investments? If not then more is owed to you, especially as, as the house is only being sold now it will be worth more and you will be entitled to half the increase in value.

In my opinion, your brother is trying to cheat you out of money you are entitled to. Because, when your father died, for good reason, you didn't challenge him then, he thinks he can slip a fast one past you again. Do not sign anything without letting a solicitor have a good look at it first. You need a solicitor to watch over your interests during the probate application, who is quite separate from the one instructed to handle the probate by your brother.

You say of your brother he was always a controlling older brother, I just let it go. If a solicitor deals with everything for you, you will not have to speak or deal directly with your brother at all. Your solicitor can protect you and ensure you get whatever you are legally due.

If you are nervous about about visiting a solicitor do you have a partner, child, or friend who could come with you to the first meeting and support you through the process?

Your brother has clearly never applied for probate. There must be serious questions about what other savings and investments your father had when he died and how, if at all, your brother managed to get them released to him when he did not have probate

Solicitors do not usually charge fees until the job is complete and you could be due some serious money, running into 10s of thousands of pounds.

Thank you Davidhs and Notanan2 for your input. My main concern was that he never told the solicitor and that he could have plucked the figure of my share out of thin air as he handled it all himself, I wasn't aware of my father's assets, it was always kept private. I think you can gather that my brother and I don't get on

You can sell pre probate grant. Just need other benificaries to sign to say they no longer have a claim. Which if they have already been given a cash equivalent of their share, can be done.

It takes no longer to use another solicitor in fact it can be quicker.

Post before was delayed

He can’t sell, he has not got title he has to get your permission, using your fathers solicitor will probably be easier, any new solicitor may be cheaper per hour but it will take longer.

As has been said it can take years but usually 2 yrs is enough, in simple cases 12 months. It’s his responsibility to make sure it’s done correctly. If property is involved usually a solicitor is needed to administer that, adding the rest of the estate will not add much to the cost

If the house is involved it could come back to bite him, because if he didnt get probate he would not have title to the house. Although if he occupies it for long enough it probably becomes his by default

But that is allowed! He IS applying for probate in that case, it is quite common to NOT use the deceased's solicitor.

You can obtain a copy of the will , and if you have been already given what amounts to your share, then you can sign off that you have no further claim on the estate so the house can be sold.

Probate can take years and assets can be sold before its granted.

That's how I found out he hadn't contacted my father's solicitor, he is trying to sell the house but as I'm a beneficiary in the will, he needs a letter from me to give him my consent for probate

Have you done a probate search? Could be that he declined the deceased's solicitors service but still got granted probate elsewhere?

There was a will, we were the only beneficiaries, my brother the sole executor. He gave me what he said was my share but I wasn't shown any bank statements or proof. In hindsight I should have insisted but I was in a bad place at the time and he was always a controlling older brother, I just let it go.

Sassenach. If your brother has done effectively nothing there probably was no will your fathers died intestate.

This means that the estate has to be shared according to set rules. Brother seems to have kept everything for himself.

The executor has no obligation to use the deceased solicitor in any way either

There is no obligation for a named executor to actually be the executor.

if intestate then all family members with a claim should be notified, but if he didn't apply for letters of administration then nothing would have been done. just assumed a will as brother was described as executor

Actually there is a point in law if the deceased dies intestate.

sassenach, I take it there was a will? He should have applied for probate, yes
It needs sorting out

Does anyone know if it is a legal requirement for an executor (my brother in this case) to inform my father's solicitor when he died? We are estranged and I recently discovered that he didn't do that when our father died 18 years ago, he handled the whole thing himself, he didn't apply for probate either so my father's house remains in his name although he is deceased.

ALANaV. The best way to stop your daughter contesting your will, is to include a letter in it explaining why you have not left her anything. Your solicitor should be able to draft succh a letter or you could draft one yourself. You could just state that she has chosen to cut herself off from her family for 15 years and has not given anyone any idea where she lives, that you feel no sense of obligation to her and you have actively chosen to exclude her from the will.

You can just leave your grandson money in your will without putting it in a trust so no one will know you have left anything to him until you die. If he is under 18 when you die that money will then be put in trust for him until he is 18. If he is over 18 he will just receive a sum you left him, paid directly to him..

Something similar is happening to my dear neighbour. Both he and his wife have no children and chose to keep their families at a distance. Now, he is terminally ill.
It's none of my business, but because his wife is a very close friend of mine, I suggested she rings his family and informs but she is determined not to. So sad !!

I’m so pleased for you BeenBizzy, but so sad about your husband. I’m wondering whether it’s easier for the estranged child, or parent. I suppose it depends on the circumstances, but I know it would break me to “ lose “ one of my children. With my mother, I think it was always on the cards, and strangely enough, it took a death, my father’s, for our relationship to be finally over. I haven’t missed her at all. I realise how that must sound, but just being honest.

BeenBizzy, it must have been a comfort to you at such a sad time to be reunited with your son but sad that it took a tragedy for it to happen.

ALANaV if you are leaving a trust to your GS his guardians MUST be informed by the executer of your will. You saying "dont tell my DD" in your will does not override that.

I saw my dear husband killed in a road accident , I told the police officers I would not inform my estranged son,
they insisted that they would tell him...... It was their duty to do so .
This I accepted . The results of that awful day were that mother and son are reunited.