Resigning as Executor

spidercrab

They declared themselves as executors as they were prepared to carry out this duty. However, they didn’t realise how complicated it would be. They are only in their twenties and probably wouldn’t know an insurance policy from a pension plan! They just don’t want to be involved but I don’t think anybody else would want to take on the responsibility. Would that be a problem?

Tom99

spidercrab wrote: »

They declared themselves as executors as they were prepared to carry out this duty. However, they didn’t realise how complicated it would be. They are only in their twenties and probably wouldn’t know an insurance policy from a pension plan! They just don’t want to be involved but I don’t think anybody else would want to take on the responsibility. Would that be a problem?

In which case if they both fill in form PA15 as referred to above and send it the Probate Registry Office that you would have applied for probate to.
Normally PA15 would be sent together with the probate application forms so maybe send accompanying letter explaining the situation.

spidercrab

Thanks Tom99 for your useful information. I’m a bit concerned now that there is really no one else who would take on the job of executors. What would happen?

Keep_pedalling

spidercrab wrote: »

Thanks Tom99 for your useful information. I’m a bit concerned now that there is really no one else who would take on the job of executors. What would happen?

As there are no assets there is nothing to administer, so nothing would happen. Thousands of people die each year with little or no assets, and there estates are never formally wound up.

Even if there are assets to administer there is often no need to apply for probate for there will never be any official record of that process.

As your son’s have informed the creditors they are the executors, I would get them to write a reply saying that their initial investigations have shown that there are no assets, and that they have therefore renounced their position as executors and that no one will be administering the estate. I think it highly unlikely that the creditors will take it further.

There should be no need to to send anything to the probate office as that is only required if someone else is actually going to apply for probate, but it might be worth calling them for advice anyway.

spidercrab

Thanks for your response. I’m going to get them to download the official form and will take them to a solicitor to get them to draw up a letter to accompany the forms. Hopefully this will be the end of the matter because it has stressed me out so much!

jonesMUFCforever

Who is paying for the funeral?
That is always the first call on an estate?

Has anybody checked his bank account statements - he might have been paying a life assurance premium despite being in debt or as suggested above had he ever been in a pension fund?

It can be stressful to apply for probate and I would advise that your sons renounce their executorship if they cannot find out all about his financial dealings.
Going to a solicitor is probably a good idea but they will not work for free.

spidercrab

The funeral was in June. There was a small amount in his bank account which didn’t cover it so the rest was paid for by a family member. Bank account has been closed but that is all that has been done. As I mentioned, we have no paperwork at all so it’s best to pass it all over to someone else. I realise a solicitor will charge for sending a covering letter but if if this is the end of the matter, it’s worth it.

Keep_pedalling

spidercrab wrote: »

The funeral was in June. There was a small amount in his bank account which didn’t cover it so the rest was paid for by a family member. Bank account has been closed but that is all that has been done. As I mentioned, we have no paperwork at all so it’s best to pass it all over to someone else. I realise a solicitor will charge for sending a covering letter but if if this is the end of the matter, it’s worth it.

I think you would be spending money needlessly here. It costs nothing but the price of a stamp to send the letter I suggested earlier to the creditors. It is highly unlikely that they are going to take it further, as they will not be prepared to waste money on pursuing the impossible.

It would be trickier if there was any money left over from the funeral, but there is nothing for the creditors to chase

spidercrab

I’m concerned that as they initially wrote to the people he owed money to and declared themselves as executors, that they will consider this binding and may not accept just a letter from themselves. (Does that make sense?) Also, there’s loads of other stuff they should have done like notify dwp and dvla and probably other bodies. We are all completely clueless!

Keep_pedalling

spidercrab wrote: »

I’m concerned that as they initially wrote to the people he owed money to and declared themselves as executors, that they will consider this binding and may not accept just a letter from themselves. (Does that make sense?) Also, there’s loads of other stuff they should have done like notify dwp and dvla and probably other bodies. We are all completely clueless!

There will be no come back on them as far as the creditors are concerned there was nothing to distribute. The danger for administering an insolvent estate is that you don’t distribute the assets correctly but you can’t do that if there is nothing to distribute.

They can’t undo what has already been done so if they simply write to say that there was insufficient assets to pay the funeral costs and that the estate therefore had a net value of £0 should suffice.

The DWP is another story if the bank account was not frozen immediately and no notification was given to them that he had died then there is the possibility that there may have been some pension payments made after he had died, and that may be recoverable from the executors. If the bank was informed pronto then the account would have been frozen so. Overpayment would have been minimal or zero.

Whoever registered the death would have been given a tell us once form that would have informed all government departments including the DWP, do you know if this was done?