Making wills but family in Australia

cmayflower

My husband and I are talking about making our wills, his son who lives in Australia is the likely executor as would inherit the majority share of the estate.  We are trying to understand what if any problems he may encounter, grateful for any pointers in what to think about, thanks

TBagpuss

I think the main issues would be if he were trying to make practical arrangements such as organising the funeral, and for things such as clearing the house, collecting paperwork etc. 

It would of course be possible for him to instruct a solicitor in the UK to do the legwork.

you could of course also chose to appoint him jointly with someone who lives more lovally, and perhaps make sure that you leave that person a legacy as a thank you for acting as executor.

Most things after than can be done remotely, it's fairly common to have people living overseas who need to provide proof of ID for legal reasons here in the UK and so thereare well establishd parcaties (normally it would involve getting ID certified by a lawyer in Australia, and sending the certified copies) which would let him instruct a UK solicitor, for example.

On a practical level you may want to think about, and talk to him about, whether he is likely to want much in the way of physical items - e.g. any furniture, jewellry, pictures etc or whether the realisty is that he would be likely to just get the house cleared. This may also feed into whether you want to make provsions for gifts to other friends or family, or to give him any guidance (e.g. if the likelyhood is that he would just get the house cleared, you might want to talk about whether you have any views about which charities you support -some will arrang to clear a house in return for getting to keep / sell the contents, for example) 

If he is likely to want specifc items then you could consider maintaining an up to date inventory with photos which can be used by him and anyone he delagated work to - especially ig you are dealing with thinghs lon distance, it's so much easier if you can say 'here are photos of the 3 pictures, two oranaments and 3 rings I want to keep, eveything else can be sold" than if you are trying to describe them or identify what was meant . (also the case if you are giving any personal legacies).

And elderly relation of mine died and her executors had trouble identiying which was her engagement ring, which she had specifcally left to a named person. She had inherited her own mother's engagement ring and her husband's mother's ring, and there were fairly similar in appearance. Even thing like her insurance records weren't jelpful as they just had descriptions of the rings (e.g. 'gold band set with ruby flanked by diamonds' ) none of them were hugely valuable but it was stressful for the executor who wanted to ensure that the correct people got hat she had wanted them to have. She had been very organised and had excellent records, but the specifc consideration that her executors might not know her engagement ring by sight had not occured to her.

When I made my will recently I did also do a list which has brief descriptions and photos of a few things for this exact reason - in my sacase, I have a few pieces of original art which might have some value, and I have used their titiles for the couple I am leaving to specifc individuals, and those and the others a listed on the separate list , with photos and details such as the name of the artist, when and where it was bought and what I paid, so if they decide it is worth getting themvalued it's easy to do

Fianlly, and particularly given the distance, talk to him ahead of time, it may be very helpful to him if you've had a a conversation where you tell him that you know he doesn't live here and may just get the house cleared and sell everything, i.e you are not expecting him to  keep loads of things for sentimental reasons.  (or if you are, make that clear too!) 

cmayflower

TBagpuss, a lot of good pointers, thank you for taking the time to reply.

Keep_pedalling

I would also add each other as executors which is likely to be useful on the first death.

Brie

Have you also set up powers of attorney for each other?  And who else will you list?  Son could do it long distance but it is much easier if it's someone local.  Maybe a cousin or niece/nephew??  I'm have PoA for my mom overseas but it's a joint responsibility with my siblings where any 2 of us can act which neatly covers all sorts of scenarios.  

cmayflower

Keep_pedalling said:

I would also add each other as executors which is likely to be useful on the first death.

Good point, thank you

cmayflower

Brie said:

Have you also set up powers of attorney for each other?  And who else will you list?  Son could do it long distance but it is much easier if it's someone local.  Maybe a cousin or niece/nephew??  I'm have PoA for my mom overseas but it's a joint responsibility with my siblings where any 2 of us can act which neatly covers all sorts of scenarios.  

Thank you POA is indeed something to consider. 

PennyForThem_2

Australian rules about dealing with all death details are very different from UK ones.  Especially tax.  Not every thing is going to be easy negotiating on net.  If he is executor he really needs to be up-to-date with any tax (inheritance tax; capital gains tax;) that may come up.  

In Australia, on death - no tax! Love it as meant got gross inheritance.  In UK, loads of applicable taxes, so beware!