Can you send a letter that has to be signed by the exact named person?

user1977

Spendless said:

Jowwie said:

How about instead of sending a cheque, you could send a form detailing the amount that is due and asking for bank details. State that account must be solely in the name of the relative. Their signature on the form required to confirm that the amount will be accepted by them as full and final payment in respect of the will. Upon it's return to your mum, she could then make the payment via a bank transfer.

Hmmm maybe this could be partly done but I don't think Mum has any legal right to insist that an account must solely be in beneficiary's name (and due to the estrangement Mum is making sure she carefully crosses and dots all t's and i's in her role).
nor to insist it's done by bank transfer. She could certainly ask for the details though and see if they're provided. I'll talk to her and see if she wishes to go down this route. 

If she sends a cheque to the beneficiary’s address, that is everything dotted and crossed from a legal point of view. Who opens the door to the postie, and how the beneficiary manages any joint accounts they might have, are not matters which an executor is expected to worry about.

BooJewels

I can understand why Mum might want to be sure that the right person gets the funds and maybe a partner doesn't get their hands on it, you can't control what happens in other people's households and how they arrange their finances - it's beyond the remit and responsibility of the executor.  Chances are, as mentioned, that the postie will simply squiggle in a box on their handheld to say they've delivered it and just put it through the letterbox anyway.

I think I'd be inclined to do everything as carefully as possible, then just let it go.  I'd write a cheque made out to the full name of the beneficiary, send it to them by special delivery (more likely to be handed over in person than signed for), check online it's been delivered (keep a screengrab etc) and then check that it's cashed - which will show on the bank statements.  At which time, the executors duty is done - and proven to be done.

elsien

There are no guarantees even if you send it special delivery. I was sent a cheque for 10K as a beneficiary by an estranged relative who sent it a special delivery, presumably for similar reasons to your mother.
Postal worker signed it themselves and left it in the porch. It was before Covid when there was no reason not to follow the correct procedures. There’s only so much that your mum can do to cover all the bases But she can check to see if the cheque is cashed - even if it’s a joint account, then she’s done her bit.

BooJewels

That's true @elsien - but maybe I'm spoiled by a very good postie.  Even during Covid, she'd put the item on the ground, ring the bell, stand back and once she'd seen me, sign her handheld and hold it up to show me.  

But the executor can only do so much and can't control how either the postie, recipient or people cohabiting with them will behave.

Flugelhorn

Spendless said:

Flugelhorn said:

theoretica said:

You might be able to get this done by a process server - who usually serve court papers and the like.  But it would cost much more than Royal Mail.

Suppose it depends on how much the cheque is for as to whether this is worth it - just checked a site - for non-urgent they charge £75-120 for legal documents - might be worth considering 

I suspect Mum will think it not worth it, because that amount would need to come out of Nan's estate and will reduce what the other beneficiary's receive and she'll consider it unfair on them. I will talk her through the options though, so the replies have been very helpful.  

absolutely fair enough - comes down to if the estate was large then it was reasonable to have such things as expenses but if it is going to make a dent in the other's bequests then fair enough. These things are always tricky - my cousin and I had 7 to pay out like this - we could check that the cheques were cashed 2 e-mailed and one sent thanks for our work by another route but we didn't hear from the remaining 4 - presume all was OK

Spendless

Thank you for all the further replies. They've been really helpful. I think what I've taken from this is I need to speak to Mum about her separating her emotional concerns and instead just needs to concentrate on her legal requirement as an Executor.

Mum has reason to believe that estranged relative never saw a letter sent to them before concerning a financial issue. Whether the letter never turned up in the first place or whether it did and the relative never saw it isn't something that's known which is behind her wanting to know if she can be sure relative has received any correspondence.

I will talk to her about the options open to her. 

theoretica

Another option would be to send two checks - an initial one for a small fraction of the money with a receipt and stamped addressed envelope for the receipt to be returned and after that is cashed and acknowledged then send the rest the same way. Maybe an 'interim payment' to all beneficiaries?  Not sure if it has any legal basis (and would she recognise the signature on the receipt?), but it might reassure your mum.