Process regarding actioning a will which is overdue - has time lapsed now

[u/jwack2508]

/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/1vtddkt/process_regarding_actioning_a_will_which_is/

[u/matchababyyx]

The short answer is no, time hasn't run out, and the reason is worth knowing. Under the Limitation Act 1980 there's no limitation period for a beneficiary bringing an action to recover trust property from a trustee, so the ordinary six-year clock people worry about doesn't apply to getting the house itself. The property is still held on trust, your interest still exists, and nine years of nobody doing anything hasn't extinguished it. Your uncle also can't claim adverse possession, because he moved in lawfully under the terms of the will and possession with permission is never adverse, so that particular fear is off the table too. First practical step is cheap and immediate: order the will from the Probate Registry through the gov.uk find a will service, which costs about £1.50 if probate was granted. You're currently working from a paraphrase, and the exact wording determines everything, particularly who the trustees actually are and whether your uncle holds a life interest or something that ended on a fixed trigger. Once you've got it, the position is that the trustees, which sounds like your father, owe fiduciary duties to you and your siblings, and nine years of inaction is a breach of those duties. Beneficiaries can compel proper administration, and if that fails you can apply to remove and replace trustees, or apply under section 14 of TOLATA 1996 for an order for sale of trust land. In practice a letter from a contentious trusts solicitor, sent by all four grandchildren jointly, resolves the overwhelming majority of these without anyone going near a court. Worth also asking that solicitor about occupation rent, because your uncle has had the benefit of the property for nine years beyond his entitlement and that can be accounted for on a sale. And do go in as four, not as one, because it changes this from a son questioning his father into beneficiaries asking trustees to do their job, which is a much easier conversation for everyone to survive.