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Executors Account

sgx2000
Posts: 506 Forumite

Hi All
A couple of questions. (probably stupid questions... but)
Is there anything special about an executors account, or can I just open another account with the Halifax online.... and label it executors account??
Does the account have to be labelled 'executors account' ? or is it acceptable to just be in my name??
The deceased accounts are with HSBC (10 mines away). Is there any reason I would have to setup the executors account up with the same bank that the deceased used?
A couple of questions. (probably stupid questions... but)
Is there anything special about an executors account, or can I just open another account with the Halifax online.... and label it executors account??
Does the account have to be labelled 'executors account' ? or is it acceptable to just be in my name??
The deceased accounts are with HSBC (10 mines away). Is there any reason I would have to setup the executors account up with the same bank that the deceased used?
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Comments
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You don’t have to set up an executors account. Your bank should be able to open a new account for the purpose, explain what it’s for and why possible large sums of money will be coming into the account. Executor accounts are treated like business accounts and can become complicated and some banks seem to discourage you from opening them. If you are sole beneficiary or have the trust of other beneficiaries then there should be no problem. If you are joint executor then you could open an account with the other executor(s).2
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If you use a standard account in your own name for executor’s duties and you were to die before the funds are distributed to the beneficiaries then that would become part of your estate, to be divided as per your own will. The main problem we encountered when dealing with my mother’s estate recently was that with an executor’s account you don’t get any online or telephone banking facilities, which meant going to a branch with ID every time we needed to check if an asset had been paid in. Also you can’t open an executors bank online, only in person, in branch. This was Lloyds but I believe most banks operate like this. Fortunately I had a branch a few miles away, but it was still annoying. We decided to go with it as we were 3 joint executors, all in our 60s so thought it was safer to keep Mum’s funds clear of any complications if anything happened to us.1
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You will also need probate before opening an executors account. Or so I was told by Halifax the other day. I have since opened an additional separate account in my name. There is no legal requirement to have an executors account.1
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When Mum died last year I needed somewhere to put the money she had in her bank account.Luckily we were both with the HSBC.I found it frustrating trying to get anywhere with simple advice on the telephone from them so I gave up,and opened a savings account online in my name (as I am the executor),so I could tell them where to.transfer the money.That worked out really easy,as I did not want to.go to their branch miles away in a town with little parking ! I had POA for months before she died as she was in a care home so I had all her finances to sort out.
You will get a form from the HSBC when you inform them of her death.Once you send that back with the death certificate,that's when you tell them where to transfer the money to.So opening just a simple savings account with your own bank makes it much easier.1 -
As has already been posted, executor accounts come with serious practical limitations and the Halifax advised me against it for a simple estate - complicated by the fact that it was during lockdown and an executor account requires all parties to be there in branch at the same time to open it.
So they just opened me a standard current account - just in my name - with the intention that we'd make it joint when we could move more freely - they made a note that it was to be used for estate business. But my sister (other executor and beneficiary) wasn't bothered about making it joint and left me to it. I've just sent her monthly accounts with a screengrab of the statement. We've taken on different roles in the process and it's worked well.
We've arranged with the solicitor (whether they remember is entirely another matter) that when the house sells (completion due any day) that they'll send the correct percentages directly to each of us from the proceeds, so I don't have the responsibility of a large transaction. Although my recent experience with them is making me doubt that decision.1 -
Natwest allowed internet banking on an executors account, but that was a few years ago.Signature removed for peace of mind1
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I just used a dormant current account which wasn't being used for anything else. Most important thing is to keep your finances totally separate from the deceased's estate and keep a record of all money in and out until you can distribute.1
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Savvy_Sue said:Natwest allowed internet banking on an executors account, but that was a few years ago.
I set up an account with them in October that gives me online / app access and a debit card. It initially sets up as a normal account which I can change to an executors account once I have the grant. I went down this line after reading a post on here were a solicitor was only willing to transfer the proceeds of the house sale to an executors account. I only intend to convert mine to an executors account if any of the organisations / processes in winding up the estate require me to.
I have read a post on here that someone had an issue setting up the Natwest account but for me it was very straight forward.1 -
kipsterno1 said:Savvy_Sue said:Natwest allowed internet banking on an executors account, but that was a few years ago.
I set up an account with them in October that gives me online / app access and a debit card. It initially sets up as a normal account which I can change to an executors account once I have the grant. I went down this line after reading a post on here were a solicitor was only willing to transfer the proceeds of the house sale to an executors account. I only intend to convert mine to an executors account if any of the organisations / processes in winding up the estate require me to.
I have read a post on here that someone had an issue setting up the Natwest account but for me it was very straight forward.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend NatWest, apart from the online access. Setting up the account: it was clear from that session that it was a 'normal' joint account with the name "the executors of ..." and I subsequently found that the account wasn't always identified as such. We opened it before we had probate, I took the grant into a local branch so the account could be made active, but somehow that didn't go through and I had to make a second visit, phone the bereavement team from the branch and so on, and so forth, niggles like that.
One point to note is that the online access operates on sole authority - I'm fairly sure we could have set it up so that any cheques had to be signed by both executors, but we didn't feel the need to do that. Obviously one hopes that multiple executors can trust each other, and each one can view what's going on with the account, BUT if you want a payment to be set up by one person and authorised by another then NatWest is not for you - they don't even offer that facility with a 'clubs and societies / charity' account! The way we did it was for me to make the payments (in agreement with my co-executor), knowing that everything was transparent, eg when either of us incurred expenses I could pay them and they could see what I'd done.Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
Devongardener said:If you use a standard account in your own name for executor’s duties and you were to die before the funds are distributed to the beneficiaries then that would become part of your estate, to be divided as per your own will.
I used to think that, but as someone on this forum has pointed out, it;s not true. Yes, the money would become part of your estate, but your estate would then also have an equal and opposite debt to be paid to the estate that you had been executor of, so in practical terms it makes no difference - provided, of course, that you had kept decent records so that your own executor could untangle which funds were genuinely yours and which originated from the estate to whcih you were executor.
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