Professional Help For Lay Executors
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Want to make a start on your will?
Making a Will is not about wealth it is about making sure that what you want to happen to your estate does happen. It gives you the opportunity to specify such things as who will administer your estate, who will care for your children and who will receive specific items of your property.
If you name a lay executor in your will, he can always select a solicitor to administer your estate on his behalf.
Most solicitors’ firms have a wills and probate department; and he would be well advised to choose a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
The solicitor will obtain the figures to go in the probate papers, draw up the application and arrange for the executor to sign it.
All correspondence will be dealt with by the solicitor who will forward withdrawal forms, stock transfer forms, etc.
, to the executor. At the end of the administration a set of accounts will be drawn up for the executor’s approval before cheques are sent out to the beneficiaries.
The solicitor’s fees will be deducted from the estate as a testamentary expense. See Making-a-will scheme to help hospice – https://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/dont-leave-your-family-with-a-legacy-of-trouble-make-a-will-8200603
As with the drafting of wills, there are companies who advertise that they specialise in estate administration. Such companies are not solicitors although they may employ solicitors in-house or retain the services of outside firms when necessary. They are not covered by the regulations of The Law Society and there is little redress if something goes wrong.
There have been several instances of such companies going into liquidation with the result that the beneficiaries lost all their money. It is better to avoid such companies.
Other pages of interest – Components Of A Will – What Happens If No Executors Are Appointed? or Components Of A Will – Types Of Gifts
- external sites: Beneficent Law CIC – Home page