SA Executor of Will Breaking the Law?

[Bobmo52]

My two sisters in law are joint executors to their mother's will. One is still receiving rent from the family home and intends to continue doing so. The will divides the estate equally between 7 siblings.
1. Is this illegal and can she be prosecuted?
2. Can she refuse to sell or stop or stall the sale of the house indefinitely and continue to take the rental proceeds?
3. Would she be required to pay back all rental proceeds received up until the sale of the property back into the estate to be divided equally?
4. Can the rent received be deducted from her one seventh share if she refuses to pay back the money?
5. What are her legal obligations in relation to cooperating with the other sister executor of will.

 

[winston wolf]

My two sisters in law are joint executors to their mother's will. One is still receiving rent from the family home and intends to continue doing so. The will divides the estate equally between 7 siblings.
1. Is this illegal and can she be prosecuted?
2. Can she refuse to sell or stop or stall the sale of the house indefinitely and continue to take the rental proceeds?
3. Would she be required to pay back all rental proceeds received up until the sale of the property back into the estate to be divided equally?
4. Can the rent received be deducted from her one seventh share if she refuses to pay back the money?
5. What are her legal obligations in relation to cooperating with the other sister executor.

1. Any income to the estate is part of the estate. If she takes it sh's stealing.
2. Until she is removed as executor by the Supreme Court..
3. Yes
4. Yes plus interest.
5. She is just meant to do the right thing.

I assume the other executor is a lame duck.

 

[Sophea]

Bobmo52,

Further to Winston's comments above, an executor is required to act with great care. If you as a beneficiary does not believe the executors are taking proper care or doing the work properly, you may complain to the Supreme Court. This is the only right you as a beneficiary have until the assets are distributed.

Courts will generally only remove an executor if it can be shown that the executor is incapable of performing the necessary duties. Executor’s have an obligation to carry out the intent of the will by acting in good faith and within the best interests of the beneficiaries. This means if an executor does a shoddy job of managing the estate, it can give rise to grounds to remove them. Having said that, the mismanagement must be fairly serious and damaging to the estate for the court to intervene. A court would generally need to be satisfied that there has been a severe departure from the “best interests” of the beneficiaries to remove an executor.

To remove an executor from a will after the death of the testator, a beneficiary must file court proceedings. If you are considering this step you should seek good legal advice.