No executor capable of sorting out house etc

I have both executed wills and handed it all over to a solicitor. Simple wills with few assets are simple to do yourself. Once property, investments and multiple legacies are concerned, especially where charities are concerned, it is best to use a solicitor.

I have seen charitable legacies be very bruising, so, although I have left money to charity in my will, I have not specified which ones, leaving it to the discretion of my executors, who will know which charities I am supporting at the time of my death.

My condolences Deeda. The solicitor sounds communicative and organised. Your godmother chose well.?

My godmother died earlier this year and I was contacted by her solicitor. She was 100 with only me and three relatives left. her solicitor is her executor and has been sorting out the sale of her flat, the settling of her care home fees and the funeral costs. He's just waiting now for a final figure for the headstone before he can start disbursing the money.

Interesting discussion - it's a topic we tend to avoid.
Apart from being complicated for someone without training it can also end up with disagreements.
I was executor for my parents' wills but luckily my Dad's will was diacussed first with the family and no-one seemed to feel hard doneby.

Yes MOnica that’s my understanding so unless they have other relations or good friends who they are leaving money to and who are likely to be mentally capable of acting as executors (with the help of a solicitor perhaps) I think the only option is to appoint a solicitor.
greenlady the office might have closed and the partners might have gone their separate ways (even c/o HM, it happens) but the business would have been taken over and if they had all become insolvent or gone to prison the Law Society would have appointed another firm to take over the business and that firm would have succeeded to the executorship if the will was correctly drafted. A firm in which I was a partner was appointed to deal with the business of a sole practitioner who had been sent down for fraud. I hope you have understood my point about correct drafting so that the executors are the partners of X firm or any successor to its business.

GSM as I understand, unless the OP corrects me, she and her brother are childless and have no other relations able to fill the role.

Yes MOnica, I count my blessings! Without knowing anything of the likely value of FindingNemo’s estate it’s impossible to know whether a percentage could reasonably be agreed. What troubles me is her comment that there is no executor. Is that because there is no will or because the named executor has died/become incapable/become estranged? Whatever the reason it’s a situation that needs fixing.

The OP mentions a house being among the assets of the estate. so unless she lives in a 2 up/2 down in an area of extreme deprivation somewhere in the north-east (sadly), that should be sufficient to trigger a % quote.

We were in Morecambe recently, a beautiful place with a lovely seafront and spectacular views, but the poverty and deprivation of the town made me want to weep.

Yes MOnica a percentage of the estate is often agreed but if the estate is small the percentage can look horrendous. Usually done on a reasonable sized estate where a percentage that will cover the likely work looks more acceptable.

If you have a will you have to have an executor FN. A solicitor won’t be able to give you a precise figure for administering an estate as it depends on how much work is involved. Sometimes there’s not a lot, sometimes it’s more complicated. He would have to keep a record of time spent, I assure you an hourly rate (and what he quotes is low) is not a licence to print money.

When we have employed a solicitor to undertake the legal work on an estate, it has usually been quotes as a % of the estate.

We do not have anyone to act as executor. Last week I asked how much it would cost if the solicitor did it and was quoted £185 + VAT per hour, but who keeps tabs on how long or little amount of time he spends doing that.

It is very vague and something else to worry about.

Katie59 This is the problem, the OP doesn't have any friends or family in a position to act for them.

The business would have been sold on greenlady. They always are. They are worth money. A correctly drafted will would cover that eventuality.

Germanshepherdsmum

greenlady that is exactly why the correct procedure, as I explained, is for the will to appoint all the partners for the time being (i.e. at date of your death) of XYZ firm (or of any firm succeeding to the business of XYZ firm) to be the executors and that is what a good solicitor will do. As always pick your solicitor with care.

In my friend's case the whole company had closed so its not foolproof!

“If the whole estate is left to a charity then they can also be named as executors.”

That’s an interesting option might suit quite a few.

Be careful appointing any professional as executor, the fees can be very high if they do all the work. Better to appoint family or friends as executor, they can ask a professional to help if needed. As executor you can charge expenses

greenlady that is exactly why the correct procedure, as I explained, is for the will to appoint all the partners for the time being (i.e. at date of your death) of XYZ firm (or of any firm succeeding to the business of XYZ firm) to be the executors and that is what a good solicitor will do. As always pick your solicitor with care.

BE CAREFUL about appointing a solicitor (or company of solicitors, as an executor. My own solicitor, who wrote my and my late husband's wills told me this and since that I have had experience of a friend having a great deal of trouble because of it. If the solicitor retires or dies or the firm closes for any reason, tracking down the solicitor and getting them to act or to renounce the executorship is very hard indeed and adds extra complications to the will. Her mother had named a solicitor who had since retired and my friend had no end of trouble tracking him down to get him to renounce the executorship. He was entitled to charge a fee to do it (but he didn't) and that fee can be pretty much as much as they like. I understand if the solicitor has died, there will be processes and fees to "release" the will from their executorship, but none of it cheap or easy. Anything that needs to be done can be organised to be done by solicitors, house clearance and so on at the time on a price per job basis. If there are beneficiaries, the easiest thing is to name one or more of them as executors. If there is no will then the local council will try briefly to identify an heir and if they can't find one will clear the house and do the essentials. After that the estate goes on the bona vacantia list (Heir Hunters) If the whole estate is left to a charity then they can also be named as executors.

I agree with MOnica, as usual! You really should make wills appointing the solicitor as your executor. The usual way this is done is to appoint all the partners in the firm to be executors so if the solicitor who does your will retires another can take his place and the others stand down. As a partner in a law firm I have stood down many times whilst another partner acted as executor. Your solicitor will advise on all this. Obviously don’t use a sole practitioner (one man band) for this reason. The solicitor will advise on all this. He will also as executor arrange for house clearance and distribution of whatever legacies you decide to leave. He can reassure you on the ‘what if so and so dies first’ issues. The council will only clear a private property in exceptional circumstances by the way.
At the same time do put in place powers of attorney to enable everyone’s affairs to be dealt with if they become mentally incapable. This will ease your mind and will be money well spent. Getting this done stops so much worry.

It really is advisable to have a solicitor involved in making the will Katie in which case I would think they, or the firm they work for, will step in.

These things are so important, it makes me angry that the information is so difficult to find and then when you do, not the easiest to make sense of.

Great link M0nica.

I have been an executor 3 times - all 3 experiences were awful…
I wasn’t asked on two of the occasions, but it was in the will, so I felt obliged to carry out the duties.
As MOnica says, best thing is to appoint a solicitor, and declutter as much as possible while you can. These 2 things might alleviate your worries quite a bit. Good luck x

What happens when no executor is available and no solicitor involved, who decides what needs doing.

truman, there's no point in wasting energy worrying about 'maybe' future scenarios. The best you can do is explore the options, put something sensible in place, such as M0nica's suggestion - then forget about it.

I'm sure that, once we're old and frail, at 90 - we're certainly no longer expected to be executor or sort out a house!

My aunt was in this position, she arranged it all herself, bit by bit threw out all the rubbish, sold anything she didn’t need, left a few things to family members.
When she died her niece had very little to do, even the funeral had been planned in detail and paid for in advance

They really should publicise all that they offer.
I went down a rabbit hole of links to click on.

I'll have to set aside some time and look through them all properly.

I think they have far more info than the citizens advice bureau website.