Hi, 5 years ago my godmother passed away leaving 20% of her estate to me.I was a trustee but not an executor of her will.
She left various percentages to different members of our family..
I have successful applied for and been given a £20,000 refund of fees from a nursing home which my cousin who is an executor and myself will receive inh nthe next two weeks.
Two members of our family have passed away since the original distribution of the estate,and we wondered if we would be allowed as trustees and executors to redistribute the small percenatges that cannot go do the deceased beneficiaires?
We also wondered if we needed to inform probate or the tax office?
Many thanks

(This should be under Law, not Forum Community.)

We don't know what country you are in, but generally the money goes to the deceased heirs' estates for distribution to their heirs, as specified in their wills, or if no will, as specified by the intestate laws where you live. Intestate means dying without a will.

Clearly there was a will and it was filed for probate. If a beneficiary dies before probate is closed, then their share goes to their estate to be distributed to their heirs. It should not be spread among the other heirs.

If, however, probate was closed that may be a different story and you would need to discuss this with a solicitor (I'm assuming you are in the UK based on your currency symbol). I would still be inclined to distribute to the heirs of the deceased heirs.

'Clearly there was a will... ' yes, I know. I'm talking about possible lack of wills of those who have died since.

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Originally Posted by joypulv

'Clearly there was a will...' yes, I know. I'm talking about possible lack of wills of those who have died since.

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Whether these since-deceased heirs have wills or not is totally immaterial to OP as trustee. Send the checks to "the estate of ____, deceased " and be done with it. It is not OP's concern (or, in American parlance, "none of his/her business.").

I think the "we" in the question - referring to himself/herself AND the executor - does make it OP's business. I don't see that the trustee indicates it is his/her question alone.

Per stirpes, perhaps?

Afraid I'm missing your point. The OP, a trustee of some sort, and the PR of the grandmother's estate together have a duty to see that appropriate shares of this money goes to the respective estates of the deceased heirs of the grandmother. It is not up to either trustee or PR to figure out who are the heirs of the grandmother's deceased heirs.

Whether distribution of this portion of grandmother's estate is done per stirpes, per capita, or otherwise, presumably is dictated by the grandmother's will &/or the trust instrument. And, I am sure, OP and OP's cousin have already figured out how to do that, having previously distributed the bulk of the estate & trust. How it is to be distributed to the dead heirs' heirs ( I]per stirpes[/I], per capita)is, I repeat, none of their business..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

Afraid I'm missing your point. The OP, a trustee of some sort, and the PR of the grandmother's estate together have a duty to see that appropriate shares of this money goes to the respective estates of the deceased heirs of the grandmother. It is not up to either trustee or PR to figure out who are the heirs of the grandmother's deceased heirs.

Whether distribution of this portion of grandmother's estate is done per stirpes, per capita, or otherwise, presumably is dictated by the grandmother's will &/or the trust instrument. And, I am sure, OP and OP's cousin have already figured out how to do that, having previously distributed the bulk of the estate & trust. How it is to be distributed to the dead heirs' heirs ( I]per stirpes[/I], per capita)is, I repeat, none of their business..

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I think there was also a question of taxation against the estate. And if the original probate has been closed then how to distribute the funds legally.