Executors (and administrators when there is no Will) have certain duties and responsibilities when dealing with a deceased person’s Estate, including providing information to the beneficiaries.
The executor is required to sign a legal statement when they apply for a Grant of Probate confirming they will keep full details (an inventory) of the Estate and a full account of how the Estate has been distributed. At the same time, the legal statement warns that the executor could be asked by the Probate Registry (part of the High Court) to provide full details of the estate and how it was distributed.
A failure on the part of an executor to communicate to the beneficiaries is often a cause of beneficiaries’ complaints which can sometimes result in a legal dispute and court proceedings. In those cases, a beneficiary can ask the Court to make an Order for an “inventory and account” which requires the executor to provide the information sought within a set time frame.
Disputes of this type are on the rise as more executors try to administer estates without the involvement of a solicitor to oversee the process, so it is important to seek early advice from a specialist if you are concerned about the handling of an estate or if you are an executor against whom a complaint of this nature has been made.
