Where There's a Will....

[RobboM]

Has anyone here actually done the executor role themselves or always got a solicitor?

I'm the executor for a will. The terms of the will are simple. The assets are a single bank account (more than £36k which is the amount described as a "small estate")  and there are no debts once funeral expenses and the balance of any utility bills are sorted. 

Worth saving £1-2k for a DIY job the equivalent of changing a washer on a tap rather than getting a plumber in? What can possibly go wrong? 😁

[Victorian]

A family member once acted as executor on an intestate estate of a sibling with no heirs,  other than the siblings.  The executor,  one other living sibling,  one deceased sibling's 5 children,  located throughout the world .  That was quite a task.  An estate with a will should be much more straightforward.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Victorian

[periodictabledancer]

39 minutes ago, RobboM said:

Has anyone here actually done the executor role themselves or always got a solicitor?

I'm the executor for a will. The terms of the will are simple. The assets are a single bank account (more than £36k which is the amount described as a "small estate")  and there are no debts once funeral expenses and the balance of any utility bills are sorted. 

Worth saving £1-2k for a DIY job the equivalent of changing a washer on a tap rather than getting a plumber in? What can possibly go wrong? 😁

I've done it. The hard part is making the initial application and getting the legalese right. I literally copied one that was approved and it was rejected with numerous mistakes although the guys at the City Chambers were quite helpful in pointing out what was wrong and some advice on how to change it. It's not difficult but it can be frustrating.  If you are sole executor and it is a small estate it's MUCH easier. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by periodictabledancer

[henrysmithsgloves]

Think the monies have to stay for a certain period of time, incase of a claim against the estate,

[ericthepen]

I have the Last Will and Testament Lawpack from the Post Office, but haven't filled it in yet. has anybody else used this ?

 

[RobboM]

1 hour ago, henrysmithsgloves said:

Think the monies have to stay for a certain period of time, incase of a claim against the estate,

Aye I read 6 months. I've had power of attorney and been managing all their finances for a few years so there shouldn't be any surprises but no hurry from my part too. Thanks

[davemclaren]

I've done three Confirmations before.  As mentioned above the hardest bit is getting the antiquated legalese correct.  

[henrysmithsgloves]

1 hour ago, RobboM said:

Aye I read 6 months. I've had power of attorney and been managing all their finances for a few years so there shouldn't be any surprises but no hurry from my part too. Thanks

Sorry for your loss,hope everything goes smoothly 

[KW64]

My circumstances were almost identical to yours when I sorted out my mums estate a couple of years ago - Will in place, named executor, single bank account, estate >£36k. I used My Probate Partner (Edinburgh based) who I would probably describe as a half-way house between DIY and handing it to a solicitor. Still not cheap but saved me a lot of stress and my submission was accepted at the first time of asking (after checking by MPP). If you go down that route there are sheriff court commissary fees to be paid in addition to the MPP fee - https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rules-and-practice/fees/sheriff-court-fees  - zero if the value of the estate is less than £50k, £276 for estates of £50k to £250k.

[RobboM]

27 minutes ago, KW64 said:

My circumstances were almost identical to yours when I sorted out my mums estate a couple of years ago - Will in place, named executor, single bank account, estate >£36k. I used My Probate Partner (Edinburgh based) who I would probably describe as a half-way house between DIY and handing it to a solicitor. Still not cheap but saved me a lot of stress and my submission was accepted at the first time of asking (after checking by MPP). If you go down that route there are sheriff court commissary fees to be paid in addition to the MPP fee - https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rules-and-practice/fees/sheriff-court-fees  - zero if the value of the estate is less than £50k, £276 for estates of £50k to £250k.

Thanks, that's helpful

I've had a couple of days of death certificate, undertakers, speak to Minister at the church, got state pension, NHS pension, BT pension, Council tax, bank account, social services team and a wee funeral insurance scheme all sorted.

I'm ready for a cup of tea and Derby day tomorrow! 🙂

[periodictabledancer]

2 hours ago, RobboM said:

Thanks, that's helpful

I've had a couple of days of death certificate, undertakers, speak to Minister at the church, got state pension, NHS pension, BT pension, Council tax, bank account, social services team and a wee funeral insurance scheme all sorted.

I'm ready for a cup of tea and Derby day tomorrow! 🙂

I've still got my reply from City Chambers with errors pointed out and advice to fix it. If it helps I'll email it -  after the weekend.  Enjoy the game. 

[redjambo]

Have any other JKBers had to act as executor for a parent's will, or adviser for their executor parent, and gone through the confirmation process, whether as a small or large estate? More specifically in the simple case when one parent has died and has willed everything to the other parent?

