Mother, a widow has died and the Will appoints her three adult children as executors A, B & C.
Other than the residence assets are modest, no IHT account required, likely other asset holders will close off without requiring sight of a grant.
A, the eldest resides in the deceased’s property and wishes to take probate with power reserved to his two brothers. He does not wish to speak to or have any dealings with C.
B, lives locally, happy for A to proceed, no comment re C.
C, estranged, lives a distance away wishes to act also.
Any suggestions, tips or comments as to how to progress would be welcome.
The most straightforward solution may be for them to all renounce and agree to the grant being taken by someone who can act independently of any one of them.
However, I suspect part of the issue is that A lives in the deceased’s house and may not wish to surrender occupancy. Accordingly, whoever deals with the estate may need to consider evicting A, if he is not willing to vacate voluntarily.
I would say it depends on who your client is, and where the will is. If A is your client and if he has possession of the will then presumably you make the application in his name, after having served notice on C of A’s intention to do so, and it is then up to C to obtain his own separate grant if he wishes to do that.
Who are the beneficiaries? How much is the property worth? How long has A lived there? Depending on these answers, it may be straightforward or could be hideous. On the face of it the most practical approach (depending on who you are acting for) is for A to take out the grant with note to B and C and want and see if C does anything.
Michael McCabe
Heath Square Private Client Limited