Executor of will or not!

bluecliocar

Hi there, Please could anyone help. My partner first told me I wasn't an executor of his will because I had a financial interest, then he told me he couldn't remember if I was, then he said I was an executor, Including two other (men) people I have not meet. We have been partners for 16 years.
My question is how do I know for definite if I am an excecutor or not. Do I have to sign anything to say I will be an executor. Should I ask to meet the other people. He says its not important and he want let me see his will as he says I don't need to, I should trust him. I am not bothered what he has written in his will that is his right but I need to know for definite if I am an executor or not, thanks

Thrugelmir

Executors are named in a persons will. Likewise they can all be beneficiaries.

You aren't obliged to act as an executor.

Why the neccessity to know?

Mojisola

bluecliocar wrote: »

Hi there, Please could anyone help. My partner first told me I wasn't an executor of his will because I had a financial interest, then he told me he couldn't remember if I was, then he said I was an executor, Including two other (men) people I have not meet. We have been partners for 16 years.

My question is how do I know for definite if I am an excecutor or not. Do I have to sign anything to say I will be an executor. Should I ask to meet the other people. He says its not important and he want let me see his will as he says I don't need to, I should trust him. I am not bothered what he has written in his will that is his right but I need to know for definite if I am an executor or not, thanks

You can't find out if he won't show you the will.

Why do you need to know? It doesn't affect you until he dies.

If he hasn't made you an executor, you can't force him to change his mind.

I'd make sure that your finances are as sorted as possible while you're alive so that you're not left in difficulties if he should die first. Unmarried partners don't have any automatic rights of inheritance, regardless of how long they have been a couple.

If he's confused about whether you can be an executor because you are also a beneficiary, is this a home-made will?

Keep_pedalling

Your partner sounds like an idiot. Executors do not have to be informed in advance, but no t to do so can cause all sorts of issues after you have gone, so it is foolish not to do so.

Who have you appointed to do yours? If it is just your partner I would think again.

Robin9

In the event of your partner's death do you know where his will is ? Does he know where yours is?

If this will predates your relationship its quite possible you don't even get a mention.

This all smacks of a lack of trust and secrets.

Brynsam

He's confused - or deliberately confusing things.

You cannot be a witness to a will if you are a beneficiary.

Executors are frequently beneficiaries. If those named as executors decline to act (and you don't have to do so, even if you are named as an executor - unless you are a professional who has agreed to do so on a contractual basis), anyone with a financial interest in the estate can apply to deal with it.

Sounds to me as if the real question might be one of trust and openness - or more accurately the lack of it. After 16 years he isn't prepared to show you his will - has he actually made one, or is he stalling because he hasn't quite got round to it (very common) or because his idea of 'partnership' doesn't equate to your view of it?

You need to think now about your future security and peace of mind, because that certainly isn't his priority.

badmemory

If you own a house together I would check that your name is actually on the deeds & check how it is owned. Unless he is suffering from dementia & truly can't remember then he is avoiding telling you the truth. No-one "forgets" who they have as executors any more than they forget how they have left their belongings, unless of course they are the kind of person that changes their will once a month!

DigForVictory

It doesn't matter a hoot, but if he wants his Will to be executed at all, it will help if you know where the document is.

Given his open communicative nature, I'd enquire if he had a Power of Attorney sorted, while you're at it. Also his wishes regarding organ donation and cremation or burial, since odds on it'll be you who gets asked.

If he freaks & scuttles off to hide in a corner, you may want to corral him with a solicitor sometime - just to protect Your Interests. As outside of matrimony or civil partnership, your legal rights are terrifyingly thin.

AnotherJoe

If you aren't bothered what's in the will you do NOT need "to know for definite" since you can just turn it down when the time comes (assuming as said you have any clue where the will is anyway) , it's not obligatory, you can't be forced to be one.

Am I having deja vue or did you post this under a different user name a few months ago ?

Malthusian

bluecliocar wrote: »

He says its not important and he want let me see his will as he says I don't need to, I should trust him.

The fact that he won't let you see the will means you can't trust him. This is not how trustworthy people behave.

At the moment there is a strong possibility that when he dies, you will receive nothing. This can happen in three main ways: the first is that his Will is valid and leaves you nothing. The second is that it may be invalid, and his estate is distributed subject to the laws of intestacy; if you are unmarried, this means you get nothing. The third is that he got you to witness the Will and you have forgotten. Witnesses cannot be beneficiaries and any bequest to you would fail.

If not being left anything in his Will would cause a problem (no money, thrown out of the house, etc) then you need to have a grown-up conversation with him urgently.

Brynsam

Malthusian wrote: »

At the moment there is a strong possibility that when he dies, you will receive nothing. This can happen in three main ways: the first is that his Will is valid and leaves you nothing. The second is that it may be invalid, and his estate is distributed subject to the laws of intestacy; if you are unmarried, this means you get nothing. The third is that he got you to witness the Will and you have forgotten. Witnesses cannot be beneficiaries and any bequest to you would fail.

Wrong. It is open to surviving co-habitees to bring an inheritance claim under the the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The Act empowers the courts to redistribute the deceased's estate where the Will or intestacy rules fail to make 'reasonable financial provision' for the applicant.