What happens when your brother has helped your father make his Will and when he dies he makes your brother the sole Executor of the Will. You however feel like you don't trust your brother to handle the affairs honestly and you are not on good terms with him.
When your dad dies, you are not happy at the way your brother is conducting his role as Executor. You think that he might just be acting for his own benefit. One of the major reasons for clients contesting Wills is that the Executor or Trustee are not doing the job correctly or are acting improperly.
These individuals are 'personal representatives' or 'PRs'. The law does require that they follow a defined code of conduct. If they step outside the boundaries of what is correct procedure, this can give valid grounds for contesting a Will. You are then raising concerns over their conduct when dealing with the Estate.
Conflicts of interest can arise where an Executor is also a beneficiary of the Will, where family company shares are involved as part of the Estate or is a director of the company.
There may be tensions between the Personal Representatives or between the PRs and the beneficiaries under the Will; this can arise within families where there are already underlying frictions.
Regarding your brother you may actually think that his not being honest and is not handling the estate with the interests of the beneficiaries at heart.
Your brother could be behaving obstructively or unfairly in which case an application to the Court for an order to remove him can be made or a substitute PR or trustee is appointed. In this case you are challenging the manner in which the Estate is being managed or distributed.
It is frequently the case that Executors are not acting in the best interests of the Estate or the Beneficiaries.
They may be withholding information, acting negligently or making unauthorised or risky investment decisions with the Estate property. They might be transferring property into other names or selling property and dealing with the proceeds other than in accordance with the wishes of the beneficiaries. Steps can be taken to prevent this conduct from continuing.
Speak to a qualified lawyer who specialises in contesting a Will; this person will be calm, guide you through the process and will not get tangled up in family divisions or arguments. They will give objective, controlled and legal support.