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Distributing the Estate

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claire07
claire07 Posts: 670 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
edited 26 August 2013 at 9:14AM in Deaths, funerals & probate
My elderly friend died in February and I am her executor. She had a simple estate with 2 bank accounts and a house and her will states her estate is to be split between 6 charities after a couple of small family bequests. I was quite surprised when I got the grant of probate to get letters from the charities saying they had heard from Smee & Ford legacy service they were a beneficiary and wanting me to send the bequest asap together with a copy of the will, estate accounts for approval, death certificate, 2 property valuations, tax deductions certificate, etc.

I realise why they did this but at a time when I was grieving for my friend and trying to deal with the house and some awkward utility companies it seemed somewhat insensitive.

The house has now sold and the amount in the executor’s account is over £250k so I would like to distribute asap. However as I need to complete an income tax form and various utilities are sending re-adjusted accounts at date of house completion could I perhaps send an amount on account to all of the charities or would it be better to wait until everything is completed?

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  • fluffymuffy
    fluffymuffy Posts: 3,424 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    Very small writing - can't read it. Why change the font?
    I am the Cat who walks alone
  • Gingernutty
    Gingernutty Posts: 3,769 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 26 August 2013 at 11:30AM
    claire07 wrote: »
    My elderly friend died in February and I am her executor. She had a simple estate with 2 bank accounts and a house and her will states her estate is to be split between 6 charities after a couple of small family bequests. I was quite surprised when I got the grant of probate to get letters from the charities saying they had heard from Smee & Ford legacy service they were a beneficiary and wanting me to send the bequest asap together with a copy of the will, estate accounts for approval, death certificate, 2 property valuations, tax deductions certificate, etc.

    I realise why they did this but at a time when I was grieving for my friend and trying to deal with the house and some awkward utility companies it seemed somewhat insensitive.

    The house has now sold and the amount in the executor’s account is over £250k so I would like to distribute asap. However as I need to complete an income tax form and various utilities are sending re-adjusted accounts at date of house completion could I perhaps send an amount on account to all of the charities or would it be better to wait until everything is completed?
    Very small writing - can't read it. Why change the font?

    Why not change it back yourself?

    To answer your question OP, let them wait.

    Until you know for certain what everyone is getting, don't give them anything.

    The charities are effectively (very effectively) reminding you of your obligation and that they are there waiting for you. You're not deliberately depriving them of anything and you are acting in accordance with the will.
    :huh: Don't know what I'm doing, but doing it anyway... :huh:
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,571 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    To answer your question OP, let them wait.

    Until you know for certain what everyone is getting, don't give them anything.

    The charities are effectively (very effectively) reminding you of your obligation and that they are there waiting for you. You're not deliberately depriving them of anything and you are acting in accordance with the will.

    Some charities have a poor reputation for badgering executors in order to get their money through as quickly as possible. Expect them to question the amount the house was sold for and anything else that makes them think they could have got more.

    Personally, if I was an executor for a will like you describe, I would employ a solicitor to deal with it. The bill would be paid from the estate.

    If the charities think that you should have made more money from them, they can come after you as executor.
  • why should repliers change font, add punctuation, add paragraphs?

    I really object to this assumption. If OP wants a reply then they should make it readable.
  • claire07
    claire07 Posts: 670 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    I'm sorry the font has become the topic. I tried to clarify what I wanted to say in a Word document before posting as I have lost longish posts previously before they had been posted. I copied and pasted it, but when it came out too large I decided to reduce the font.

    Thank you to the people who answered my query. My friend had not been impressed with the quotes for doing probate a few years ago and asked me then if I would do it when the time came. I have tried to do everything as she would have wished but I am now getting concerned that I will come under pressure from some of the charities to distribute the estate early but I hope not.
  • joerugby
    joerugby Posts: 1,180 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    claire07 wrote: »
    I'm sorry the font has become the topic. I tried to clarify what I wanted to say in a Word document before posting as I have lost longish posts previously before they had been posted. I copied and pasted it, but when it came out too large I decided to reduce the font.

    Thank you to the people who answered my query. My friend had not been impressed with the quotes for doing probate a few years ago and asked me then if I would do it when the time came. I have tried to do everything as she would have wished but I am now getting concerned that I will come under pressure from some of the charities to distribute the estate early but I hope not.

    Claire, don't worry about the criticism you get on here. There are also a lot of nice people who wish you well.

    Take your time with probate. Pay out when you are ready and not before. Also if you feel you need legal advice to be sure you are doing the right thing then get some.
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,571 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    claire07 wrote: »
    Thank you to the people who answered my query. My friend had not been impressed with the quotes for doing probate a few years ago and asked me then if I would do it when the time came. I have tried to do everything as she would have wished but I am now getting concerned that I will come under pressure from some of the charities to distribute the estate early but I hope not.

    She may not have realised that, by leaving money to charities, she was pitting you - an amateur - against some very serious professionals. As executor you are personally liable if something isn't done right.

    The only people who are going to lose out if money is paid out to a solicitor are the charities. Protect yourself rather than save a bit of money on their behalf only to have them complain about the way you have handled the estate.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 47,344 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    One possibility however is to reply, once, to each charity who 'badgers' you to the effect that you are aware of your responsibilities, and will indeed send their bequest with the details they have requested as soon as you are in a position to do so, but that you are not yet in a position to do so.

    You could then point out that if their demands become too demanding you will have no option but to pass the finalisation of the estate to professionals, whose fees will reduce their share.

    It's unfortunate if the actions of one charity means that they all 'suffer', but there is no reason for you to be worried by this.

    As well as finalising your friend's tax affairs, you also have to (or would be well advised to) advertise her death in the local paper and the London Gazette to ensure that there are no debts you weren't aware of. And the charities should know this, and know that it takes time.

    As it happens, the charity I work for once received a bequest several years after the person in question had died: we had no idea we were in her will (although I wasn't surprised IYKWIM). That's how long it can take to sort these things out.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • What they are really worried about is that you may get the tax wrong.
    If there is a mix of ordinary individuals, who want to avoid as much tax as possible and charities who don't pay tax , then it can get somewhat complex; especially with In Heritance Tax (IHT).

    The charities do not know what sort of estate you are sorting out.

    If you let them know that there are no serious tax issues as there is modest cash plus the proceeds from sale of the house and that you are following the 2 - 3 month procedure of advertising for claimants; then they should leave you in peace.
  • I'm dealing with an estate now that has specific legacies and then cash legacies both to individuals and charities. The sum total of the estate after IHT is less than the sum total of the legacies and the cash legacies are hit hard by abatement due to the size of the specific legacies.
    For probate I used the full value of the charitable legacies for the IHT calculation but, in fact, the final IHT bill will increase due to a smaller sum going to charity after abatement. I've still got to get my head round doing the final calculation (hopefully HMRC will do it!) as every change to IHT affects the charitable legacy and vice versa unless I'm missing something!
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