Solicitors as Executors of a will

Sherrie

Hi, I wasn't sure which forum to put this in so I hope this is ok.

I will tell you my situation and if anyone has any advice then please say!

My father suffered an accident at work in October 2010, as a result he passed away on christmas day. In the 80's my dad made a will nominating my step mother to receive everything. My step mother and my father made their wills at the same time, and she tells me she remembers being persuaded by the solicitors to use them as executors of their wills. My step mother is naturally worried about money as she is currently unable to work. I have no knowledge in this area, and I was wondering if there was any way of reducing the potential fees by dealing with a lot of the bills ourselves with a death certificate (something which I did when my mum died a few months earlier) They do own a house in joint names but my dads bank account which contained their joint life savings is in his sole name. We are visiting the solicitors for a will reading later this week, so any information anyone can give me would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Mrs_Money

So sorry for your loss - and all this legal stuff is so hard at this time too, we've experienced this earlier this year.
Here are some of my experiences-
Probate - straightforward to do yourself, (costs about £90, I think) download the forms from HMRC, book a date at your local probate office (address found on HMRC). If inheritance tax is an issue then you'll need the form for that as well.
Once you have copies of probate , will and death certificates I think the bank account will be opened to your stepmother. Banks are used to this kind of thing and will tell you what you need to do.
The property is obviously now your stepmother's and I believe, can be transferred into her sole name at the Land registry (phone them, we found them very helpful)- again they'll tell you what's needed.
There's a lot of phoning around to do - but cheaper than a solicitor! They will offer to do probate for you, but you can do it yourself. Not sure about the actual execution of the will though- if it's starightforward, i can't see what they will have to do!
Just thought of something- probate can take a couple of weeks (to arrange an appt) and then about a week or two after the appointment to come through - so your stepmother may need financial help until then?
That's all I can think of for now - will edit if I think of anything more.
Don't be afraid to speak up at the solicitors and say you want to do probate and deal with the bank etc!

muskoka

Definitely see if you can deal with probate yourself. It is very, very easy & the Probate office is very, very helpful. when I lost my mum, I dealt with probate & had it granted within 5 weeks (and there was property involved). It is extremely simple and costs peanuts. Actually helped me deal with losing mum cos it kept me so busy for a few weeks. Good luck & sorry about your dad

Mojisola

You won't be able to do it yourself if the solicitor is named as the executor in the will.

sleepless_saver

Mojisola wrote: »

You won't be able to do it yourself if the solicitor is named as the executor in the will.

She could always ask if they would be prepared to renounce, though they may well not.

Otherwise, if the stepmother is the sole beneficiary, can she not get a deed of variation made to remove the solicitor and replace them with herself or OP as executor?

dzug1

sleepless_saver wrote: »

She could always ask if they would be prepared to renounce, though they may well not.

Otherwise, if the stepmother is the sole beneficiary, can she not get a deed of variation made to remove the solicitor and replace them with herself or OP as executor?

ICBW but I don't believe a deed of variation can be used to change the executor - only to vary bequests.

sleepless_saver

dzug1 wrote: »

ICBW but I don't believe a deed of variation can be used to change the executor - only to vary bequests.

Yes, I've checked it out a bit more and I fear you are right (I expect to have this problem myself at some point and had been thinking a deed of variation would work...)

dzug1

sleepless_saver wrote: »

Yes, I've checked it out a bit more and I fear you are right (I expect to have this problem myself at some point and had been thinking a deed of variation would work...)

Then getting the will changed while the testator is still alive is the way to go

sleepless_saver

dzug1 wrote: »

Then getting the will changed while the testator is still alive is the way to go

Sadly the person concerned does not have capacity now.

Newly_retired

Just wondering who (else?) is due to inherit from your step mother eventually, and what their view is.

Mojisola

Sherrie's step-mother could add a codicil to her will appointing different executors so that the problem doesn't arise again.