Those who deal with the administration of estates are either executors or personal representatives.
Their role is to:
- collect and safeguard assets of the estate
- pay the debts of the estate
- distribute the estate according to the plans or Will or intestacy.
However, some executors or personal representatives fail to do this properly or in a timely manner, causing loss to the estate (for example, by failing to collect in and realising the assets, or by selling assets at a bank that are undervalued) by, distributing to the wrong beneficiaries or by misappropriating funds.
If you believe that an executor or personal representative is failing to carry out his or her duty to you as a beneficiary, or a potential beneficiary, we can advise you how best to approach this difficult situation and as to those options available to you, including making a Court application to remove the executors or personal representatives, or taking action to force them into correctly administering the estate. Please contact a member of the Disputes team.