Sorting finances after my dad's death | What do I write in the letter to all the banks and firms?

Flugelhorn

Getting the right number of certs is difficult - I got 6 for my mother (as I had done 20 years ago for my father and needed them all ) and could have managed with 2 (one to probate office and one taken to the 2 financial institutions and solicitor dealing with conveyancing) - so much now was done via "tell me once" that I didn't need so many, but this was a couple of years ago and they were only about £4 each 

xylophone

Executors were mentioned in this thread. 

I had a look - OP says

The 2 people named on the will as executors are family friends of my parents from the 1980s/90s...
But I personally don't know them and never met them, as my parents & them lost contact in the early/mid 1990s, 
so they literally just are 2 random people to me.
One of my sisters is a lawyer though and so she is handling all the legal aspects of the death (such as arranging funeral/chasing-up life-insurance... ect), and so I assume she is doing the will too.
(She doesn't live near me, plus as we don't get on I don't ever have contact with her directly).

I am finding it very difficult to understand how the OP and her family ( who seem to be professional people) seem not to appreciate that unless the named executors renounce, it is the absolute responsibility of those so named to deal with obtaining probate and administering the estate.

And what is meant by the sister's dealing with legal aspects and doing the will too?

Doing what with the will? It would appear that mother holds the original and it will be required by the executors when they seek probate.

With regard to the insurance policies, whether or not the proceeds form part of the estate will also need investigation.

NinjaTune

Flugelhorn said:

Getting the right number of certs is difficult - I got 6 for my mother (as I had done 20 years ago for my father and needed them all ) and could have managed with 2 (one to probate office and one taken to the 2 financial institutions and solicitor dealing with conveyancing) - so much now was done via "tell me once" that I didn't need so many, but this was a couple of years ago and they were only about £4 each 

Agree with you re: less needed.  Having said that, I assumed the Death Notification Service meant I wouldn't have to send a death cert to the banks/building societies notified because it uses the death cert reference.  I was wrong, and both subsequently requested sight of an original copy.  As I was under a 14 day quarantine (Dad died of COVID19) and wanted to get things rolling I wasn't able to go into branches and get the death certs copied so I sent them via post.  I was also covering for any that could be lost in the post or by the company itself.  As it was, one was damaged in transit by the Royal Mail.

There were 5 different banks/building societies/stock companies wanting a death cert plus private pension and solicitors.  Bizarrely the home insurance company wanted a copy too!  Sounds like the OP's late father has a multitude of different investments though, many of whom may request one.

Whoever ends up as executor should probably keep a spreadsheet of what has been sent to whom and when.   It's been a godsend for me, being able to see at a glance who I need to chase up for a response. 

badger09

xylophone said:

Executors were mentioned in this thread. 

I had a look - OP says

The 2 people named on the will as executors are family friends of my parents from the 1980s/90s...
But I personally don't know them and never met them, as my parents & them lost contact in the early/mid 1990s, 
so they literally just are 2 random people to me.
One of my sisters is a lawyer though and so she is handling all the legal aspects of the death (such as arranging funeral/chasing-up life-insurance... ect), and so I assume she is doing the will too.
(She doesn't live near me, plus as we don't get on I don't ever have contact with her directly).

I am finding it very difficult to understand how the OP and her family ( who seem to be professional people) seem not to appreciate that unless the named executors renounce, it is the absolute responsibility of those so named to deal with obtaining probate and administering the estate.

And what is meant by the sister's dealing with legal aspects and doing the will too?

Doing what with the will? It would appear that mother holds the original and it will be required by the executors when they seek probate.

With regard to the insurance policies, whether or not the proceeds form part of the estate will also need investigation.

Me too.

There are so many aspects which are, to put it politely, difficult to understand.  

Robin9

OP - the best thing your mum can do is knock you and your sister's heads together and ask you to work together at this difficult time.  Your sister has the legal knowledge and you are the person on the ground with the paperwork - that is a good team.

AnotherJoe

By the way OP, part of probate involves sending them the original will. NOT a copy, NOT a certified copy, the ORIGINAL will.

Since the will (apparently) mentions two executors, then unless one of them has renounced, that fact WILL be picked up and the whole thing will come crashing down. To renounce they have to sign the probate form you can't just arbitrarily decide which one to use,  and the will will bring to light the bodge job you, your mum, your sister (who astonishingly as a  lawyer is complicit in this mess) and the "chosen" executor are making of this. 

TO add icing on the bodge job, you are doing some work and  your sister is doing some work yet you havent asked her what she is doing ! How do you know shes not doing some of your work again, or missing out some ? 

 I suggest

1. Get existing execs to renounce.

2. Sis or you becomes exec.

3. Talk to sis. Got to be done if she is doing "will stuff" and you dont even know what that is !!!

What a mess.

Mojisola

xylophone said:

I am finding it very difficult to understand how the OP and her family ( who seem to be professional people) seem not to appreciate that unless the named executors renounce, it is the absolute responsibility of those so named to deal with obtaining probate and administering the estate.

They seem to think that they are entitled to deal with the estate in any way they want and that the law doesn't apply to them.

Robin9

OP - your family is just at the start of what is likely to be a long process - at least a year and possibly two. There appears to be a large estate, inc property, to handle.  Getting the process wrong now will lead to legal issues and lawyers bills and delay the settlement of the estate. I think MSE has a "What to Do when someone dies" - read it and ask questions.

Keep_pedalling

Robin9 said:

OP - the best thing your mum can do is knock you and your sister's heads together and ask you to work together at this difficult time.  Your sister has the legal knowledge and you are the person on the ground with the paperwork - that is a good team.

The mother is a big part of the problem, so all 3 need to bang heads together.

badger09

Robin9 said:

OP - your family is just at the start of what is likely to be a long process - at least a year and possibly two. There appears to be a large estate, inc property, to handle.  Getting the process wrong now will lead to legal issues and lawyers bills and delay the settlement of the estate. I think MSE has a "What to Do when someone dies" - read it and ask questions.

In case you haven't read all 3 of OP's threads on this subject, neither OP nor her sister, nor indeed her mother are Executors. It is not even clear whether both Executors are aware that they are Executors!