Bank /Probate Executors Account

Kerenza

Good morning. I hope someone can help.
If a will has more than one executor named i.e 3 in this case. Can one executor open an executors bank account without the knowledge/permission of the other executors and can one executor apply and receive a grant of probate without the other executors  signing a form to relinquish their duties ?

RAS

The only way probate can be granted to one (or more) of several joint executors is if the others sign to relinquish or reserve their duties. I'd start by contacting the probate office and asking if they have received this.

Executor's accounts can be difficult to set up and a lot of banks will release quite large amounts of money to anyone turning up claiming administer an estate with a death certificate.  So a single executor may have collected assets into an account they have set up before probate is granted.

Kerenza

Thank you for replying.

Keep_pedalling

It is actually not difficult for one executor RAS said:

The only way probate can be granted to one (or more) of several joint executors is if the others sign to relinquish or reserve their duties. I'd start by contacting the probate office and asking if they have received this.

Executor's accounts can be difficult to set up and a lot of banks will release quite large amounts of money to anyone turning up claiming administer an estate with a death certificate.  So a single executor may have collected assets into an account they have set up before probate is granted.

If we are taking fraud, an executor could claim the others have reserved their powers and unlike renouncing does not require them to sign anything. The executor has a duty to inform reserved executors that he / she is applying but they do not have to provide any documentary evidence with the application.

How easy it would be to get away with this is  another matter.

Kerenza

Thank you. Its a mine field.

SevenOfNine

Exactly as Keep_pedalling describes. Both my brothers agreed to power reserved & I gave them written confirmation of their agreement. That was it, no-one checked.

I opened a bank a/c in my own name, some banks (Lloyds being one) aren't that keen on opening executor a/c, no idea why. Everything worked well, but they both knew I was completely trustworthy, with regular sharing of accounts & bank statements.

JGB1955

Likewise - my brother agreed to reserve his powers (didn't have much choice being stuck in Singapore since Jan 2020).  All I had to do was confirm that he had been notified of my application for probate.  He didn't have to fill in a form, and there was no requirement for him to provide/sign one.  I had to give his contact details. My guess is that they MAY contact those who have reserved powers, but imagine it's at the bottom of the 'to do' list in Covid times.