Will for Aunt in UK - choice of executor?

sapper · 27-09-2018 10:06PM #1

Hi all

My aunt lives alone over in the UK. She never married and had one sibling (my Mum, who has passed away). She is getting on in age and starting to worry about things - one of them being when she first started work in a UK bank 30/40 years ago she was instructed to write a will and make that bank the executor. Now she is worried about the fees that banks can charge as executors (Im not sure exactly how much - 1%?) and as she worries about money and wasting it now I think she would like to get out of it.

I would like to help her revoke the will, but as myself and my siblings live in Ireland, to be honest I would dread the logistics of being an executor for a will in another country (especially one outside the EU!). Im thinking that having the bank do it would be much handier and perhaps even cheaper than doing it from Ireland. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience of dealing with a UK estate as executor or where the executor was a bank? I think if could explain to my aunt (if it was the case) that using the bank was the smarter option that would put her mind at rest on that front....

4ensic15 · 28-09-2018 07:27AM

The thing to do is to let her revoke the will and that you will act as executor. After she dies you can renounce and get anybody you want to act. I had an uncle in London who died unmarried, without issue. He appointed some company to wind up his estate. Your Aunt will be dead and won't know what you are doing but while she is alive she will have the comfort of knowing her money is not being wasted. A lot of old ones get very worried about money, small amounts seem like a fortune to them.

Peregrinus · 28-09-2018 07:38AM

Don't tell her that you are willing to act as executor if in fact you are not willing, and intend when the time comes to disclaim. That would be a sh!tty thing to do. You should at least give her the opportunity to appoint someone who is willing to act.

It would be a good idea that she should alter her will, or make a new will, which does not appoint the bank as executor. Almost certainly in this day and age the bank is not interested in being executor, and if they do it they will not be especially cheap.

The key question here is, to whom is she intending to leave her estate? The person most motivated to administer her estate is the person who is going to benefit from it. As a rule, you will appoint as executor one of the beneficiaries who is likely to have a bit of cop-on and/or practical business or administrative experience.

If you're one of the beneficiaries, OP, and the one who fits that particular bill then, yeah, it'll be a pain to act as executor for the administration of an estate in another country, but it may be the least painful alternative. You can always appoint an English firm of solicitors to do the donkey work (and pay them out of the estate, and make it clear to your aunt that you intend to do this). There will still be delays as they send documents to you for execution and you send the back etc etc, but it's manageable.

But if, among her intended beneficiaries, there is someone in England who has the necessary common sense and business/administrative experience, then encourage her to appoint that person.

Mr. Incognito · 28-09-2018 08:44AM

A lot of firms offer free wills service if you shop around and a solicitor or a firm can act as executor

sapper · 28-09-2018 06:45PM

Thanks all for the early replies. 4ensic15, yes she is starting to worry now about little things and it would be good to try and alleviate that. I think I'll look into getting it revoked for her if thats what she would like. Me and my siblings would presumably be beneficiaries and myself or one of them could try and make a fist of being executor but with a solicitor to assist - maybe I might ask my aunt for thoughts on which solicitor to use.

The thing that gave me pause is this brochure by her bank which does make it seem like the bank is interested in this business (I did not realise this is something banks did)- and I presume that as a longstanding employee she would get a discount on the standard fee. Also me being one of 4 beneficiaries whatever expense there is is shared amongst us....

https://www.lloydsbank.com/assets/media/pdfs/help_and_guidance/ask_the_experts/Lloyds-bereavement-services-guide.pdf

Anyway hopefully its all a long way off

4ensic15 · 28-09-2018 09:18PM

sapper wrote: »

Anyway hopefully its all a long way off

That's the way it goes. The ones who leave you nothing die young or broke, and the ones who would have something to leave go on forever.

Will for Aunt in UK - choice of executor?

Comments