Help, house sold, solicitor won't transfer the money into an account

progolf1803

Hi,

Could be the wrong section but......
I am completing my house sale tomorrow as I inherited the property from my mum who passed away in May.
As the will states my nan is an executor and myself and sister are beneficiaries.
Tomorrow we want to transfer the money to my nans account but have been told we need a executors account to put the money into by the solicitor.
We went to open this account today with my nans bank and mums bank that she used, but wasn't able to open one.
I was after some advice,

Do we need to open this account (I have been told it's not a legal requirement)?

Can the solicitor transfer the money into a new account opened by my nan?

Very confused, thanks in advance.

Sorry for the grammar ect doing this post on my phone

Thrugelmir

As an executor of an estate. Then it is advisable to open an account through which all the activity of the deceased's account is recorded. Executorship carries legal responsibilities with it. Not to be taken lightly.

progolf1803

Throughout the whole process we have never been told to open one if theses accounts and the executor has been paying the depts of my mum for her account..... Yesterday was the forts I heard of this from the solicitor.... 2 days before completion, great work from her

dancingfairy

I'm confused as to whose house it is. It was your mothers and is now part of her estate and is being sold? The money is to go via the executor to you? You may find that the solicitor puts their foot down and insists on their client having an executors account, at least that way it will be done 'by the book'. The solicitor will probably want to protect themselves. Do you need a seperate account though or could you pay it into your mums old account now in the name of the executors - is the account in the name 'the exectuors of the late mrs smith'? I'm just wondering whether this might be a way around having to set up a new account.

df

progolf1803

It was my mums house who passed away, the will instructed my nan to be the executor and myself and sister to be beneficiaries of the estate. We are completing tomorrow and yes my nan is her client, but has not mentioned an executors bank account until yesterday.
I don't know what to do as my nan tried to get an executor account today and couldn't get one.
Is there a loop hole that the money from the house sale can go into her current bank account?

Thank NaB

henm2

As you have sold the house then presumably your nan must have got probate i.e. the legal document which confirms your nan's right to deal with the estate. If it was a solicitor that enabled your nan to get probate then they can handle the receipt of estate funds like the house sale and distribution of those funds to the beneficiaries via their clients account- no need to open an executors account.

If your nan applied for and got probate herself then to handle the receipt of funds and distribution of the funds as per the will, particularly if the estate is large, your nan probably will need an executors account opened at a bank.

To open an executors account your nan will need an original probate document (this has a copy of the will attached to it) plus she will need ID and proof of address. Sometimes only specialist bank staff (often the same person that deals with small business accounts) can open such accounts which might explain the delay or problem trying to open one.

Thrugelmir

progolf1803 wrote: »

Throughout the whole process we have never been told to open one if theses accounts and the executor has been paying the depts of my mum for her account..... Yesterday was the forts I heard of this from the solicitor.... 2 days before completion, great work from her

The solicitor is handling the sale of the property that's all. If your Nan required advice then it's up to her to have sought it. The solicitor may well have assumed that everything was already in place as it's been a few months since your Mum died.

Following on from subsequent posts. Is your Nan up to speed with what she needs to do in her role as executor. If not I would suggest seeking advice.

xylophone

You say

I am completing my house sale tomorrow as I inherited the property from my mum who passed away in May.

Surely this is not the case? Your grandmother is sole executrix? She has obtained probate? As executrix, she deals with all assets and liabilities of the estate.

She should have opened an executor's account and on obtaining probate, should have transferred all monies owing to the estate into this account.

The proceeds of the house sale should also be paid into this account. She should then settle all debts of the estate from the account. She should then pay out the beneficiaries and render an account to the beneficiaries - the account can be closed when she is satisfied that there is no more business to transact on behalf of the estate.

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Information-guides/AgeUKIL8_How_to_be_an_executor_inf.pdf?dtrk=true may be of assistance.

progolf1803

Well my nan is 85 and isn't able to deal with all this stuff so I have doing it all, I am 22 and my sister is 24 we have all never done anything of this sort before.
The solicitor knew this and has not instructed us nor advised us to get this account until 1 day ago.

xylophone

Well my nan is 85 and isn't able to deal with all this stuff so I have doing it all,

Then she should have renounced?http://www.wrighthassall.co.uk/articles/2013/04/04/removing-and-substituting-executors/

This all seems to be in a bit of a muddle - take advice from the solicitor as to how to proceed?

nidO

progolf1803 wrote: »

The solicitor knew this and has not instructed us nor advised us to get this account until 1 day ago.

Bluntly, it isn't the solicitor's job to advise you on this, because your nan has not instructed them to do handle anything to do with the probate work.
Your solicitor is handling the sale of the house and your nan is dealing with the execution of your mum's estate with your and your sister's help. In this situation it is solely and entirely your nan's responsibility to know what she's doing and is no business of your conveyancer whether you're handling the estate's execution correctly.

Frankly this is also a business decision on the part of the solicitor. Assuming the solicitor is even familiar with probate work as well as conveyancing, she isn't going to offer you (your nan) free advice on handling the probate side of things when you haven't instructed her to, and instead decided to do it yourselves.

You could argue that yes its a simple thing for them to have mentioned and they could have mentioned it, but equally they probably have no reason to think that the probate side of things wasn't being handled properly. I would suggest asking your conveyancer whether she can also provide advice on probate matters and if not speak to someone in their firm's private client department who can, to be doubly sure everything else is in order.