QLD Letters of Administration with the Will

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Jac Rough

Active Member
5 October 2019
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Queensland
Re the estate of my mother, there is a need to apply for Letters of Admin with Will. I was going to apply but my (not trustworthy) sibling lodged caveat. Sibling has now engaged her own lawyer to apply. What are the ramifications of her lawyer being executor?
 

Paul Cott

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26 May 2014
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Ballarat, Victoria
Hi Jack this means that in a sense there is some removal from the issue from your sibling in that a lawyer executor has a double set of duties to comply with, as an executor and and as a lawyer, to act properly and in the best interests of the estate. Hope that helps.
 
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Jac Rough

Active Member
5 October 2019
9
0
31
Queensland
Hi Jack this means that in a sense there is some removal from the issue from your sibling in that a lawyer executor has a double set of duties to comply with, as an executor and and as a lawyer, to act properly and in the best interests of the estate. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your reply Paul. Considering my sibling has been demanding financial records from me regarding Mum’s spending and nothing I give them will satisfy, does their lawyer becoming executor mean he can pursue me further?
 

Tim W

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28 April 2014
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You say there's a will... and yet you talk about Letters of Administration...

Letters are more often seen in an intestacy than where there's a will.

That being said, the other time you see "Letters of Administration With the Will Attached"
is when the executor named in the will is unwilling or unable to undertake that office.

Unwilling simply means that they don't want to. They don't have to give a reason.

Unable could mean, for example, if they are dead, too sick (physically or otherwise), or imprisoned.
Not only that, but you sometimes get that a testator imposes a condition on the appointment of an executor,
and the nominee can't meet the condition (such as, say, they must live full time Australia, or not have any convictions, or they must not be bankrupt at the time).

As to the caveat - on what? Mum's house?

I agree with @Paul Cott in that a lawyer as executor (even if paid by a "rival" sibling/ beneficiary), is not always and automatically a bad idea.
 
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Tim W

Lawyer
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28 April 2014
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Sydney
Thanks for your reply Paul. Considering my sibling has been demanding financial records from me regarding Mum’s spending and nothing I give them will satisfy, does their lawyer becoming executor mean he can pursue me further?
While she was alive, were you formally appointed as, say, a Holder of Power of Attorney?
Or were you just doing it on a de facto basis?
If the former, then any obligations you had in that office, were to your Mother,
not to any future beneficiaries.

Are you the nominated executor?
It sounds as though there has not yet been a Grant of Probate?
Is that perhaps due to a technical deficiency in the will?
 
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