Being an Executor

Mrs Slowjo has discovered she is an executor for her recently deceased Aunt. Now she is ok with this but there is a question.

Is the Executor obliged to use the lawyer of the Deceased person or can he/she elect to use another lawyer (i.e. one who is local to them as opposed to the Deceased’s lawyer who is based several hours drive away)?

If she is a sole executor she can use whoever she likes or do it herself.

I don’t think you have to use any solicitor if you’re an executor…

Thanks, that is very helpful.

I couldn’t do it. What happens if you miss with the first blow. Hack hack hack.

I don’t think you have to use any solicitor if you’re an executor…

I didn’t, but presume it depends on how complex the estate is?

She can use who she wants to – and I’d recommend that she does use someone good if the estate is in any way complex or she doesn’t know what she’s doing; she will have personal unlimited liability for any errors in how she manages the estate.

I’d suggest also being careful how you use the lawyers, as the probate estate work is where a lot make significant money, often calculated as a % of the estate – best thing is get an hourly fee arrangement and have visibility on what they’re doing so there isn’t a blank cheque book.

Good advice from pedroball.
Basic responsibilities are to value the assets, pay any IHT and then distribute the remaining assets in line with the will.
Key is that the Executor is personally liable for any mistakes they make. In addition the calculation of IHT is critically dependent upon the valuation of the estate and where there are assets other than simple cash & investments, this can get complex and involve extended discussions with everyone’s favourite government office (HMRC). Of course that may not be relevant if the estate is not large enough (but even determining that can be complicated!).

A Solicitor is useful for certain things – like getting settlements from banks etc. which you would have to attend in person and swear, and provide certificates for. I used a friendly solicitor who did the useful bits and I did the rest myself. Time consuming though but a lot cheaper than handing the whole thing over.

The HMRC guidance is very good, have a look at that before deciding whether you need to engage to a solicitor.

As above you don’t need a lawyer and your wife can choose who she wants if she does want to go that route. If the will is straightforward and assets likewise, eg single property, some savings and assets and clear distribution to clearly identifiable individuals then you don’t need a solicitor. I was an executor and got the info I needed from the Internet (government sites) and a simple book. Did all that part myself, we did have a despute with a second will which required some work from a solicitor but the estate part was simple following procedure to get the will recognised and being granted probate, ie control, then filling in simple tax forms and selling house and investments and distributing the money.

Do it yourself as far as you can or you will end up paying large amounts of money to a solicitor and have to pay them extra each time you contact them or check up on them to see why they are being so slow. My family were quoted a minimum of £1500.00 in fees for even a very basic probate.

GET THIS BOOK (Waterstones stock it on the shelf, other suppliers available!)

Gordon Bowley LLB – Probate: The guide to obtaining grant of probate and administering an estate.

The government web site is here and has lots of info/guidance
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview

You can contact them for additional help and guidance if the stuff on the web is not enough.

All the probate forms and guidance can be downloaded from here
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForm.do?court_forms_id=735

A friend has just done probate for his Mums death. In theory you may be interviewed after you send the 2 forms into the government, but I think they do not bother to do everyone as his family did not get called in for a chat. Her estate was bigger, so they saved several thousand by doing it all themselves.

The fee for sending the forms into the government is around £200.00 no matter how small the estate. If you cant afford to pay it I think you can get some kind of grant or similar, see government web site.

My friend set up an Exectors account at the bank (note: the bank will be keen to do the entire executorship for you, but will charge you as highly as the solicitors would) but my friend said in retrospect he did not really need to bother with a specific ‘executors account’ as money due to the dead person can still be paid into their own bank account. We did not need to create one either. I just saw it as something else to have to monitor and later close down, on top of the deceased persons existing accounts. If you have money owing to the dead person, it can be paid into their existing accounts.

Keep a record of any expenses you run up – travel, maintenance of estate items such as property, bills you pay on behalf of the dead person as you are entitled to claim them against the estate.

If you need to pay for the funeral before the estate is settled, take the funeral bill into the bank or building society the dead person used and if there are sufficient funds in the account, the bank/building soc is legally able to pay the invoice from the dead persons account before probate etc is settled – its the only bill they are able to pay in this way.

Hope this is helpful.

As above but check the will sometimes the will appoints a solicitor as joint executor . As a trainee solicitor I did a few simple probates and to be blunt if I could do it with my level of technical knowledge and skill you could do it with common sense and the internet.

The value of a solicitor is dealing with all the tedious hastle the larger and more diverse the estate the greater the work, dealing with the grasping poisonous beneficiaries the more relatives the worse this is if any major charity involved as a beneficiary they make your drunk gambler uncle look like a saint . Possibly dealing with the sale of houses etc but you can instruct just for this purpose and a probate lawyer may just refer on to his conveyancing dept for a second fee. The major benefit is they are insured if they mess up miss or undervalue an asset or miss a beneficiary or miscalculate tax their insurance takes the hit not your pocket.

This view is personal based on my experience from twenty years ago.
If you do use solicitors get clear information re fee structure in advance. If you shop around do not solely go by price cheap may be cheap for a reason on the other hand a high fee may not actually reflect a good service. Stay clear of banks .

like getting settlements from banks etc

The banks I dealt with last year were all brilliant; helpful, patient and knowledgable.

A solicitor was engaged to deal with the sale of the house involved; he had a few extra duties to perform on the back of a probate sale but this was handled as an add-on to conveyancing which helped keep the price down.

The Probate process was simple and straightforward and not at all intimidating.

Of course, it depends on how complicated the estate is…

Thanks all….have passed this on to Mrs S.

It seems there is another Executor so they are going to meet for a chat. The estate would appear to be quite small….single property, two equal beneficiaries, and not much else. I see a DIY job coming up.

The estate would appear to be quite small….single property, two equal beneficiaries, and not much else. I see a DIY job coming up.

It sounds DIY-able. One thing that helps is if the two executors are fairly local to each other and if you’re fairly local to a court dealing with probate where you’d swear oaths etc. If not then using solicitor for some bits can save a fair bit of bother and travel

Stay clear of banks

think what the poster meant was avoid using their probate services just an expensive way of getting services that you can get direct or DIY or just get tricky bits done

– done a couple one intestate, one disputed with tax liabilities and property transfers depends how much time have – just phone calls and paperwork, if already over run with life wouldn’t diy – most large co’s have specialist teams that are very helpful though- not your usual so called customer service stuff