I would be grateful for forum memberships’ thoughts on the following.
I am aware that it is possible to retract a renunciation but you need leave of the court where the renunciation has already been filed. Does anybody have experience on the position where the renunciation has not yet been filed?
The situation is this. Husband died about 12 months ago leaving his wife and the partners in a firm of solicitors as the executors. The partners have renounced to leave the wife as the sole executor. The wife did not have mental capacity at the time and so the children were going to take out the grant of letters of administration with Will annexed under the lasting power of attorney they hold for their mother.
Because of delays in getting information together for the inheritance tax return that has only recently been submitted and we were finalising the paper application for the letters of administration with Will annexed but the wife’s doctor was refusing to sign the PA14 not because he thought that she had capacity to act but because he just said that they did not do that sort of thing now!
Before we could get over that hurdle wife passed away. Her Will named her husband as executor together with the same firm of solicitors. The solicitors have agreed to take out the grant of probate in the wife’s estate which can be dealt with through the online process. They would then obtain the grant in the husband’s estate using the change of representation which would be a paper application. Given the delays with a paper application.
This is where I considered whether the solicitors could now retract their renunciation in the husband’s estate (as the renunciation has not yet been filed) and whether that would allow that application to be dealt with online as well avoiding the long delays of a paper application. Having looked at T&C’s the leave of the court to retract is needed where the renunciation is filed. Where it has not yet been filed what is required?
Any thoughts gratefully received.