Hi. I am the executor of a will, along with another person. The will is valid but the codicil (an attached list of bequests) was deemed invalid by the probate office. THe will is very straight forward and leaves the estate to the 4 adult children of the deceased. THe codicil left small token bequests to friends and relatives and £15,000 to be split between 10 people.
As executor should I follow the letter of the law and insist the estate is divided between the 4 adult children, or can I carry out the wishes on the codicil as well?
The 4 adult children want to honour the codicil, but would like the estate divided between the 4 of them, as they then wish to distribute the bequests themselves.
I would like to follow the will to the letter of the law and distribute the estate to the 4 adult children, whereas the other executor wants to distribute the bequests on the codicil and is not happy to sign cheques etc.
Please, can anyone advise me what I should do in legal terms?
2007-03-13 12:14:00 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
If the will is valid, but the codicil is invalid (per the court), then apply the terms of the will, but not the codicil.
If you carry out the instructions in the codicil, you would actually be violating your fiduciary duty, as the court as deemed the codicil to be invalid and thus not the wishes of the testator.
2007-03-13 12:18:23 · answer #1 · answered by coragryph 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Probate was presumably granted for the will but not for the codicil. There is therefore no doubt about it: you have to obey the instructions in the will. This is almost in effect a precatory trust, as the net effect of it is that the four adult children will get everything in the hope and expectation that they will accede to the wishes of their father as set out in the codicil. At least they are agreed on this.
2007-03-13 13:13:23 · answer #2 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2017-02-17 08:13:05 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