For those of you that are sports fans, you will know the importance of getting in the “right man” when appointing the teams manager. Especially in the world of football, it can sometimes fell like an almost farcical merry go round of managers, as clubs constantly look to bring in the person they believe will get the best out of the team and lead them to success.

As a Liverpool fan, I have seen my fair share of ‘bad’ managers over the years and it felt a constant cycle of pain and mediocrity until we finally appointed Jurgen Klopp. The man to bring success back to Anfield could do no wrong in most fans eyes, although it will be interesting to see if this continues if our current run of bad form continues.

Southampton realised after 3 months that their most recent manager was not the right man for them and many Chelsea fans would argue that the writing is already on the wall for their current manager and that he was never the right man for the job.

We might not run a football club, but when it comes to preparing a Will, appointing the right person or persons to manage our estate can be just as important decision as who gets the estate.

The role of an executor is someone appointed, by your Will, to administer your estate and they are the person entitled to apply for the Grant of Probate. The duties of an executor start from the date of your death and they can include, but are not limited to:-

  • The disposal of your body (arranging the funeral).
  • Determining the value of estate assets and liabilities and, if necessary, arranging the appropriate insurances to protect them.
  • Investigating any gifts made by you within the last 7 years.
  • Establishing what, if any, Inheritance Tax is payable, report to HMRC and then arrange this to be paid.
  • Submitting all relevant documents to the Probate Office in order to extract the Grant of Probate.
  • Upon receiving this, they will then need to gather in all the assets, settle all debts and expenses and, once satisfied nothing is outstanding,
  • Preparing administration accounts and arrange the distribution of the assets in accordance with the terms of the Will.

If the administration panned out like this, that would be a best case scenario and many estates can have unforeseen complications that the executor will need to deal with in the course of the estate administration.

When appointing an executor, it is important you consider who they are and, like a football manager, are they the right person for the job. For example, do you trust them to comply with their duties? Do they get on with the beneficiaries named in the Will? If more than one, do they get on with each other?

If you do not chose the right executor, you could leave your estate open to a possible dispute, for example the beneficiaries or the executors could disagree with each other with the manner the estate is being managed or should be distributed.

Unlike a football team, your beneficiaries cannot just sack the executor and applications for their removal and further appointment may need to be made to Court. Such disputes can prove costly to both the estate and those making the application.

Aaron Pottle will look at what to do in the event of a dispute with executors next week, but by considering this when preparing your Will, you could ultimately avoid a dispute before it even happens by ensuring proper consideration is given to who your executors are.

 

Our new Problem Probate Drop In Clinic runs from Thursday 19 January 2023. Over the next 8 weeks Aaron Pottle and Gregory John will be offering free no obligation 15 minute consultations in our Braintree office on a Thursday morning between 10am and 1pm whilst also offering online Q&A’s, so keep an eye on our socials as well.