 

If so, please PM me or let me know of your experiences. Due to the apparent simplicity of my specific case, I would like to go through the process myself rather than pass it to a lawyer if I can.

 

Any advice will be treated as informal (you are not a lawyer etc.).

[Korky]

Just now, redjambo said:

Have any other JKBers had to act as executor for a parent's will, or adviser for their executor parent, and gone through the confirmation process, whether as a small or large estate? More specifically in the simple case when one parent has died and has willed everything to the other parent?

 

If so, please PM me or let me know of your experiences. Due to the apparent simplicity of my specific case, I would like to go through the process myself rather than pass it to a lawyer if I can.

 

Any advice will be treated as informal (you are not a lawyer etc.).

If the value of the estate is more than £36000 (or thereabouts) you need court confirmation.

[redjambo]

3 minutes ago, Korky said:

If the value of the estate is more than £36000 (or thereabouts) you need court confirmation.

 

Thanks Korky.

 

Does that include property jointly owned by the deceased and willed in full to the surviving spouse?

 

Also, I thought that small estates (i.e. those with the £36,000 limit) still required confirmation but that the Sheriff Court would assist you with the process for free.

Edited September 3, 2023 by redjambo

[Korky]

46 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

Thanks Korky.

 

Does that include property jointly owned by the deceased and willed in full to the surviving spouse?

 

Also, I thought that small estates (i.e. those with the £36,000 limit) still required confirmation but that the Sheriff Court would assist you with the process for free.

Sorry mate, not sure about the property. You may be right that it’s excluded.

Also don’t know about the latter question. I currently have an estate in the hands of a solicitor because the cash savings element exceeds the limit by a distance.

 

[redjambo]

33 minutes ago, Korky said:

Sorry mate, not sure about the property. You may be right that it’s excluded.

Also don’t know about the latter question. I currently have an estate in the hands of a solicitor because the cash savings element exceeds the limit by a distance.

 

 

Cheers, Korky. It's all doing my head in a bit, to be honest, so I'm just trying to get a bit of clarity. Many thanks for responding to my plea/request.

[RobboM]

Hi red

I went through the same very recently and posted this thread
 

In the end I did it myself. I was in a good position to do so. I'd been managing my Mum's finances for a while and had power of attorney so I was well on top of what accounts and what bills were likely. Also, there was no property involved in the estate so although it was a "large" estate in terms of over the £36k it didn't feel complicated.

I had a wee bit of help in the legalese for stating who you are, (executor nominative blah) and also the wording to write on the original will to docket it as the will referred to in the Confirmation paperwork.

I'd been warned that Sheriff Court staff were a bit difficult with amateurs but didn't find that at all. I delivered all the paperwork, got a call in the afternoon to pay the fees and got the Confirmation in the post within about 10 days of that. From then on you use that confirmation paperwork as authorisation when dealing with gathering the estate together before distributing it as per the will.

Happy to answer any other questions either here or PM

 

[redjambo]

3 minutes ago, RobboM said:

Hi red

I went through the same very recently and posted this thread
 

In the end I did it myself. I was in a good position to do so. I'd been managing my Mum's finances for a while and had power of attorney so I was well on top of what accounts and what bills were likely. Also, there was no property involved in the estate so although it was a "large" estate in terms of over the £36k it didn't feel complicated.

I had a wee bit of help in the legalese for stating who you are, (executor nominative blah) and also the wording to write on the original will to docket it as the will referred to in the Confirmation paperwork.

I'd been warned that Sheriff Court staff were a bit difficult with amateurs but didn't find that at all. I delivered all the paperwork, got a call in the afternoon to pay the fees and got the Confirmation in the post within about 10 days of that. From then on you use that confirmation paperwork as authorisation when dealing with gathering the estate together before distributing it as per the will.

Happy to answer any other questions either here or PM

 

 

That's excellent, Robbo. Thanks. I'll have a look at that thread and ask the mods to merge them. With what I've learned in my legal crash course, there's a possibility that my Dad's' estate might not actually need Confirmation due to a title deed survivorship destination clause (I need to check that one tomorrow) and all the assets being jointly held. There's also the possibility that it will qualify as a small estate. However, the world has taught me that what appears simple often doesn't end up that way.

 

Glad to hear that the Sheriff Court staff were helpful. I had read that they can be quite fussy with the details of the C1 form. Also good to see you mention "executor nominative" - I had seen the term but didn't know they would be that particular. As compared to "executor dative", I imagine.

 

Regarding the writing on the will, how did you do that? (do you have a link to somewhere explaining it)? If I do need to apply for Confirmation then I'll probably have to do similar.

