Will Executors Year - Interest Rate

Mazinsky

Hi

I'm the executor of my late mothers estate and have just learned that after 12 months of her passing any financial gifts she wished to give to friends and family (on condition of the house being sold) are subject to interest. Does anyone know what the 2021 rate of interest is, as online searches bring up wildly differing figures?

Thanks in advance.

Savvy_Sue

Seriously? Where does this interest come from?

p00hsticks

Someone on this board was talking about this a while back but I think they had got hold of the wrong end of the stick - they had spotted something on google but when I asked for the link it seemed to be related to circumstances where compensation funds are held for minors by some government body - nothing to do with wills. I'll see if I can find the thread as I know I queried it at the time - it's certainly a notion I'd not come across in all my reading about executors duties.

As Savvy_Sue says, where is this interest supposed to come from ? If the estate consists soley of a property for example, then no money is realised until that property is sold, which even in pre-covid times could easily take over a year to complete. 

[ EDIT - I've found the other thread - it's here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6307879/what-kind-of-beneficiary-am-i/p2

The OP starts talking about interest from a 'court fund' at the top of page 2 ]

Marcon

Mazinsky said:

Hi

I'm the executor of my late mothers estate and have just learned that after 12 months of her passing any financial gifts she wished to give to friends and family (on condition of the house being sold) are subject to interest. Does anyone know what the 2021 rate of interest is, as online searches bring up wildly differing figures?

Thanks in advance.

No such thing as the widely 'known' executor's year, nor are executors required to pay interest in normal circumstances. Breath again!

JGB1955

There are a couple of mentions of this 'interest' on the internet - 
What is the executor’s year? - Probate Advice - Final Duties and When Does an Executor Have to Pay Beneficiaries? (co-oplegalservices.co.uk)

SevenOfNine

JGB1955 said:

There are a couple of mentions of this 'interest' on the internet - 
What is the executor’s year? - Probate Advice - Final Duties and When Does an Executor Have to Pay Beneficiaries? (co-oplegalservices.co.uk)

Contradicts itself, yes it mentions 'interest' but also states the estate must be wrapped up first, the timeline can depend on the complexity/simplicity of that. Even gives examples of what might justifiably delay it past their own stated timeline of 1 year (house sale etc). OP hasn't implied ALL the estate funds have been ready to distribute for some time but the executor (themselves) is merely sitting on it all!

Also states that beneficiaries are entitled to see the estate accounts, hasn't mentioned that applies only to residuary beneficiaries, so that's not even clear in the info the Co-op gives. 

There will be no interest due to beneficiaries when they receive their gifts, assuming OP has done/doing everything in an efficient & timely manner to the best of their ability as executor.  House sold, all income received & all debts paid, then distribute. 

buddy9

There is a brief reference to interest in the HMRC IHT manual.