What are Your Rights as a Beneficiary of a Will?

A beneficiary is a person who receives a gift or benefit from a deceased estate. Executors are accountable to the beneficiaries, but it is the executors who are in charge of the estate, not the beneficiaries. Executors must work according to the direction in the Will, not the direction of the beneficiaries.

We receive many enquiries from beneficiaries in deceased estates seeking advice in relation to their rights. As a beneficiary named in the Will of the deceased, you have the following rights:

A right to see a copy of the Will
If you are a beneficiary named in any Will of the deceased or would be entitled to receive a share of the estate if a Will did not exist, you have the right to see a copy of any of the Wills made by the deceased during their lifetime (whether they have been revoked or not) that are available to the Executor.

The right to the proper administration of the estate
The Executors owe a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries, meaning that they always need to act impartially and act in the best interests of the beneficiaries. Executors have the duty to administer and distribute the estate in a timely manner, taking into consideration all relevant facts and issues which may arise
In circumstances where an Executor has breached his/her fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, has wasted assets or misappropriated estate funds or has extremely delayed the administration of the estate, a number of proceedings can be commenced in Court against the Executor(s) personally to rectify the situation.

The right to estate accounts
If you are a residuary beneficiary. Executors are required to maintain a set of estate accounts and provide them to residuary beneficiaries if requested. The estate accounts should show all amounts collected into the estate, details of all payments made from the estate, all assets which have been transferred in specie, all distributions made from the estate and any assets being held by the Executor on behalf of the estate as at the date of the accounts.

A typical estate is likely to take between 6 months and one year from the date of death until when distributions begin. Estates are prone to unexpected delays, usually because assets take a while to collect or sell.

If you would like to find out more about your rights and options as a beneficiary, you can email us at info@straitslawyers.com or call at 08 8410 9069.

Alternatively, if you would like to prepare a Will, Straits Lawyers are now offering an online package for Advance Care Directives and Wills. Simply purchase our package via this link: https://straits-lawyers.square.site/product/will-and-advance-care-directive-package-/13

Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice.