How should I go about doing a Will without causing problems for executors?

mum_of_joey

Hallo. I am 67 and live on my own, have no partner, and I live in a private rented house. My son is disabled and there is no way that he would be able to sort out my house contents if I died. I am 'estranged' from my 'well-off' older brother, following my mother's funeral 6 years ago.

Some years ago, I wrote a letter stating what I would like to happen at my funeral and gave it to a trusted friend. In the letter, I 'bequeathed' certain items to him and to my son and to a couple of other close friends. I have no savings - in fact I have large debts, which started being handled through the StepChange charity a year ago . These will take many years to repay. I did not go into an IVA or bankruptcy but an 'informal' debt management scheme.

I recently found an unknown pension and have now received the 25% tax-free element, but I have other, personal, debts which have accrued in the past year - also, this previously unknown pension has caused problems with the benefits that I have been receiving and I am likely to have to repay a lot because of the 'notional' income that I WOULD have received over the past 4 years, so there really won't be much or anything at all in my bank account, should I die any time soon and even less if died as time goes on as the guarantee period of my annuity would diminish the amount each year (see below).

My question is: I don't know how to go about choosing executors for a will without them being lumbered with any expenses. Presumably, the letter that I entrusted to my friend will not be enough. The annuity that I have taken out from this previously unknown pension has a 5 year guarantee period from when it will start (shortly), so about £6,000 would be available in my estate for the first year but will obviously diminish each year until nothing is paid in after 5 years. My thoughts were that once this diminished to about £3,000-£4,000, I might buy a very cheap funeral plan (direct ones can cost £1500-£1995). I gather that funeral expenses have a high priority in payments from an estate.

Would it be better in fact NOT to write a will? I can't see my money situation improving ever unless I win a fortune on one of my SIX premium bonds! If I appointed a solicitor, why would they handle my case at all, knowing that there may not be anything left to pay them with? If I appointed my friend who has the letter, would he be responsible for any costs involved? I do not think it is fair to lumber my paralysed son with all this - he is self-employed and does not have his money guaranteed.

Do I name my estranged brother as my executor as he definitely has huge financial resources? (This was the reason that we became estranged, as he watched my poor mum having to stick newspaper in her windows to keep out the draft from the rotting frames, and at the same time he boasted about how much money he had in the bank (I believe this) - in fact, mum said that he had said that he would buy her new windows, but she never received the money for them and when I asked him, he said that she was making it up (my mum was not like that). His wife made her feel ashamed of her house also, which was also part of the 'estrangement'. His wife never worked a day in her life from the day she married my brother as he had enough money to live in an expensive part of Surrey He even said that he didn't need his share of his inheritance from my mum's house, but took it nevertheless.)

Please don't judge me - I am trying to do the right thing here in order not to lumber my friends with my funeral costs or any other expenses or work that they may have to do to sort out my estate. I had to take out high-interest credit cards just to live, after my inheritance money ran out, and these have caused my financial problems. I had very low-paying jobs until I retired, and ill-health since then. Thank you.

getmore4less

I would go simple as you appear to be insolvent anyway.

Simple is keep your cash and spend it don't bother with funeral plans.
(council or hospital will pay if no money)

if you do a will or not discuss with potential executor administrators that you don't really have anything so they can just leave everything well alone and not get involved.

Often people try to be helpful and end up with a load of work for nothing.


what some do is gift away everything they want in advance and just keep them, that way someone(eg trusted friend) can remove and distribute to the real owner without getting involved in the estate.


Does your son have a deputy/guardian/trustee.

Dox

If you are likely to die with your debts outstripping your assets (i.e. insolvent), even if you write a will and name an executor, any executor with any sense will decline to act. If any of your creditors want to apply to administer your estate, that's up to them - it would be a daft thing to do.

Why would you name your brother if he's estranged from you? I don't imagine he'll be paying your debts any more than any other executor would - and he doesn't sound as if he will accept responsibility for funeral costs either.

Marcon

Hard to see why anyone would agree to be your executor if there's a danger of the estate being insolvent, which looks highly likely. You can't force someone to act in that capacity even if you name them as executors.

The tirade about your brother and his wife isn't relevant or helpful. For your own sake it might be time to try and come to terms with how things are, rather than bashing your head on a brick wall because family members aren't behaving as you think they should.

mum_of_joey

Thank you, getmore4less, Doxon and Marcon, for your replies.

I do agree, Marcon, that it WAS a bit of a tirade against my brother but even after all these years, I am so angry with him and how he could have helped our mum, yet got 'paid' by her after her death, but yes, it is too late for any of that now. If he died before me (which statistically he is likely to do), there is NO way that his widow would even consider helping, and I doubt that my brother would if he was still alive at that time.

I wouldn't expect him to pay off my debts though - just thought that he might feel, for mum's sake, that he might be willing to pay for a funeral, however basic. I am still paying my creditors and may be able to afford more (depending on what the DWP takes back from me), so I may have paid them off by the time I die.

I have to say though, that it does seem rather odd that I lose out twice as far as the DWP is concerned - once for paying back what I owe them and AGAIN for never receiving the income from the annuity for those years that the DWP are basing this repayment on from this 'unknown' pension as I have not and would never RECEIVE this income. After all, I had absolutely no idea that it existed. They have accepted that I did not 'deprive' myself of the income in order to get the benefits, but it does not translate into 'cash'. I went to them, they didn't come to me about it. I could (and would) have taken it out far earlier than now, had I known of it, as it would have helped me enormously and I wouldn't have been in this position of having to repay benefits.

Is there any way that I could appeal this - ie just have the benefits reduced or stopped (if appropriate) NOW, without them working out 4 years' worth of 'back' benefits to be repaid from money that I never received?

So, summing up, what the suggestions are to do nothing, review the 'bequests' (ie add to, if necessary) that I have written in the letter for my friend to keep so that he can distribute them when the time comes, and if I don't die during the 5 year annuity 'guarantee period' (when there might be a little money in my account), don't bother with a funeral plan, then just leave the council to deal with it.

getmore4less - my son is 43, and apart from being paralyzed from the waist down, he works normally (luckily he is a writer so can do this from home) and can get about in a car but would never be able to get into my house because of the way it is laid out. I doubt that he has a deputy/guardian/trustee, though I can enquire - his father, who is an accountant, deals with his money, so not sure if that counts or not but HE was several years older than me, so by the time I die, his father may have died by then. Can I ask how that would affect him in my case if he does or doesn't have a deputy/guardian/trustee, so that I can be aware of it, please?

Many thanks to all.

Owain_Moneysaver

Provided your son is mentally competent to administer your affairs there is no reason why he shouldn't do so - he can instruct other people to clear the house, or maybe even fetch things out while he's in a car outside?

However, as your estate is likely to be insolvent, the simplest thing is probably to leave it to the council to sort out.

The kindest thing you can do is ensure your affairs are in good order - that doesn't mean solvent, but does mean all your paperwork nice and tidy, in a sensible place, so whoever does end up with the job can see who they have to write to.

And if you have any sentimental knick-knacks, consider giving them away now, as if the council clears the house it's highly likely stuff will end up in a skip.

mum_of_joey

Owain Moneysaver - thank you for the suggestions. I had moved 14 times since this pension was apparently taken out on my behalf 29 years ago, but I am planning not to move from this house as I don't have the energy and also feel comfortable here, so I am gradually sorting stuff out, and throwing unnecessary papers away so hopefully by the time I toddle off I will have left things in a fairly orderly manner. Good idea about the smaller keepsakes. I guess I could almost put a little label underneath specific things with specific names on, with instructions of what I have done, in the letter that my friend is keeping so there's a good chance that the right thing goes to the right person. Or, as you said, give them to the people sooner rather than later.

I am already taking stuff to auctions anyway to try to raise a few bob here and there so hopefully there won't be masses of stuff to plough through.

pmlindyloo

Once you know if you are liable for overpayments of your benefits (is it Pension Credit?) then I suggest that you contact StepChange about this. It is possible that bankruptcy may be a sensible option to get rid of all your debts so that you can 'start again'.

Also, you could contact CAB or AgeUK to help you with your current benefit situation.

mum_of_joey

pmlindyloo

Thank you for that suggestion. So many things have been running round my head that I have found it hard to see an obvious solution. There was an entry on here some time last year where someone in my position with debts did exactly that, however, I seem to remember that there was some 'morality' issue in question - ie to use a 'windfall' income (such as my tax-free money) to pay the fee to become bankrupt rather than using it to pay towards your creditors. Before I knew about this pension, that was my reason for opting for either an informal debt management plan or an IVA as trying to raise the £700 or £800 fee for bankruptcy simply wasn't an option. I have to wait to see what the DWP decides about how much in overpayments by them I am likely to have to pay back, and if it can be done in instalments from my new annuity income rather than from my cash lump sum. They have asked my pension provider to work this out, which may take a few more weeks, apparently.