Executor's bank account

peter999

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Can you do that? I didn't know it was possible ... and it seems fraught by impracticalities. The accounts are frozen on notification of death (assuming not joint), DDs and SOs are deleted by the Bank .... so I don't know how you can simply re-open them in a different name. And you confuse the liquidity / tax position between the estate / Executor by failing to have a clean break on the monetary assets.

Doesn't sound a practical way forward even if it's capable of being achieved?

Not complicated at all, you send in Grant of Probate, they register Executors on the account, who can then operate it. You still have the same original account.

Its standard because the Executors may need to access the account while things are being sorted out over long period, could easily be years if assets are held in trust & not ready to be distributed.

The account should be registered as Exrs or P/reps of xxxxxx, with the name/s of Executors underneath or registered on the account.

I have been operating a number of accounts with 4 Executors for 10 years.

I am not talking about reopening an account that was closed.
I am talking about taking over a still open account that is on hold till the bank receives Grant of Probate.

peter999

jonesMUFCforever

By the time a GoP is granted it is normally some months after death - in the meantime a sole account in the name of the deceased has already been blocked and any standing orders or direct debits cancelled.
Peter999 I have never in 30 years come across what you are suggesting.

peter999

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

By the time a GoP is granted it is normally some months after death - in the meantime a sole account in the name of the deceased has already been blocked and any standing orders or direct debits cancelled.
Peter999 I have never in 30 years come across what you are suggesting.

It's blocked until Grant of Probate.
The accounts are savings accounts with no standing orders/direct debits.

As Executors accounts we rarely access them.

peter999

blackcat18_2

Hi

I'm currently the executor of my late sisters estate and found HSBC really helpful in setting up an executor's account.

I had real problems with the manager of my local Yorkshire Bank (who my sister banked with) even though I had all the official documentation from the Probate Registry, death certificate, proof of my id & address etc. she flatly refused to let me withdraw any funds from my sisters accounts and was really dismissive of me. God only knows how she ended up as a manager with her attitude to customers, especially in such upsetting circumstances. Anyway I decided to go to the main branch of Yorkshire Bank in the town centre and the manager there was most helpful and issued me a cheque for all the funds in her accounts while I waited.

I've had various cheques for monies owed to my sisters estate sent to me, some in my name, some payable to the executor of & also a few in my late sister's name. All of which have been paid into the HSBC executors account with no trouble at all.

I hope this is of help to you.

moon-pig_2

HSBC were initially quite promising, but when they discovered I wasn't the original executor (the Grant of Probate is subsequently in my name) they cooled on the idea.

Barclays looked promising in what their requirements were, but in the end the original bank of the deceased were able to open an account.

In conclusion: Natwest, Nationwide and Halifax all utterly useless, HSBC not much better.

sgriffiths

Hi,
My mum died 1/8/08 and myself and my brother are executors. I have applied for probate but not heard anything from them. Have already received some monies from insurance policies which I have paid into a dormant account of my own, should it lawfuly be an executors account?

All replies /advice welcome.

peter999

sgriffiths wrote: »

Hi,
My mum died 1/8/08 and myself and my brother are executors. I have applied for probate but not heard anything from them. Have already received some monies from insurance policies which I have paid into a dormant account of my own, should it lawfuly be an executors account?

All replies /advice welcome.

Who was the cheque payable to ??

You paid it into your account with agreement of the other Executor ??

peter999

sgriffiths

Hi, yes my brother is also unsure what the best thing to do would be. The money which we have already received was paid direct after I submitted my account details.

Please could you advise me as to the correct course of action. I am at a complete loss and I dont know who to ask.

Thanks

jonesMUFCforever

You need to keep a complete record of any transactions that should be part of the estate.
In theory they should not have paid out to you alone unless you signed a declaration that the funds were due to you or you had the family's permission to deal with the matter.

You would not be able to pay in any cheque made payable to the Executrix of......... into that account.

peter999

sgriffiths wrote: »

Hi, yes my brother is also unsure what the best thing to do would be. The money which we have already received was paid direct after I submitted my account details.

Please could you advise me as to the correct course of action. I am at a complete loss and I dont know who to ask.

Circumstances can vary greatly so I think it's difficult to say whether you need an Executors account or not.

It really depends how you want to do it & how complicated things are.
Depends what's going to happen with your mother's estate ??

What is involved in the Estate, bank accounts, shares, house ??

Are you the beneficiaries, do you & your brother inherit everything ??

Paying money into your own account means possibly only you have access.
This is ok as long as your brother is happy with this & you aren't going to fall out, or another possibility is to add your brother as Joint account holder.

Once probate is granted you can withdraw money from the accounts payable to yourselves individually (split money at source) or pay into an Executors account (split money from Executors account)

There are various suggestions in this thread about opening an Executors account where both of you have access while you are dealing with the Estate before distributing the money.

An Executors account can be used as an interim measure to collect & hold the money before distributing it to the beneficiaries, possibly just you & your brother.

Certainly if there's a reasonable amount of money involved I think you should either have an Executors account or your brother should be Joint account holder on the normal account.

peter999