Duties of an Executor
The duties of an executor include administering all the affairs of your estate when you die. If the will does not appoint an executor or if the Executor or Executors who are appointed are dead then your next of Kin will usually be appointed by the intestacy rules. They are then called Administrators but their duties are almost identical.
Executors and administrators are both personal representatives but whilst executors have the power to deal with the affairs of the deceased from the moment of death administrators must wait for the Registry to grant them Letters of Administration before they are able to take action. This may cause delays to the Funeral arrangements and to the administration of the estate.
Once the administration of the estate has been completed by releasing the assets, paying the taxes and debts and distributing the estate the executor’s job is finished.
Duties of an executor
Duties of an executor are not just formalities. There is a great deal of work involved. They are responsible for;
- Collecting in all the assets of the estate.
- Dealing with the paperwork and calculations.
- Paying all the debts, liabilities and taxes and various expenses such as Funeral costs and administration costs.
- Distributing all the property that remains in the estate in accordance with the terms of the will. This will include; paying the legacies, transferring particular items of property to the beneficiaries, paying out the residue of the estate to one or more specified beneficiaries or holding the property in Trust on the terms specified in the Testators will.
If an executor misinterprets the will or a specific tax law then they can become personally liable for someone else’s lost.
Duties of an Executor, who to appoint?
You should try to find someone who you know would be willing to act and is capable of doing so. The most common choice is for a Husband to appoint his Wife to be his executor and vice versa especially if they do not have grown up children.
It is sensible to appoint at least one other executor in case a recently bereaved partner does not feel up to the job. The most common choice would be adult children, trusted family friends or beneficiaries of the will who will want to ensure that the estate is administered quickly and efficiently. The maximum number of executors allowed is four, but you can appoint reserves who will act if the named executors are not willing or able to do so.
Professional Executors
If no suitable friends or family are available to act as executors then you may need to appoint a professional. However before doing so you should get an indication of the charges that are likely to be made for administrating the estate. Charges can vary enormously. Banks will typically charge around 4% of the value of the estate. Solicitors will typically charge around 2% of the value of the estate. For this reason it is always better to appoint individuals to be your executors if possible. If they do not wish to undertake the work themselves then they will be at liberty to choose a solicitor or other probate professional to assist them with the task when the time comes.
Asking Executors to Renounce
Under current legislation an executor cannot be forced to renounce or retire unless they are guilty of misconduct. It can be therefore difficult but not impossible to persuade a Bank or a Solicitor to relinquish their executorship even if one or more members of the family are joint executors with the Bank or Solicitor and could act quite satisfactory without them.
