Use solicitor as executor of my will?

richardw

monkey_spank wrote: »

Solicitors typically charge a percentage of the value of the estate, and if that's not bad enough, they whack on an hourly rate on top. Then there's the interminable delays while they they spin it out for as long as possible.

That really is shocking, I thought they were supposed to be professional.

sloughflint

VoucherMan wrote: »

The only time I've used a solicitor is when I moved house, and even then I used one appointed by the bank, so my knowledge of them is very limited.
Is a STEP solicitor the same as a Wills & Probate solicitor? And even if I find a suitable one now, is there any guarantee that the firm will employ one in 30/40/60 years time?

No, they are not the same.

I, like many other people used to think that solicitors claiming to specialise in Wills and Probate ought to be competent. Not necessarily so.

Pee

Sounds like you should appoint a solicitor now, with a view to changing it when the nephews and neices are old enough.

I think asking a friend or relative who does not benefit under the Will to act as Executor is asking a lot. If they don't know what they are doing they could end up with personal liability and difficulties with the beneficiaries.

clairehi

Pee wrote: »

I think asking a friend or relative who does not benefit under the Will to act as Executor is asking a lot. If they don't know what they are doing they could end up with personal liability and difficulties with the beneficiaries.

I think this is painting an overly gloomy picture. I was my father's executor and not a beneficiary (my mother was co-executor , she reserved powers and was the only beneficiary ). Yes the estate admin took a certain amount of legwork but anything I was not sure of I just checked with the solicitor and kept written copies of her advice in case of a future query.

As an executor, as long as you act in good faith, keep good records, and take advice from a solicitor and/or HMRC if in any doubt, you will be fine. In addition, the testator can help the executor a huge amount if they leave their financial records in good order.

As has been repeatedly said above, if you appoint a solicitor as executor they are v difficult to remove and will insist on doing all the estate admin at full cost = £megabucks. Better to appoint a sibling now (even if older) and change will when beneficiaries reach majority IMHO.

localhero

clairehi wrote:

As has been repeatedly said above, if you appoint a solicitor as executor they are v difficult to remove

That's a bit of an understatement. The solicitor is impossible to remove if they wish to take up their role (and therefore earn their fee).

localhero

...Also, where there are no suitable adult relatives available to act as your executor, people naturally feel a bit reluctant to ask friends to do it, so one option is to leave them a gift in the Will conditional on them acting.

RAS

Having had a few experience of this.

1. Local solicitor appointed as executor took £4k to adminster a £8k estate.

2. Same person then wrote another will with everything in trust administered by himself with substantial annual fee and as executor. Took major work and cooperation of beneficiaries to vary the will. Solicitor successfully reported to Law Society.

3. Two individual solicitors named as executors, rather than company. 30 years later major problems with the company. Ended up with the administrators HAVING to appoint their own solicitor to pay the IHT and extract the will. Cost in excess of £10K.

If you write a will with a legal company as executors, you have no idea who will be running that company when you die. You might as well ask the chap next to you on the tube.

Because the solicitors in 3 were named individually, they renounced their role and it was administered by family. The problem was the law company holding the will. The solicitors who handled this considered that actually administering the will was quite within the families capabilities, if they had been able to get hold of it.

So unless you have a lot of money, lots of illiquid assets or a complex family background, appoint someone you know. It may be OK to appoint a couple of siblings now and then appoint the nieces and nephews when they are older.

VoucherMan

Thanks for all the comments.
You've definitely put me off the idea now.

Is it still worth using a solicitor to make the will in the first place.
I think it will be about £100 for a basic will (which mine should be).

Or are the D.I.Y. ones fairly safe & straight forward to use?

localhero

VoucherMan wrote:

Is it still worth using a solicitor to make the will in the first place. I think it will be about £100 for a basic will (which mine should be).

Or are the D.I.Y. ones fairly safe & straight forward to use?

I wouldn't advise DIY, too many pitfalls. A solicitor possibly - if you know a good one. Another option is a professional Willwriter.

Debt_Free_Dreamer

When we approached a Solictor to deal with my dad's estate, as we thought we legally had to. She wanted 1.5% of the value of the house, 1% of the cash value and £12 for every letter she wrote, plus her hourly rate. Then she wanted to deal with the sale of the house and take another cut for doing that! I actually dealt with the sale through my own solictor as I was selling my own house at the same time and she did it very very cheap.

I initally wrote over 50 letters and then lots of follow up letters, so that alone would have cost a fortune.

I estimate our final bill would have been in excess of £3,000 for the sale and wind up of a small 3 bedroomed family home, plus a little savings at the bank.

Probate is not hard to do. It just sounds scary at the beginning.

As you are leaving your estate to nieces and nephews, would one of their parents deal with your estate?