Save Thousands of Pounds by Doing Your Own Will Executor Duties
September 7th, 2010 Filed under: Executor Fees — Estate Planning Author
At some stage of your life, it is highly likely that you will be asked to be an executor of the will of someone you know; probably a close friend or relative.If you accept the role of executor, you will be taking responsibility for the affairs of the person after they have died.You will be named in the person’s will as the “Executor”, and it will be your responsibility to ensure that the deceased person’s affairs are closed and that any assets are disposed of, as detailed in the will.
At some stage of your life, it is highly likely that you will be asked to be an executor of the will of someone you know; probably a close friend or relative. If you accept the role of executor, you will be taking responsibility for the affairs of the person after they have died. You will be named in the person’s will as the “Executor”, and it will be your responsibility to ensure that the deceased person’s affairs are closed and that any assets are disposed of, as detailed in the will.
Most people will accept the role and do not think anything more about the subject. It could be many years before the person dies and you are reminded that you are the “executor”. At this point the majority of people panic and decide to hand over the role of “executor” to the nearest solicitor or bank. It is a very stressful time and the thought of dealing with estate agents, solicitors, banks, the tax man, undertakers, the local authority, pension providers etc is frightening and completely unappealing. It is not surprising that when a friendly solicitor or banker offers to take all the worries and paperwork away from you, that the majority of people are only to happy to sign on the dotted line.
However, there is no legal need for you to hand over these duties, and such action could end up costing a large amount of money, that could have been shared among the beneficiaries of the will. A solicitor or bank will charge a fee for carrying out the work, which varies between 1% and 4% of the total value of the “estate” of the deceased person. The “estate” is the term for all the assets of the deceased person, such as house, savings, furniture, car etc. When you consider the value of houses in Britain today, it is not uncommon for estates to be worth £500,000 or more. Using this example and the 4% fee charged by some banks, it is not unusual to be charged £20,000 or more for carrying out the duties of executor.
The £20,000 fee in the example would be on top of all the other deductions, such as tax, funeral directors fees, estate agent fees, solicitors fees to name but a few. It is very tempting to just hand the job to someone else; however it is worth considering the possibility of carrying out the duties yourself. In most cases the duties are mainly filling in forms and writing letters. Do you really want to pay someone such a large amount of money for carrying out administrative duties you are capable of doing yourself? The money saved is then allocated to the beneficiaries of the will. As executor you are also able to deduct your own expenses before the estate is divided between the beneficiaries.
Paul Bridge
Next, find out how simple it is to avoid paying thousands of pounds to greedy banks for carrying out administrative duties any average person could manage. Go to:
DIY Executor.co.uk
