Executors - potential problems and pitfalls.

elsien

Some years ago I was nominated as the executor of a (still living but elderly) relatives will, along with one of my parents.
The other executor and I have now had an irreparable falling out over the long term care of our relative and are not on speaking terms. Our relative may not have capacity at this stage to change the executors, and I do not wish to distress them by letting them know how bad the falling out has been as they live in hope our relationship can be mended. Also they trust both of us and I don't think would want to change anything. The other executor has power of attorney for my relative, if this makes any difference to things.
I do not wish to withdraw as executor (even if I did - is this possible without invalidating the will?) as I do not trust the other executor to manage things correctly due to a lot of past history. (And they probably think the same about me.)

Even from my standpoint of almost complete ignorance of the duties of an executor this is sounding like a recipe for total disaster. Relevant comments and suggestions appreciated, (any suggestions as to patching things up, don't waste your breath as there's too much water under the bridge.)

Edit- what's in the will isn't relevant, I don't know what it says but my siblings and I want any money/assets that my relative has to be used for their care and to give them the best possible care for as long as they need.
On the positive side, if there's no assets left, I guess that means there'll be nothing for us executors to argue about.

Annisele

It is possible to decline to act as executor (or 'renounce executorship') without invalidating the will, but you'd have to do it before you took any actions as executor.

So, assuming neither you nor your fellow executor wishes to renounce, and assuming that at the time of your relative's death her will still says you're both executors, I agree that this has the potential to become a real mess.

You could decide to appoint a solicitor to act on your behalf to administer the estate. Hopefully you and the other executor would be able to choose the same solicitor - but even if that isn't possible, you could appoint somebody to deal with things for you.

The problem with that might be that the other executor wouldn't want to pay the costs of your solicitor out of the estate. You could pay the costs yourself - and it might be worth that to reduce hassle - but that could be an expensive option.

I don't think the power of attorney makes a difference, as it automatically ceases on the donor's death.

elsien

I think I really need to find out more about being executor as I agreed to it at the time without considering what it meant and what would be involved.
What happens if the executors just can't agree about something? Would the stalemate just go on for ever, or is there some sort of body you can go to? Or would it be solicitors at dawn?

Savvy_Sue

I'd phone your local probate office and ask them. I'm sure this won't be the first time this question has been asked.

For a guidebook, you could do worse than borrow the Which guide from the library - for the purposes of this exercise it wouldn't matter if it wasn't the most up to date version.

Mojisola

elsien wrote: »

Some years ago I was nominated as the executor of a (still living but elderly) relatives will, along with one of my parents.

The other executor and I have now had an irreparable falling out over the long term care of our relative and are not on speaking terms. Our relative may not have capacity at this stage to change the executors, and I do not wish to distress them by letting them know how bad the falling out has been as they live in hope our relationship can be mended. Also they trust both of us and I don't think would want to change anything. The other executor has power of attorney for my relative, if this makes any difference to things.

I do not wish to withdraw as executor (even if I did - is this possible without invalidating the will?) as I do not trust the other executor to manage things correctly due to a lot of past history. (And they probably think the same about me.)

Even from my standpoint of almost complete ignorance of the duties of an executor this is sounding like a recipe for total disaster. Relevant comments and suggestions appreciated, (any suggestions as to patching things up, don't waste your breath as there's too much water under the bridge.)

Edit- what's in the will isn't relevant, I don't know what it says but my siblings and I want any money/assets that my relative has to be used for their care and to give them the best possible care for as long as they need.

On the positive side, if there's no assets left, I guess that means there'll be nothing for us executors to argue about.

Do you trust the other person to act properly in their role as attorney or do you think he/she will try to protect assets so that they can be inherited? If you have concerns about the POA, that needs dealing with now.

The executor problem will only become an issue after the relative dies. Which? do some very useful books explaining wills and probate. They are worth a read.

elsien

No, I don't think they'll try to protect assets for inheritance - I really hope not anyway.
It's more about them being the type to hide things away from probate/the taxman and getting into the murky grey areas, seeing what they can get away with. We have way different standards on what's acceptable and honest, and what isn't. Which is the most likely cause of friction, aside from all the other issues that are going on at the moment. And I'm concerned that as they have been doing all the financial side for years, the information I need to properly do the executor role won't be forthcoming, I'll just be expected to rubberstamp all decisions made. And I don't do signing things unless I'm fully up to speed on what I'm signing. That's if we can manage to communicate enough to even get that far in the first place.
Which is why I thought I'd see how workable/unworkable it might be, before I decide what to do next.

murphy306

Following on from this, does anyone know how you would go about asking an Executor to renounce their position? Does the solicitor send them the letter asking or do you personally have to do it?

Savvy_Sue

Which solicitor? If there's a solicitor appointed as co-executor, I'd expect them to want to write and ask the lay executor to renounce.

But it might help if you said why you want someone to renounce. They are not obliged to do so, of course.