Executor accounts

Smoggypete

My wife and her sister are joint executors of their mother's will and also equal beneficiaries. All the assets have been realised with the exception of her home and all of them (including bank accounts and HMRC repayments) have been paid into my wife's personal account and redistributed. We now come to the sale of her home and, although both executors have signed a form requesting the proceeds to be paid into that same account, our conveyancing solicitors are demanding that they be paid into an Executor account. This is a real problem for us since few banks offer these accounts, they require both executors to be present in person and the sisters live 300 miles apart. Does anyone know if there is any basis in law for this requirement ?

CKhalvashi

There is no legal basis for this, however I'd always recommend using a separate bank account to a main one to deal with this.

If both are happy for it to proceed in this way, I see no need for a solicitor to insist otherwise, especially as in reality most payments these days are made by bank transfer, not by cheque. I have assisted with the dealings of an estate in the last year, and the executor used an existing joint savings account (with the deceased) to deal with incoming payments, with any expenses being put on their personal credit card and reimbursed to their current account as the money was paid. Nobody questioned this arrangement and as long as detailed accounting records are kept, there is legally no issue with this.

In short, if both are happy to sign to that account, I'd tell the solicitor to stop being difficult, or potentially have a quiet chat with their managing partner regarding the situation.

p00hsticks

Smoggypete said:

This is a real problem for us since few banks offer these accounts, they require both executors to be present in person and the sisters live 300 miles apart. Does anyone know if there is any basis in law for this requirement ?

You're a couple of steps ahead of me & my fellow executor in the process, and I've been anticipating similar problems. Going by my research so far I'm pinning my hopes on HSBC - according to their bereavement guide (page 11), an executor account can be opened with them by only one executor, even if multiple ones are named, with the other one being added later if so desired

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/content/dam/hsbc/gb/pdf/life-events/bereavement-support-guide.pdf

xylophone

The sisters are joint executors. They have probate.

Are they joint beneficiaries of the whole of the sale proceeds?

 If so, and assuming that the sale proceeds will be paid into the solicitor's client account,  there would seem to be no reason why on receipt of a formal request in a jointly signed letter, he should not make a direct payment of half the proceeds to  the sole account of each sister?

Smoggypete

Thanks for the reply Xylophone. They are joint beneficiaries and, in the latest exchange of correspondence, the solicitor (or whoever they've delegated this process to) have requested a copy of the will, so maybe we'll make some progress on that basis.
I'll post any updates.

SevenOfNine

My husband & his brother were joint executor's for their dad's estate. They both, plus 3 others (their own offspring), were beneficiaries. All monies in the deceased's bank account were transferred to a personal account solely in the name of my husband & all estate income/expenditure was managed through that.

All sale paperwork from the conveyancing solicitor had to be signed by both executors & £245,000 from the sale of the house (less estate agents fees & solicitors fees which they deducted first) went into the personal a/c in my husbands sole name. There was no 'permission' sought by the solicitor nor given by the other executor, the matter was never even discussed. The solicitor asked for the bank details for the transfer & he used it, not hard to see it was only in my husband's name.

annieb64

My father's  bank told me they didn't  do executor  accounts and mine told me they only did them if the deceased  banked with them. 
I had a small savings account which I rarely use so transferred my money out and DF's in.We have just got probate so there are a couple more things to sort before can distribute the estate.

Doshwaster

I'm currently executor of my aunt's estate and I'm just using a separate current account which had been dormant for the last few years. That way if there are any queries then all of the transactions are in one place.