Opening new sole bank account for proceeds of probate house sale Help needed please

Yvonnet

Hello
I need to open a bank account asap to transfer funds from the sale of my late parents' house. I currently have a First Direct joint bank account with my husband, but we are having marriage problems and I need to open a new sole account to keep he funds in there until I decide what I do with the money.
Also should I disclose the reason for opening an account, i.e. That's it's to receive house sale funds? I don't work so no regular income. Thank you.

john1002

Why a current account and not a savings account? It will be easier to open a savings account than current especially if you want to earn some interest , if you need a new current account due to marriage issues then Santander is an idea but as all current accounts, require direct debits and regular income that's as well as credit checking and scoring you, you may find it difficult to open one, we don't have enough information in your post whether that is likely to happen, also as your married your husbands details will also be taken into account as I would suspect you are financially linked if you have any joint credit products.

You need to try and get this sorted ASAP as your husband could take/transfer money once it hits account. You can set a savings account up online in minutes.

John

Yvonnet

Thanks John. A bit more then. My parents house has a buyer and the solicitor's paperwork required my bank account details for receipt of the funds. I have a joint current account with my husband only. I provided this information but in the meantime we are experiencing marriage difficulties and I am anxious that once the funds hit the joint account, I may lose it all. So I need to forward plan for my and the children's security and open a sole account. The conveyance solicitor has said that a savings account is not acceptable. Thanks again appreciate help at this really stressful time.

DigForVictory

Are you the sole named executor or are you both? As an Executors account may be a path forward.
Wishing you all support in your bereavement, best of luck with the house sale & all strength going forward.

Yvonnet

Yes, I am the sole executor and beneficiary. Actually First Direct did mention that their "owners" HSBC offer an Executors account. So you think that would be a good way of securing the funds? Thanks again.

FOREVER21

Yvonnet wrote: »

Yes, I am the sole executor and beneficiary. Actually First Direct did mention that their "owners" HSBC offer an Executors account. So you think that would be a good way of securing the funds? Thanks again.

I recently had to obtain probate and was an executor for a the will of a relative. The deceased had an account with Barclays and we had 2 cheques that he had recently received but not banked. I also bank with Barclays so called into my branch.

They immediately closed the account and opened an Executors account transferring the closing balance and paying in the cheques. All further money was then paid into the new account.


I think this is the best way forward for you, if you do this remember to take ID with you a copy of the death certicate and probate papers.

Finally if you do take this route remember to advise the solicitor of the new account number for the proceeds of the house sale.

DigForVictory

It has the advantage of stopping he who is not the Executor from getting his hands on it immediately, but stand by for polite skirmishes further down the line.

As soon as you have it sorted (stick a pound cash in to hold it open), update the information held by all estate agents, stat. Also speak to the originally named bank, in your capacity as Executor, advising them of the change lest there be any error.

As you are dealing with solicitors anyway, see if you can't get a free half hour on how best to knit this money out of reach as part of the estate division - shifting it all to children perhaps? Or eep a trust (Not cheap! Indeed wiltingly complex but there are specialist lawyers.)

agrinnall

john1002 wrote: »

...as all current accounts, require direct debits and regular income

I'm not sure where you've got this idea from but it's not right. DDs are only a requirement on some accounts in order to earn an incentive when switching from another account, which the OP is not doing. And while having a regular income would make account opening easier the fact that a large lump sum is on the way means that many banks will accept an application. At the very least the OP should be able to open a basic account.

mt99

You can just open an executor's account up pretty much any bank of your choosing use this for all payments in and out of the estate that way if any body challenges anything you have a complete record of what has been going on.

regarding proceeds of house sale it is my understanding that they are fscs protected for six months even though they might exceed the £85,000 limit

agrinnall

mt99 wrote: »

You can just open an executor's account up pretty much any bank of your choosing use this for all payments in and out of the estate that way if any body challenges anything you have a complete record of what has been going on.

That was my initial thought, but on re-reading the OP I think what is being sought is an account for the proceeds of the bequest to go into, rather than an operational account for the executor to temporarily store the proceeds of the sale. It might help if the OP clarifies her role(s) in this: beneficiary, executor, both?

Placitasgirl

The OP stated in post #5 that she's the Executor and Sole Beneficiary.