 

 

[RobboM]

4 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

That's excellent, Robbo. Thanks. I'll have a look at that thread and ask the mods to merge them. With what I've learned in my legal crash course, there's a possibility that my Dad's' estate might not actually need Confirmation due to a title deed survivorship destination clause (I need to check that one tomorrow) and all the assets being jointly held. There's also the possibility that it will qualify as a small estate. However, the world has taught me that what appears simple often doesn't end up that way.

 

Glad to hear that the Sheriff Court staff were helpful. I had read that they can be quite fussy with the details of the C1 form. Also good to see you mention "executor nominative" - I had seen the term but didn't know they would be that particular. As compared to "executor dative", I imagine.

 

Regarding the writing on the will, how did you do that? (do you have a link to somewhere explaining it)? If I do need to apply for Confirmation then I'll probably have to do similar.

 

 

In the C1 form there is part of the form headed "Declaration By"
Item 2 starts
2 That I Am
 

The executor-nominate and son of the said deceased conform to her will dated Second day of March Two Thousand and Seventeen herewith exhibited and docqueted and signed by me as relative hereto.

So executor nominate, ie executor named in the will, your date will differ of course as may your relationship to the deceased but anyway that worked for me

On the will (I mean the original and signed will and not on the cover page, actually on the will in the margin somewhere), you write
[Place and Date of signing of the Inventory] Referred to in my declaration of this date to the inventory of the estate of the deceased [name]. [Signed by executor]

 

Does that all make sense? I left all dates and signing until I was ready to go to the Sheriff Court so that everything matched, used my full name throughout exactly as it appeared in the Will.

My son's partner is a paralegal and checked the wording with her lecturer from the Probate topic

[redjambo]

3 minutes ago, RobboM said:

In the C1 form there is part of the form headed "Declaration By"
Item 2 starts
2 That I Am
 

The executor-nominate and son of the said deceased conform to her will dated Second day of March Two Thousand and Seventeen herewith exhibited and docqueted and signed by me as relative hereto.

So executor nominate, ie executor named in the will, your date will differ of course as may your relationship to the deceased but anyway that worked for me

On the will (I mean the original and signed will and not on the cover page, actually on the will in the margin somewhere), you write
[Place and Date of signing of the Inventory] Referred to in my declaration of this date to the inventory of the estate of the deceased [name]. [Signed by executor]

 

Does that all make sense? I left all dates and signing until I was ready to go to the Sheriff Court so that everything matched, used my full name throughout exactly as it appeared in the Will.

My son's partner is a paralegal and checked the wording with her lecturer from the Probate topic

 

Yes, that does make sense. Cheers for explaining. For some reason, I would probably find it difficult actually writing onto a will (fearful that I might get it wrong and invalidate the will, I imagine ). But if it gets the job done.

[redjambo]

Follow-up question, if I may. Does anyone have experience of discharging their legal rights to an estate in Scotland as a child of the deceased? It would be good to know if this can be done pro-forma without having to go through a solicitor.

[Burghlass]

@redjambo This doesn't need to be done through a solicitor, but the executor should keep a copy of it safely, just in case they are challenged in the future. A child has up to 20 years to either claim or discharge their legal rights!

[redjambo]

1 hour ago, Burghlass said:

@redjambo This doesn't need to be done through a solicitor, but the executor should keep a copy of it safely, just in case they are challenged in the future. A child has up to 20 years to either claim or discharge their legal rights!

 

Great news. I'll see if I can pick up some form of standard wording somewhere. Cheers, Burghlass.

 

Edit: I think this should do the trick.

 

From

https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/rules-and-guidance/rules-and-guidance/section-e/division-d/guidance/executry-and-trust-accounting/

 

I [NAME] residing at [ADDRESS] hereby confirm that I have been advised of my entitlement to claim legal rights from the Estate of the late [NAME] who resided latterly at [ADDRESS] and who died on [DATE]; I further confirm that I have been informed of the estimated amount of said entitlement; I further confirm that I have been advised to take separate and independent legal advice in respect of my said entitlement but I have chosen not to do so THEREFORE I do hereby DISCHARGE, now and in all time coming, my entitlement to claim legal rights from the Estate of the late [NAME]; And I confirm that these presents are freely granted by me and are irrevocable.

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by redjambo

[Mikey1874]

23 hours ago, redjambo said:

 

Thanks Korky.

 

Does that include property jointly owned by the deceased and willed in full to the surviving spouse?

 

Also, I thought that small estates (i.e. those with the £36,000 limit) still required confirmation but that the Sheriff Court would assist you with the process for free.

 

Maybe there is some paperwork.

 

But you can leave everything to a spouse. No tax due.