To process my father's will does my mum need to post copies of all financial documents to executor?

Autumn868

• Just to update this thread •

My mother has now accepted that she will need to provide the executor with copies of all my dad's financial statements,
however rather than just putting the latest balance statement from every account/fund (30-50 different banks & funds) into a pile, adding up the total balance, putting them all into an envelope and sending that to the executor....
She plans to go through every file, write down the details of every account help (for her own records), create a spread-sheet where she logs all the info, and then send that (presumably along with the statements) to the executor.
*As she thinks she would charge her thousands of pounds if she just dumped it all in an envelope and left it for him to add-up.

 

elsien

She is aware that an executor who is a family or friend can't be paid for their time in administering the estate? That would only apply if a solicitor had been named as a paid professional executor. 

Autumn868

elsien said:

She is aware that an executor who is a family or friend can't be paid for their time in administering the estate? That would only apply if a solicitor had been named as a paid professional executor. 

Hello and thanks for your reply.
The guy isn't (and never was) a solicitor/or any form of legal professional, he was a business professional (although he's probably retired now).

I don't know him personally, but my mum says he is extremely shrewd, and so he would ultimately only undertake that admin work if he was paid for his time in doing it.

Savvy_Sue

Autumn868 said:

elsien said:

She is aware that an executor who is a family or friend can't be paid for their time in administering the estate? That would only apply if a solicitor had been named as a paid professional executor. 

Hello and thanks for your reply.
The guy isn't (and never was) a solicitor/or any form of legal professional, he was a business professional (although he's probably retired now).

I don't know him personally, but my mum says he is extremely shrewd, and so he would ultimately only undertake that admin work if he was paid for his time in doing it.

But he cannot, himself, be paid for doing it! He could, however, engage a solicitor or other 'professional' (eg accountant) to do it for him, and bill the estate. 

If your mum is happy creating that spreadsheet, I'd let her do it ... 

Autumn868

He wouldn't do it ''officially'', but she thinks that he would request payment (unofficially) for his time.
*He hasn't asked for money, and isn't even aware that my mum plans to create a spread-sheet as she has had no further contact with him since the 1 email she sent him 3 weeks ago notifying him of my father's death.

In regards to the spread-sheets and data-compilation though she is needing my help to do it, as she isn't physically capable of doing it.

elsien

Autumn868 said:

He wouldn't do it ''officially'', but she thinks that he would request payment (unofficially) for his time.

Then she can equally unofficially just say no. 
This does rather beg the question as to why they agreed an executor they have so little trust in. If mum hasn't reviewed her own will and executor recently  then in time she should seriously consider doing so. 

Autumn868

Another, slightly different question:

What exactly is the process from the executor's side once he receives the envelope containing all my dad's bank statements & share-statements?

Does he just need to print off the form from the .gov website, add-up the total sum of money, write that number on the form, and then post it to HMRC...
Then a few weeks later HMRC write back confirming there is no tax owed, and so the executor then sends that confirmation to the banks & funds where the money is, so they ''release it''?

In regards to the money also, as most of my dad's cash is in shares-form, not cash, and would the executor have to contact all the companies via which the shares were bought and request them to transfer them to my mum's name?
Or would he have to ask them to sell them?
*Also where exactly does all my dad's money get 'stored' in this interim period? Like if he instructs the funds to sell all the shares, and so they are liquidated for £600,000 cash, does that money get sent from the firm to the executor's bank account?

elsien

The executor can open up an executor bank account while sorting out the affairs. He needs to check for all assets, tell the banks yiur dad has died and ask for all accounts in his name to be frozen while he sorts out the estate; and check for any debts, tax liability etc such as inheritance tax before paying out as per the will.  
Does the will say anything about how the shares should be dealt with? 

Autumn868

Thankyou.

My mum already told their accountant, and apparently he notified the banks, which has caused the money in my dad's bank accounts to be frozen.
He had no debts, and the will didn't state how share's should be dealt with | Simply states that the maximum amount of money (before IHT is incurred) should be divided equally between me and my 2 siblings, with the residue of his assets passed on to my mum.
*I'm not sure if that max value is 325k or 475k/500k though? (As he joint-owned 2 properties with my mum, and so they are in the will as an asset).

Autumn868

I personally understand and realise that this bloke who's the executor has a huge amount of admin work that he needs to do, 
as he personally has to contact all the banks & firms (40-50 different companies), create a new bank account for himself, and do whatever tasks he needs to do....
But my mum sadly just doesn't/won't understand/accept that fact | And instead thinks that WE can do 99% of those tasks ourselves, and so all he needs to do is co-sign it at the end.