Executor

BobQ

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I would like to do it for her, she has not been treated well in life and we have got to know her these last few years. She is a feisty old lady and I am honoured to be asked.

You could just agree to do it as it will reassure her, but when it happens simply offer one of the charites concerned the opportunity to chose a solicitor to execute the will.

Being named as executor is not a legal obligation to act.

iammumtoone

How about agreeing to it but making sure she is aware that depending on when the time comes you will act if you are still able but if your circumstances have changed and you no longer have time to deal with it, you will be passing it onto a solicitor. That way she will be aware that it is a possibility so you won't feel bad if you have to pass it over.

I am named as an executor I am almost certain I will not be doing it but I am still glad I am named as it will leave me the choice rather than it being taken out of my hands.

If she names a solicitor there is no going back but if she names a person the choice is left open.

BobQ

iammumtoone wrote: »

.

If she names a solicitor there is no going back but if she names a person the choice is left open.

I do not see the distinction, either can be reversed or renounced. If you mean a solicitor is unlikely to renounce it, that depends on the value of the estate.

iammumtoone

BobQ wrote: »

I do not see the distinction, either can be reversed or renounced. If you mean a solicitor is unlikely to renounce it, that depends on the value of the estate.

I suppose what I mean is it would be more difficult for SDW to take over the job from a solicitor than it would be the other way round.

Silvertabby

When we were making our Wills, our solicitor advised us that we should allocate £s per charity, not a percentage of our estate.

Seems that when charities are left a %, they do all they can to maximise their 'share' even if it means refusing any offers for the property/assets if they feel if they can get more. The estate can't be finalised while all this is going on, so any other bequests can't be paid out either.

seven-day-weekend

Silvertabby wrote: »

When we were making our Wills, our solicitor advised us that we should allocate £s per charity, not a percentage of our estate.

Seems that when charities are left a %, they do all they can to maximise their 'share' even if it means refusing any offers for the property/assets if they feel if they can get more. The estate can't be finalised while all this is going on, so any other bequests can't be paid out either.

AFAIK, there are no more bequests, it is all divided between two charities.

Yorkshireman99

BobQ wrote: »

You could just agree to do it as it will reassure her, but when it happens simply offer one of the charites concerned the opportunity to chose a solicitor to execute the will.

Being named as executor is not a legal obligation to act.

Very deceitful though.

seven-day-weekend

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Very deceitful though.

I would not do that unless I found myself for some reason unable to act. If I say I will be her executor, I will do it.

BobQ

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Very deceitful though.

I think that is a little harsh. If the testator is sensible they would respond to an argument that, if you leave money to charities, they can cause the executor a lot of hassle through aggressively interfering.

If the testator does not trust solicitors I would say its being practical.

The honest position is either not to do the job or to accept the hassle.

BobQ

Silvertabby wrote: »

When we were making our Wills, our solicitor advised us that we should allocate £s per charity, not a percentage of our estate.

Seems that when charities are left a %, they do all they can to maximise their 'share' even if it means refusing any offers for the property/assets if they feel if they can get more. The estate can't be finalised while all this is going on, so any other bequests can't be paid out either.

The charities may indeed take that view but the wisdom of £ vs % depends on circumstances. Say you have £100K and make a will leaving £30K to a charity and the rest to a beneficiary. Say when you die your estate is worth £40K that means most of the estate goes to charity which may not be what you want.

Some solicitors love advising testators to use cash values: it encourages you to update your will more frequently