A close family member of mine is the executor of will for his deceased mother-in-law's estate, and there is a bit of a moral dilemma about distributing "everything left in the house" (for want of correct terminology).
Relevant details:
- The will specifies that assets (house to be sold, and any money) be divided equally between X children and Y grandchildren who are issued of a pre-deceased child.
- My understanding is that the "everything left in the house" is the intestacy part since it is not specifically in the will, and therefore this all goes to the beneficiaries.
- The deceased's verbal wishes were that 'the children take what they like from the house'
- There are several other grandchildren who are not beneficiaries, and there is no spouse.
- The children have nominated specific items they would like, which were written down by their
mother before she passed away and they have been distributed already.
The dilemma:
There is one child who has openly stated that they will take anything that no-one else wants, which includes large items of furniture, possible antiques, etc. And has also said that they would not necessarily be for their own use (e.g. friend B could use that...). This child has also nominated several items for their own child (a non-beneficiary grandchild).
I think this might be more a moral question than a legal one, but how does the executor deal with this? Should the remainder of the household effects be sold and the proceeds divided evenly among the beneficiaries? If a non-beneficiary grandchild wants something, should they buy it from the estate?
Thanks in advance
Relevant details:
- The will specifies that assets (house to be sold, and any money) be divided equally between X children and Y grandchildren who are issued of a pre-deceased child.
- My understanding is that the "everything left in the house" is the intestacy part since it is not specifically in the will, and therefore this all goes to the beneficiaries.
- The deceased's verbal wishes were that 'the children take what they like from the house'
- There are several other grandchildren who are not beneficiaries, and there is no spouse.
- The children have nominated specific items they would like, which were written down by their
mother before she passed away and they have been distributed already.
The dilemma:
There is one child who has openly stated that they will take anything that no-one else wants, which includes large items of furniture, possible antiques, etc. And has also said that they would not necessarily be for their own use (e.g. friend B could use that...). This child has also nominated several items for their own child (a non-beneficiary grandchild).
I think this might be more a moral question than a legal one, but how does the executor deal with this? Should the remainder of the household effects be sold and the proceeds divided evenly among the beneficiaries? If a non-beneficiary grandchild wants something, should they buy it from the estate?
Thanks in advance