Wills and executors

[The Flying Ox]

Just a quick one. My wife's mum recently passed away, and as she had very little debt to discharge there is a reasonable (although by no means large) sum of money left in the estate. The only will we're aware of is from 25-ish years ago and names her husband as executor and sole beneficiary of her estate. They were divorced about 8 years ago but seemingly the will was not updated. Father-in-law doesn't want anything from the estate and is more than happy for the money to be split equally between my wife and her brother, but on the flip side he doesn't really want any involvement with the executor-side of things. My wife is therefore trying to have herself named as executor, but the solicitors are saying this is going to cost upwards of £700. I can understand there might be a lot of legal wrangling and letter writing when a will is disputed, but £700-odd seems a bit steep given that this particular case is as amicable as can be. Is there another way around this, should she suck up the cost, or just try to talk her dad round to act as executor?

Cheers for any advice.

[psi310398]

The Flying Ox said:

Just a quick one. My wife's mum recently passed away, and as she had very little debt to discharge there is a reasonable (although by no means large) sum of money left in the estate. The only will we're aware of is from 25-ish years ago and names her husband as executor and sole beneficiary of her estate. They were divorced about 8 years ago but seemingly the will was not updated. Father-in-law doesn't want anything from the estate and is more than happy for the money to be split equally between my wife and her brother, but on the flip side he doesn't really want any involvement with the executor-side of things. My wife is therefore trying to have herself named as executor, but the solicitors are saying this is going to cost upwards of £700. I can understand there might be a lot of legal wrangling and letter writing when a will is disputed, but £700-odd seems a bit steep given that this particular case is as amicable as can be. Is there another way around this, should she suck up the cost, or just try to talk her dad round to act as executor?

Cheers for any advice.

From what I recall, there would be nothing stopping her dad appointing her to assist him in executing...neat, elegant and cheap.

But have I remembered correctly that existing wills become null and void on both marriage and divorce, or is it just marriage?

HTH

Peter

[psi310398]

psi310398 said:

From what I recall, there would be nothing stopping her dad appointing her to assist him in executing...neat, elegant and cheap.

But have I remembered correctly that existing wills become null and void on both marriage and divorce, or is it just marriage?

HTH

Peter

As you were, just looked it up - http://www.makingawill.org.uk/text-changing-a-will...

Marriage/Civil Partnership

When you marry, any Will that you may have made previously is automatically revoked. The only exception to this is if your Will states that a marriage is about to take place and contains explicit instructions that you intend for the Will to remain valid after marriage.

Since the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act in December 2004, members of a Civil Partnership are treated in the same way as married couples. When a civil partnership is registered, any Will that either partner has previously made will be automatically revoked.

In Scotland, this law does not apply, and therefore getting married does not automatically mean that your existing Will is revoked.

Divorce

If you get divorced or your civil partnership is dissolved, your Will does not become invalid, but many of its provisions would no longer be effective if you pass away before making a new Will. For example, any gift that you had bequeathed in your Will to your former spouse or civil partner would take effect as if they had died on the date your divorce was completed. This usually means the gift falls back into the estate residue for the benefit of the residuary beneficiaries. If your Will states that everything passes to your spouse, then it would be as if you died intestate (leaving no valid Will).

In addition, if in your Will you had appointed your spouse as an executor or trustee, after divorce they would be barred from acting as an executor or trustee after your death. (This law does not apply in Scotland.)

[The Flying Ox]

Thanks so far. I think the applicable bit is "this law does not apply in Scotland", unfortunately.

[AndrewCrown]

TFO

Try the citizens advice bureau for another opinion... or perhaps another lawyer.

A

[aw51 121565]

The Flying Ox said:

... there is a reasonable (although by no means large) sum of money left in the estate. ...

Is the estate large enough to need Grant of Probate before the estate can be distributed? Or (if the original will is now invalid) Grant of Administration?

I'd suggest some research in this area (on gov.uk at the very least) before going any further (it includes some info on the effects of divorce, for example, both on the application forms and the supporting paperwork) .

[TVRnutcase]

The Flying Ox said:

Just a quick one., but the solicitors are saying this is going to cost upwards of £700. I can understand there might be a lot of legal wrangling and letter writing when a will is disputed, but £700-odd seems a bit steep given that this particular case is as amicable as can be. Is there another way around this, should she suck up the cost, or just try to talk her dad round to act as executor?

Cheers for any advice.

To open the file, review the will, draft note and prepare a couple of letters, proof them, send them and document all - 700 would seem reasonable. So little can be done for less than a 1,000 these days.

Unfortunately in this area, all parties need to tread carefully, nothing like death and money to get the fireworks going. ALso what seems so simple to us, seems to seldom be once a solicitor is involved.

[Rude-boy]

TVRnutcase said:

The Flying Ox said:

Just a quick one., but the solicitors are saying this is going to cost upwards of £700. I can understand there might be a lot of legal wrangling and letter writing when a will is disputed, but £700-odd seems a bit steep given that this particular case is as amicable as can be. Is there another way around this, should she suck up the cost, or just try to talk her dad round to act as executor?

Cheers for any advice.

To open the file, review the will, draft note and prepare a couple of letters, proof them, send them and document all - 700 would seem reasonable. So little can be done for less than a 1,000 these days.

Unfortunately in this area, all parties need to tread carefully, nothing like death and money to get the fireworks going. ALso what seems so simple to us, seems to seldom be once a solicitor is involved.

Not forgetting the liability and knowing the right answer to the OP's situation and how to achieve it, liaising with parties and meeting, etc.

You're not just paying £700+vat for a simple document, you are paying £700+vat for a legal document that will enable the parties to do what they need and want to do and to know which document is the right one and what advice is correct.

But then these days everyone thinks legal advice shout be free or peanuts. One of the reasons we are now looking at removing ourselves from dealing with litigation other than on a few specific areas. No one wants to pay legal professionals properly, they just want immediate advice for less than the cost of a good meal for 4 and to sue your arse off if it's wrong

[The Flying Ox]

aw51 121565 said:

Is the estate large enough to need Grant of Probate before the estate can be distributed?

Not Grant of Probate, but the Scottish equivalent - Confirmation - is required.

I've done a bit more digging around - thanks for the suggestions, which have put me on the right track - and it seems that this can all be sorted for a nominal fee at the court. I wasn't after "free legal advice", nor to sue anyone. Just wondered if it really costs £700 to sort a will out. Turns out it doesn't, as long as you are willing to do the paperwork yourself.

Cheers all.