Templates for executry accounts and agreements?

Hinch71

Hi there, my brother and I find ourselves negotiating the sad process of being executors for mum's estate. She passed away last October fairly suddenly but thank goodness she'd made a will. We got Confirmation fairly quickly, and are now in the situation where we can engather funds and disperse.

My question is around whether anyone knows of any useful templates that we can use in order to ensure we've correctly captured all monies that have come into the executry process, and then gone back out again (mainly being split 50/50 between us, but there are two small overpayments by pension funds to repay, plus two small charity legacies). Other than her bank accounts, all at TSB, and the house, all there is left to settle are selling off some premium bonds. I believe we also need to gather signed agreements from beneficiaries? (so me, my brother and the two charities??)

Our solicitor is asking if we want their help to engather funds, but as it's all quite straightforward I think we can do it ourselves? I'm really keen to make sure I do it all properly though! And I can't find anything that clearly states how we should record payments, and the wording of the notes we need beneficiaries to sign to confirm they're happy with everything?

Thanks for any help.

buffalito

I used this for my late mother's estate from a previous post on here and amended for what I needed. I can't quite remember where it was from but you can change it to suit your needs.

	Debit	Credit
Assets
Gross Assets as of DOD
Refunds
Gross Estate		£0.00
Liabilities
Funeral
Memorial
Teacher's pensions refund
State pension refund
Solicitor
income tax 2016/2017
income tax 2017/2018
house valuations
jewellery valuation
certifying documents
Post redirection fee
Total	£0.00
Balance C/F		£0.00
Estate Income
Rental income
Dividends
Interest
Total		£0.00
Balance C/F		£0.00
Estate Expenses
Postage
Rental Mgt Fees
Insurance 2018/19
council tax
Insurance 2020
House repairs
share fees
EPC fee
Gas Cert fee
Energy costs
Conveyancing fee
Estate Agent Fees
gas check copy certificate fee
Estate Tax 2018/19
Estate Tax 2019/20
Estate Tax 2020/21
Total	0
Balance C/F		£0.00
Losses
Share losses
Loss on House sale
Total	0
Balance C/F		£0.00
Gains
Gain on House Sale
Share gains
Sale of personal effects
Total		£0.00
Net Estate		£0.00
Pecuniary legacies
Residuary Estate	Total	£0.00

SevenOfNine

I used an Excel spreadsheet, 5 columns: Date / Income / Expenditure / Balance / Description (short).  It's doesn't need to be sophisticated or complicated.

Only residual beneficiaries are entitled to see the accounts, though I've ordinarily sent them the spreadsheets & said the could ask any questions.  No 'approval' signing off  is required. 

parcival

Yes, I have just done almost exactly what @SevenofNine has suggested - perfectly adequate for most straightforward estates. 

Keep_pedalling

You do not need to get signed off agreements for the beneficiaries. The only beneficiaries entitle to see the estate accounts are the residual beneficiaries, who in this case are also the executors so you will both have those to hand anyway.

Hinch71

Thanks so much everyone! This is super helpful :-) 

There’s so much conflicting advice out there...this forum has been the most helpful place I’ve found so far! Now I just need to figure out whether I really do NEED to open a join executor bank account (it seems not, but our solicitor is insisting we do!) and whether we should wait the full six months before dispersing funds (again, solicitor is saying we must, other info says not as long as we are mindful we might have to give some back if someone appears before the six months is up). The latter isn’t so much of an issue, we’re in no rush. The bank account thing could be a pain it seems!

Thanks again :-) 

naedanger

There is no legal reason for an executor account and many banks don't like to offer them. However you might need a joint account, as I suspect some firms might wish to issue any payments jointly to both executors. (Nevertheless it should be easier opening a joint account than an executor account.) I wouldn't open an account with an institution where you or your brother have a net debt e.g. don't open it with a bank that holds your mortgage.

Again no legal reason to wait 6 months especially if the residual beneficiaries are also the executors. Personally I would make a large interim payment but leave enough to cover the majority of routine/forgotten debts (just makes it easier than having to pay money back.) However any professional executor (or if the executor cannot totally rely on the beneficiaries repaying any overpayment) is likely to wait 6 months to cover their own potential liability.

Obviously if the solicitor is holding any of the estate's money and is insisting on paying it to an executor account then it may be easier and cheaper opening an executor account than arguing the point.