Cost £3000 to remove an executor?

Loubeat7

we have been quoted £3000 to remove an executor from my dads will as they have done nothing for 5 years. Does this cost seem appropriate?

Grumpy_chap

Loubeat7 said:

we have been quoted £3000 to remove an executor from my dads will as they have done nothing for 5 years. Does this cost seem appropriate?

Quoted by whom?

The Executor does not need to do anything until your Dad passes.  Or are you saying that your Dad passed five years ago and the sole Executor has done nothing to resolve the Estate since?

Loubeat7

my dad passed 5 years ago and the executor has done nothing or even replied to a solicitor letter. I have had no correspondence from the executor since before my dads funeral.

nyermen

Their year is up...
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095804640

Grumpy_chap

That is an awful state of affairs and you have my sympathy.

There are rules around the correct Administration of an Estate by the Executor and processes for when that is not followed.  You may get more complete answers if this thread is moved to the Deaths, Funerals and Probate board.

Is the Executor aware of the death and in a position to fulfil their duties - is the Executor otherwise incapacitated themselves?

I presume you / family had to make funeral arrangements and not the Executor?

What has happened to any assets - property and such like?  Or is there none?  If the Estate is essentially insolvent that may be one reason why the Executor is not willing to get involved.  If that is not the case, the passage of time does not make resolving the Estate any easier.

getmore4less

Have they applied for the grant?

If not that may be a route to go down apply for a grant with suitable documents to show the named executor has abandoned their duties.

74jax

Is the estate solvent? 
How was the funeral arranged? 

Thrugelmir

£600 of the cost is VAT. The fees are £2,400. 

SiliconChip

Thrugelmir said:

£600 of the cost is VAT. The fees are £2,400. 

You've done your calculation backwards (i.e. 20% of £3,000), the actual figure would be £2,500 plus £500 VAT = £3,000

That seems like quite a reasonable figure based on the numbers given in this article:

"Where court proceedings are required and the legal issues are reasonably straightforward and discrete then we may give a costs estimate of between £5,000 and £15,000 plus VAT for making an application to remove an executor. Where the issues and associated evidential demands are more complex that figure is likely to be more, and the cost of removing an executor can rise to between £20,000 to £30,000 plus VAT. In particularly contentious and hard fought cases the costs can be even higher than that."

https://www.contesting-wills.co.uk/news-articles/how-much-does-it-cost-remove-executor.html

Keep_pedalling

I assume that is the cost of a solicitor to represent you, but there will be court costs on top of that, although those may be awarded against the executor. 

Do you have an idea of the size of the estate?

Norman_Castle

I'd visit them in person and ask them to step down. They may simply be ignoring this hoping it will go away, give them a way out.