Signing of estate accounts

hbe_100

The estate accounts have been sent out to the beneficiaries of a will, one of them is a strange character and we believe will not sign them even though they are correct. Do we have to wait until he does sign before releasing the funds as per the will. If we have to wait how long would a reasonable time be.

Yorkshireman99

hbe_100 wrote: »

The estate accounts have been sent out to the beneficiaries of a will, one of them is a strange character and we believe will not sign them even though they are correct. Do we have to wait until he does sign before releasing the funds as per the will. If we have to wait how long would a reasonable time be.

You have no obligation to send out accounts except to any residuary bneficiaries.None of them have to approve them.

Crabapple

Beneficiaries (of a share) are entitled to a copy of the accounts but do not need to approve them.

Only the executors need to sign them.

sammy1234567

I am also dealing with an odd beneficiary (sister). I got some free legal advise from a large law firm. They said, 'ask her to sign the accounts, and if she will not, do not release any (more) money; if she refuses to sign, you need to know why'. I sent the accounts. Waiting...

Yorkshireman99

sammy1234567 wrote: »

I am also dealing with an odd beneficiary (sister). I got some free legal advise from a large law firm. They said, 'ask her to sign the accounts, and if she will not, do not release any (more) money; if she refuses to sign, you need to know why'. I sent the accounts. Waiting...

AS I said before unless she is the residuary beneficiary she does not have to agree the accounts and in any case if she does not accpt them she can go toi court, at her exepnse.

dresdendave

Polarbear18 wrote: »

I am in the same position, if accounts don't have to be sent out, why have I been sent some to be signed? The other person hasn't signed. If they don't sign will I still be able to receive my inheritance?

Welcome to the forum, you should really start your own thread rather than hijack an existing one.

Give as much relevant detail as possible, other than sensitive personal info, and you will get good advice.

SevenOfNine

We plan to send beneficiaries a basic accounts spreadsheet showing income/expenditure, along with an interim payment, but they're not being asked to agree or sign anything.

Purely in the spirit of openness (& mainly because their father utilised his power of attorney over the deceased's finances to relieve the old guys bank account of between £10 - £12k in the 14 months before he died), they will be invited to look at the whole accounts if they so wish prior to distribution of the remaining funds.

I've taken on board the request for the other executor to approve the accounts before distribution of anything (he's the one who thought PoA meant 'joint account' & used money for his OWN benefit). Thanks Crabapple.

Yorkshireman99

SevenOfNine wrote: »

We plan to send beneficiaries a basic accounts spreadsheet showing income/expenditure, along with an interim payment, but they're not being asked to agree or sign anything.

Purely in the spirit of openness (& mainly because their father utilised his power of attorney over the deceased's finances to relieve the old guys bank account of between £10 - £12k in the 14 months before he died), they will be invited to look at the whole accounts if they so wish prior to distribution of the remaining funds.

I've taken on board the request for the other executor to approve the accounts before distribution of anything (he's the one who thought PoA meant 'joint account' & used money for his OWN benefit). Thanks Crabapple.

Unless someone can cite a verifiable example AFAIK there is no requirement for ANYONE to approve the executors accounts except obviously the executors. Any residuary beneficiary is entitled to a copy of them. The only way to challenge the accounts is in court. In 7 of 9s case he is being very wise explain the detail but this is an exceptional case. I hope the attorney has been reported as there is no reason beneficiaries should lose out in this way.

AnotherJoe

Just to follow up on Yorkshiremans comments, how on earth can anyone who isn't executor "sign off" (which means to validate and say they are good) accounts if they've not been involved with the whole process?

Imagine you are a beneficiary and you get a set of accounts from your great aunts executors, that you've had no other interaction with, asking you to "sign them off". On what basis of knowledge could you do that?

As he says it makes no sense for anyone that wasn't intimately involved with the process, eg an executor, to say they are valid, which is what signing off means.

Now, it may be that you wish to show the beneficiaries whats what, so that if they are getting say 1/10th the estate they can have a quick glance and notice that your great aunts country estate doesnt seem to be mentioned, but signing off? Makes no sense.

Yorkshireman99

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Just to follow up on Yorkshiremans comments, how on earth can anyone who isn't executor "sign off" (which means to validate and say they are good) accounts if they've not been involved with the whole process?

Imagine you are a beneficiary and you get a set of accounts from your great aunts executors, that you've had no other interaction with, asking you to "sign them off". On what basis of knowledge could you do that?

As he says it makes no sense for anyone that wasn't intimately involved with the process, eg an executor, to say they are valid, which is what signing off means.

Now, it may be that you wish to show the beneficiaries whats what, so that if they are getting say 1/10th the estate they can have a quick glance and notice that your great aunts country estate doesnt seem to be mentioned, but signing off? Makes no sense.

Absolutely. Even the residuary beneficiaries who ARE entitled to copies can.t do it. Of course any beneficiary can always ask reasonable questions of the executor and should receive a prompt reply. My personal inclination is to give beneficiaries a brief summary and an invite them to ask if anything is not clear. IMHO this is particularly so for lay executors to summarise any expenses they have claimed. It is always a difficult time for the family so anything that helps is good.

SevenOfNine

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Absolutely. Even the residuary beneficiaries who ARE entitled to copies can.t do it. Of course any beneficiary can always ask reasonable questions of the executor and should receive a prompt reply. My personal inclination is to give beneficiaries a brief summary and an invite them to ask if anything is not clear. IMHO this is particularly so for lay executors to summarise any expenses they have claimed. It is always a difficult time for the family so anything that helps is good.

We're doing as YM99 has suggested for the beneficiaries, more as a gesture of goodwill & because we have nothing to hide (it hasn't been us who failed to behave in a morally & honourable fashion). We feel the following is appropriate:

1) Final bank statement for deceased's a/c immediately prior to closure & the amount transferred into a new, separate, a/c because it was the start of the 'inheritance' money trail.

2) Simple A4 page spreadsheet listing every single bit of income/expenditure down to the last penny, date, who, what, how much, income or expenditure. Everything was passed in or out of the new a/c not one penny bypassed it (even cash found in the house) & running total with every transaction.

3) A breakdown of the £154 we claimed in expenses & an indication that we have receipts for every single one of the 12 items (& they can see those if they ask).

4) A 'start to finish' bank statement which will show a total of 30 transactions, tying in exactly with the finer details on the spreadsheet.

I think YM99 is right, there is a difference with a lay executor as opposed to a solicitor. I've felt it extremely important to keep simple but 100% accurate accounts, to have organised paper trails for all transactions/actions. As AJoe points out, it would not be possible to 'sign off' accounts as being accurate unless one had sight of every piece of paperwork in the executor's possession & been completely involved from start to finish.

We'll be sending 4 pieces of paperwork with an interim cheque payment with a covering letter of explanation & an invitation to peruse the full paper trail if they so wish. They must reply with yes/no & until such time we're withholding the balance payments.

There ought to be a blinking LAW against beneficiaries whinging, arguing, nagging for payment, greed, being difficult in any shape or form & all the other negative things beneficiaries seem to think of to make the role of executor harder.

It never ceases to amaze me how often it all deteriorates into all out war instead appreciating the thought of a lovely windfall.