Been made Executor of a will.

Charliebrown

Hi, my friend has died in a recent accident.


I have found out that he has made me executor of his will, having looked on line at what this entails, I do not feel that I can commit the time to undertake this role.


He has left everything to his 3 children who are all over 18 years of age. Two are step children & one is a blood relative. We have discussed the issue of executor and they are all happy to take on the role of executors amongst themselves. They would like me to be there for any advice, and to hold any paperwork which I would be happy & willing to do.


Please can anyone tell me if this is possible & how it would be done?


Much appreciated


Charliebrown



:beer:

madbadrob

Yes it is possible. You need to write a letter basically saying you renounce the executors position. Is probate required?

Rob

Tuesday_Tenor

I'm assuming
- you are the ONLY executor named in the will
- the 2 step-children were not adopted by your friend
- England/Wales (Scottish procedures are different).
- the estate is not particularly complicated
- there is no spouse/partner of the late friend to consider

If any of these assumptions are incorrect then my comments would need to be adjusted.

My understanding, to get you started, is:

It is easy for you to completely renounce the executorship.

This would leave the will with no named executor.

Relatives of the deceased can then apply for the grant of representation, which in this case would take the form of
'Letters of Administration with will annexed'
See: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/ihtm05101.htm
So, technically, they would be Administrators, rather than Executors, of the Estate, but the roles and responsibilities are the same.

I believe there is a 'hierarchy of eligibility', and I suspect that step-children would NOT be regarded as having the same eligibility to Administer as the blood child. So there is a danger of the full responsibility falling on the blood child alone. However, I would talk to the Probate Office. If the children are treated equally in the will, and they want to administer together, then there might be a case for allowing them to share the responsibility for Administration.

In summary: talk to the Probate Office. The combination of factors (only named executor renouncing + existence of step-children) is uncommon enough not to feature much in the basic info online, but will have been dealt with many times by the Probate Office. They are very helpful.

Final minor thoughts:
I would be wary of taking any official 'advisory' role, as the young people might deem that to be equivalent to legal advice, which it isn't. Though I think you intend 'support through the process' in a more general sense, for which I'm sure they would be very grateful.

Gathering lots of paperwork is a major element of the Executor/Administrator role? Why could they not hold this themselves? I can understand they might want you to hold the eventual archive, if they are not geographically settled in their lives, but if you are holding the 'paperwork in progress', and everything is coming to YOUR address, is there a danger that you will end up doing quite a lot of the work which has now actually become THEIR legal responsibility?

HTH

getmore4less

If they are all residual beneficiaries they are in the pecking order to administer the estate should not be a problem.

Another option is you stay as executor but have them do all the leg work, you then just check the numbers and sign the forms this will be a lot less work.

In most cases the close relatives end up doing the leg work for the executor anyway

Mojisola

Charliebrown wrote: »

He has left everything to his 3 children who are all over 18 years of age. Two are step children & one is a blood relative.

We have discussed the issue of executor and they are all happy to take on the role of executors amongst themselves.

They would like me to be there for any advice, and to hold any paperwork which I would be happy & willing to do.

Either do the job yourself, employ a solicitor - paid for from the estate, or renounce as an executor.

As Tuesday Tenor says, be careful not to put yourself in the position of an advisor where you may be held responsible for any problems even though you just rubber-stamped the others' work.

Charliebrown

Hi All,


Many thanks for your replies, since posting I have been looking at my situation & the various options I have. Rightly or wrongly for personal reasons I am not sure if I want to renounce this role, as this is going against my friends wishes.


So I think I am going to take Tuesday Tenors suggestion of “Relatives of the deceased can then apply for the grant of representation, which in this case would take the form of 'Letters of Administration with will annexed' So, technically, they would be Administrators, rather than Executors, of the Estate, but the roles and responsibilities are the same.”
[FONT=&quot]My question now is do you know where I can find a draft letter of “Grant of letters of administration with Will annexed”[/FONT]

Once again many thanks for your help


Regards


Charliebrown

Mattygroves2

The link to the relevant forms etc is in Tuesday Tenor's Post above -it isn't a letter it is a particular form that needs to be completed. You need to renounce your executorship first though.

Tuesday_Tenor

You need to start with the probate application form PA1.
The person/people actually applying for probate will complete this form.
Your renunciation will be indicated at A6 on this form, and you will also have to send a signed letter to confirm that you are renouncing.

Whoever is applying will also need the IHT form.

Both forms, and their guidance notes, are available from the Probate Office, or can be downloaded from here:
http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/view.page?record=VKhb2F_R9Q4

I would still want to talk to the Probate Office about the eligibility of step-children to Administer. Gm4l's comment is encouraging, but it's not something I have experience of and would want to check.

Mojisola

Charliebrown wrote: »

Rightly or wrongly for personal reasons I am not sure if I want to renounce this role, as this is going against my friends wishes.

It's very unfair to name a person as executor without having got their agreement first.

It's a serious role and not one to be taken on lightly.

getmore4less

Charliebrown wrote: »

Hi All,


Many thanks for your replies, since posting I have been looking at my situation & the various options I have. Rightly or wrongly for personal reasons I am not sure if I want to renounce this role, as this is going against my friends wishes.


So I think I am going to take Tuesday Tenors suggestion of “Relatives of the deceased can then apply for the grant of representation, which in this case would take the form of 'Letters of Administration with will annexed' So, technically, they would be Administrators, rather than Executors, of the Estate, but the roles and responsibilities are the same.”
[FONT=&quot]My question now is do you know where I can find a draft letter of “Grant of letters of administration with Will annexed”[/FONT]

Once again many thanks for your help


Regards


Charliebrown

you seem confused.

if you let them do it you are no longer the executor you will be giving it up

executor/administrator are the same thing with some technical differences if they were not named in the will.

Your choice is a binary one do it or not do it.

getmore4less

Mojisola wrote: »

It's very unfair to name a person as executor without having got their agreement first.

It's a serious role and not one to be taken on lightly.

and without some form of compensation unless it is seen as a duty.