What happens if all executors renounce? 31 October 2022 at 6:19PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 12 replies 1.1K views

sol_87

Hello,

We are dealing with a family member's will at the moment but all three of the executors want to renounce due to poor health and time constraints. 

There are only two beneficiaries, both children of the deceased, but only one of them is an executor. Does anyone know if it's possible for the son that is not currently an executor, but is a beneficiary, to become an executor if the others renounce? 

The only thing that has been done so far apart from the funeral is that the bank have been told and the account is now frozen, the money has not been touched. So I think that should be ok as far as 'intermeddling' rules go. 

Have tried to google it but there's very little information about if ALL executors renounce. If it was just one, it does seem to be fairly straight forward. 

Thank you.

sol_87

cymruchris said:

Others might have better advice than me - but depending on the value of the estate - I believe the executors could appoint a solicitor to act on their behalf to put everything in order - and all they have to do pretty much at the end of the process is sign on the line and pay the agreed fee. Is there property involved? And will it be sold? Are there debts that you're aware of? 

Thanks for such a quick reply Cymruchis!  We had looked into this but the cost is eye watering so if there's any way at all we can avoid it we'd like to. It's a large estate but we have experienced friends who are willing to help us. No debt, house being left jointly to the two (adult) children. 

sevenhills

A friend of mine has just asked me to be his executor, when the time comes.
I did think that he should have his direct family as executors.
My friend wouldn't want to appoint a solicitor as executor, because of the cost.

sol_87

sevenhills said:

A friend of mine has just asked me to be his executor, when the time comes.
I did think that he should have his direct family as executors.
My friend wouldn't want to appoint a solicitor as executor, because of the cost.

Yes Sevenhills, the cost came as a shock to us! You could buy a house in some parts of the country for the same price!

sevenhills

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/legal-issues/power-of-attorney/what-do-executors-do/#:~:text=Who should I choose to,inherit something from your will.

Keep_pedalling

Yes if all 3 renounce then the the other son can apply. Alternatively one of the executors could appoint him as their attorney to act for them. All renouncing executors need to complete a PA15 form.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/990698/PA15_0421_save.pdf

The_Unready

Can you not convince the child who has been nominated as an executor that it is in their interest to get probate and the will sorted out?

The other (non-executor) child could presumably informally help out with some of the leg-work?

Mojisola

sol_87 said:

It's a large estate but we have experienced friends who are willing to help us. No debt, house being left jointly to the two (adult) children. 

In that case, would one of the executors be willing to apply for probate and let the friends do all the work, just signing off on the relevant documentation?

I employed a solicitor to handle my Dad's estate and that's basically what I did - all the paperwork was prepared and I signed it.  Having a solicitor doing the work meant that I had some protection if he messed things up - if friends do the work, the executor will be ultimately responsible.

sol_87

Keep_pedalling said:

Yes if all 3 renounce then the the other son can apply. Alternatively one of the executors could appoint him as their attorney to act for them. All renouncing executors need to complete a PA15 form.

This is interesting, thank you Keep_pedalling. I had no idea that an executor could do this. It's tricky to search for the correct information when you don't know the lingo. I will explore this, thank you! 

sol_87

Mojisola said:

sol_87 said:

It's a large estate but we have experienced friends who are willing to help us. No debt, house being left jointly to the two (adult) children. 

In that case, would one of the executors be willing to apply for probate and let the friends do all the work, just signing off on the relevant documentation?

I employed a solicitor to handle my Dad's estate and that's basically what I did - all the paperwork was prepared and I signed it.  Having a solicitor doing the work meant that I had some protection if he messed things up - if friends do the work, the executor will be ultimately responsible.

It's tricky as the executor son isn't able to do very basic things, like making a phone call for example, without a phenomenal amount of stress due to other issues that are in play. We're very concerned about the negative effect this is having on his health. The others also have serious health issues so aren't able to help with even applying. We'd really like to be able to just take over entirely for them if possible. 

RAS

Both our executors renounced, and my sibling and I applied for and were grant letters of administration (with will). If all the beneficiaries are happy for the other sibling to apply, that is a possibility.

The other options are that the executor son ask his sibling to undertake the work involved in administering the estate, and the estate reimburses the sibling the normal costs, but the executor son actually applies for probate. Simply signing a form witnessed by a solicitor.

In our case I'd actually put together a file detailing 95% of the financial information need to apply for probate before we'd even found the executors of the very old will. That's actually the hardest part. And apart from one account little else financial was needed to complete the application.