Recommended bank to open Executors account?

izaac · 2 July 2015 at 8:42AM

My Grant of Probate should arrive today.

Is there any advantage in choosing one bank over another to open an Executors Account?

troubleinparadise · 2 July 2015 at 8:56AM

I used Natwest as the deceased's accounts were there, and the Executors'..... It just made the admin processes easy for us. And there was a very good member of staff who set it up and advised well in this particular branch.

My co-executor didn't have such a good experience in her branch, and other posters have had mixed experiences.

So I'd go on familiarity, good staff and ease of paying cheques in.

izaac · 2 July 2015 at 9:05AM

Thanks. We bank with Santander and I've seen on here that they don't get particularly good press particularly with their Bereavement Service which I think they may have ceased to provide? I know they didn't want to know when I walked in asking about some sort of account that I could keep separate from mine and Name as such, prior to Probate, having thus far dealt with Barclays, where the deceased banked.

We have stuck with Santander due to their 123 account, and, obviously, we are past needing a Bereavement Service as such!

FreeBear · 2 July 2015 at 9:12AM

If the deceased banked with Barclays and you have a branch that is easily accessible, it would be as well to go there.

I'm in a similar situation where most of the accounts are with Lloyds, so that is where we have the executors account - It also helps that we also use the same bank all be it different branches.

joerugby · 2 July 2015 at 3:24PM

My main bank a/c is with Natwest and they set up an executor's account for me no problem. It was accessible through my existing online banking - appeared as an extra account on the screen - so that made life very easy.

Deceased banked with coop and they transferred his balances to natwest as soon as we had probate without a problem

izaac · 2 July 2015 at 4:15PM

Have to laugh; Probate arrived today so I called my branch of Santander (after trawling Google to find the number!) to ask about executors accounts. There was an -ahem- deathly silence at the other end, then with great uncertainty, the lady ummed and ahhed; so I asked if she knew what an executor's account was? She asked to to hold- then got back to me with an appointment -3 weeks hence! Do you WANT me to park just over half a million quid in your bank or shall I take it somewhere else?? Hmm?

I am not a fan of Barclays but they did give me better service when I was closing/freezing the deceased's accounts there! Though they also wouldn't open an account in anything other than my name, hence I have drawerfuls of cash and cheques here! :cool:

izaac · 2 July 2015 at 4:16PM

I wonder whether it's true that the Older Established banks are better at this sort of thing? Hence ex-building societies, etc, aren't so good?

troubleinparadise · 2 July 2015 at 11:35PM

This whole business of people dying and executors needing bank accounts to handle the money is nothing new... So it is really unforgivable for a financial institution not to have trained their staff in how to handle this situation, or at least know if this is something they cannot offer.

Perhaps you now have your answer - a lack of confidence in your own bank, Santander - as you say, you have a large amount of money that they can earn interest on for some months, hopefully there is a bank that can meet your needs!

Savvy_Sue · 3 July 2015 at 12:44AM

izaac wrote: »

I wonder whether it's true that the Older Established banks are better at this sort of thing? Hence ex-building societies, etc, aren't so good?

I know Nationwide just said 'no'.

We used Lloyds a few years ago for Dad, and that was fine.

This time we've gone with NatWest, and my experience has been mixed. Most recently, I've asked for a cheque book: the name of the account is shown as me and co-executor, no mention of it being an Exec a/c.

Then I tried to pay a cheque in, made payable to 'The Executors of Mum's name'. I've done this over the counter before with no problem, using my debit card for the account. I tried one of their machines, but it couldn't read the cheque, so I went to a counter position.

"This cheque is made out to an Executor's Account", they said. I said "I know. This is an Executor's Account."

"It hasn't got any markers to that effect, it's just showing as in joint names" they said. I said "Nevertheless, it is an Executor's account. Those names are mine and my co-executor."

"Have you paid cheques in before?" they asked. I said "Yes, several times, usually at X branch, where they smile at me and take my money!"

They took my money.

I came home and started a web chat, which took half an hour. In the course of it I was offered the chance to change the account name online.

Except that the account name shows correctly as EXEC OF MUM'S NAME. So why they can't see this in branch, I don't know. And why the cheque book doesn't show that, I don't know.

Their staff have been universally friendly and helpful, but their systems really don't seem to work so well.

abelljms · 26 February 2016 at 4:29PM

just opened one at Suntan der. -it's a crepe account as it's got no access except in person at a branch, Also it's a building society account so bacs into it is !!!!!, no online access
:mad::mad:

abelljms · 26 February 2016 at 4:35PM

so now I've been on phone to barclays for 50 minutes trying to find out about their account, - spoken to TWO faaar away call centres where the ladies had no idea what an executor was, - -I suspect in their country an executer has a slightly different function from UK!

eventually was transferred to Liverpool where they knew what one was, but still had no information, so now I've been binned into yet another teeeedious queue, wottabunchoftossers.

:mad::mad:

Recommended bank to open Executors account?

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