Personal Representative's Bank Account?

annie-c

I am helping my mother deal with the administration of a deceased relative's account. She has been granted letters of administration and we are in the process of collating the bills that need to be paid.

According to our DIY Probate book, she needs to have the deceased relative's bank balance transferred to a Personal Representative's Bank Account from where she can settle the bills and distribute the inheritance as necessary.

I am struggling to find information on what exactly is a "Personal Representative's Bank Account". Is this a special type of account that should be opened and closed specifically for the purposes of administering the estate? Or would a fresh current account in mum's name be sufficient? She will be the sole beneficiary of the residual estate. Could she open a new current account and keep it on as a personal account after the debts are paid, or is there need to put things on a more formal footing than that? The value of the estate is just below £80K if that helps.

Thanks in advance for any help, or pointers as to where we can find this information.

daska

It's also sometimes referred to as an executor's a/c.

Usually best to approach the bank the deceased used (probably not appropriate in your circumstances) or the one the administrator (your mum) uses.

Whether you need one if the administrator is also the sole beneficiary...? Possibly not but if there are any queries it would be helpful if all the records are discreet, having them mixed up with your mum's current a/c might make it difficult to work out exactly what's happened. Given that you don't know his level of debt etc I think it would be very sensible.

annie-c

Thanks very much. I think you are right that it makes most sense to open a new account and close it once the affairs are settled, with the final payment being made into a separate current account for my mum to manage as she sees fit. We can then pop the paperwork for the account on the file that we need to keep for Probate purposes and mum can get on with her personal affairs as a completely separate matter.

Do you know: does this "Personal Administrator's account" need to be set up with any special provisions or can it just be an ordinary personal current account named eg: "Mrs Jane Bloggs - Administrator"? Or is this something on which Mum's bank will advise us?

daska

My understanding is that they are usually quite basic, don't pay interest and can be difficult to get an a/c at an institution other than the one administrator or the deceased banked with. I strongly suspect you get what they're prepared to offer.

Savvy_Sue

We opened an Executor's account at Lloyds, which wasn't a bank either I or my co-executor had any direct links with, and Dad didn't bank there either.

So I'd go for a convenient bank! Unless you go for your own bank, you'll have to provide ID, so definitely go for one where you can call in to do that. But if your mother gets on well with her bank, no reason not to use that.

Ours is in the name of "The Executors of Savvy_Sue's Dad, dec'd"

For the bank, it was a Clubs and Societies account and paid a very meagre rate of interest.

claire07

I'm the executor for a friend who recently died. She had an account at Lloyds and they opened a new current account linked to a savings account for me straight away.

They said they were able to transfer it before probate (on production of the death certificate) as the amount was below £25,000.

I can access it online with my existing Lloyds Vantage accounts and I have renamed it Personal Representative Account.

jackyann

Usually the bank the deceased was with is happy to open an Executor's Account (that is what we called it, but it just looked like a plain current account). If that's not convenient, then your mum should ask her own bank. They are normally very helpful.

Goldenyears

For my late father's estate I opened an interest bearing instant access account with the Skipton Building Society in my own name, but only with the agreement of my two siblings, all of us co-executors and equal beneficiaries. At the end of administration I closed it completely. So it worked for us although I would generally recommend trying to open a Personal Representative Account if you can.

Skipton BS staff in branch actually put some marker on the A/c when I told them what it was for, so they didn't try to sell the usual products.

getmore4less

When I approached Barclays they were keen and seemed to be efficient and had the relevent accounts

In the end we just use a regular accounts and kept records.

annie-c

Thanks so much! All the different experiences have helped me to build a clear picture of what we need and how to go about opening the account - that's really helpful.