Administrator Account or Personal Account

Rose1988

Hello all,

When acting as an administrator, if I am potentially the only recipient of the estate, can I request the funds be paid into an account in my name is or is it best to open and administrator account first, pay it in there and then transfer it into an account in my name?

I just don't want to go opening accounts unnecessarily when I have a savings account I have never used where the money can go to keep it separately.

Also, as I have mentioned before in a previous post, another girl could potentially make a claim against the estate if she proves that she is my fathers child, so I was look at tying 50% of the funds (after funeral expenses) up in a fixed account for 6 months incase she does. Is it best to do this or open the administrator account, take out the funeral expenses and half of the residue and leave the rest in there to deal with any potential claim.

I know several have advised that this girl needs to prove she is my fathers child which is fine, i just don't want to 'assume' she is definitely not my fathers child and later on it proves true and I have assumed all the funds are mine and I do understand as a administrator I need abide by the law and administer the estate as per the intestate rules.

TBH I am a bit skeptical because when I explained she will have to pay for us to be DNA tested before she can even attempt to make a claim as I will need evidence she is a rightful beneficiary to my dads estate, I never heard from her again but I want to be safe than sorry.

Mojisola

Rose1988 wrote: »

When acting as an administrator, if I am potentially the only recipient of the estate, can I request the funds be paid into an account in my name is or is it best to open and administrator account first, pay it in there and then transfer it into an account in my name?

Also, as I have mentioned before in a previous post, another girl could potentially make a claim against the estate if she proves that she is my fathers child, so I was look at tying 50% of the funds (after funeral expenses) up in a fixed account for 6 months incase she does. Is it best to do this or open the administrator account, take out the funeral expenses and half of the residue and leave the rest in there to deal with any potential claim.

I think you're being very wise to keep half the money aside just in case.

If the account isn't used for anything else, you could use it but if you want to be seen to be totally above board (as well as knowing that you are above board), it might be better to have an account labelled as 'Admin Account'.

pmlindyloo

I think the other thing to consider is whether any cheques due will be in the name of the administrator/executor/name of deceased. If this is likely to be the case then you would need an executor/administrator's account.

Useful thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/762681

Rose1988

Mojisola wrote: »

I think you're being very wise to keep half the money aside just in case.

If the account isn't used for anything else, you could use it but if you want to be seen to be totally above board (as well as knowing that you are above board), it might be better to have an account labelled as 'Admin Account'.

So would that be a personal account with the label 'Admin Account' or simply a separate admin account. Do all banks offer the facility to label personal accounts?

Rose1988

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I think the other thing to consider is whether any cheques due will be in the name of the administrator/executor/name of deceased. If this is likely to be the case then you would need an executor/administrator's account.

Useful thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/762681

It's only the death in service he is due to receive. Everything else is taken care of and there are no other credits to be expected. The only other 2 credits he had were his final salary and a death benefit from his credit union who said the money would be paid directly to me as the next of kin

G6JNS

Rose1988 wrote: »

Hello all,

When acting as an administrator, if I am potentially the only recipient of the estate, can I request the funds be paid into an account in my name is or is it best to open and administrator account first, pay it in there and then transfer it into an account in my name?

I just don't want to go opening accounts unnecessarily when I have a savings account I have never used where the money can go to keep it separately.

Also, as I have mentioned before in a previous post, another girl could potentially make a claim against the estate if she proves that she is my fathers child, so I was look at tying 50% of the funds (after funeral expenses) up in a fixed account for 6 months incase she does. Is it best to do this or open the administrator account, take out the funeral expenses and half of the residue and leave the rest in there to deal with any potential claim.

I know several have advised that this girl needs to prove she is my fathers child which is fine, i just don't want to 'assume' she is definitely not my fathers child and later on it proves true and I have assumed all the funds are mine and I do understand as a administrator I need abide by the law and administer the estate as per the intestate rules.

TBH I am a bit skeptical because when I explained she will have to pay for us to be DNA tested before she can even attempt to make a claim as I will need evidence she is a rightful beneficiary to my dads estate, I never heard from her again but I want to be safe than sorry.

You are right to keep the money separately. You should also publish the statutory notices and perhaps send her a copy of it stating that in the absence of the DNA evidence she will not be paid anything.

Rose1988

She's based in Uganda and I have no forwarding address for her. Will giving her this notice by email be satisfactory? All I have for her is an email and telephone number. Or can she simply deny she received the email and attempt to claim after the 6 month period? I don't think I can request read receipts with my email provider!

I am going to post the notice today in the London Gazette

pmlindyloo

Rose1988 wrote: »

She's based in Uganda and I have no forwarding address for her. Will giving her this notice by email be satisfactory? All I have for her is an email and telephone number. Or can she simply deny she received the email and attempt to claim after the 6 month period? I don't think I can request read receipts with my email provider!

I am going to post the notice today in the London Gazette

I suggest that you go to a local solicitor who specialises in wills/probate and ask for their advice as regards this possible daughter of your father.

The monies for this can, I presume, be taken out of your dad's estate.

Much better than having to sit on the money for what, I believe, could be years.

Since your family first told you of the existence of this daughter do they not have a forwarding address?

Rose1988

The so called family think the money belongs to them and no one else!!!!! I cut them off because they were causing me undue stress and it wasn't doing me or my child any good but to sort this out, it may be best to contact them and at least see if they will give it to me, if they don't, at least I tried

Mojisola

G6JNS wrote: »

You should also publish the statutory notices and perhaps send her a copy of it stating that in the absence of the DNA evidence she will not be paid anything.

I wouldn't do this.

She knows that if she wants to claim, she has to provide an acceptable dna test. The ball's in her court.

Rose1988

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I suggest that you go to a local solicitor who specialises in wills/probate and ask for their advice as regards this possible daughter of your father.

The monies for this can, I presume, be taken out of your dad's estate.

Much better than having to sit on the money for what, I believe, could be years.

Since your family first told you of the existence of this daughter do they not have a forwarding address?

Thankfully Co-op have just given me some free advice on the phone. They have stated if i have made her aware of what she needs to do, I need to keep a record of this as there is not much more I can do than write to her and an email itself is still written advice.

He said short of possibly putting an ad in a local paper in her country, there nothing more a solicitor would do that I haven't done already.
Apparently as the administrator, I can set a time for her to get back to me and if she doesn't and this goes to court, she won't really have a leg to stand on as long as I have the evidence to support the fact I said I have contacted her.