Agree, and I will instruct them to get 5 quotes before proceeding with the probate work.As regards your will. You should inform your executors that there is no need for them to use the solicitor who holds the will to do the probate as it would be impossible for dead you to inform them of the deal you had done with your solicitor.
@elcato Yes of course it could be more complicated and the job not as straight forward - but maybe the quote should not start with the worst possible case and maybe treat difficulties as they arisen your opinion. As with everything there can be complications or the job is not that straightforward. As always, people can choose to do it themselves but I am more than prepared to pay to make sure the job is done correctly by a professional.
What kind of things do you have the letter of wishes if you don't mind my asking.Agree, and I will instruct them to get 5 quotes before proceeding with the probate work.
As regard informing them - I have supplied a letter of wishes to the executors, and I can of course update that to show the details etc. But yes, you are right - probably need to just instruct them to get 5 different quotes rather than trying to sort it out before I die. Ah the joys
I'm not disagreeing with you but my comment was based on people using terms in this thread such as 'what should be a very simple job' and 'total ripoff' and 'taking advantage of'. Solicitors have souls too you know !Yes of course it could be more complicated and the job not as straight forward - but maybe the quote should not start with the worst possible case and maybe treat difficulties as they arise
I think you mean to say some solicitors have soulsSolicitors have souls too you know !
Hi Bronte,What kind of things do you have the letter of wishes if you don't mind my asking.
Absolutely not - the nominated guardians are trusted with regards to the children, not the executorsyou trust your executors with regards to your children
As I said in the above note, the detail is more about providing information for them to make their jobs easier. The only real request is around the family home and what to do with that.You can't control your affairs from beyond the grave.
I seriously doubt anyone will go looking for a will prior to the funeral arrangements being made. I would hope most would wait a few days anyway, especially if both my wife and I were to pass away together !Far better to write down your feelings on funeral services,
To be honest, as far as the letter of wishes go, you trust your executors with regards to your children, so you might as well trust them on financial decisions.
You can't control your affairs from beyond the grave.
Thanks GNF.Hi Bronte,
As the estate will be put into trust for my two children in the event both my wife and I pass away, the letter of wishes is to provide some guidance to the executors. We also have done another one for the nominated trustees. We know neither are mandatory to follow the details of the letters, but its more to give guidance to both on what our wishes would be. I plan to update them every 5 years (its just handing them to the solicitor and asking for the other one back!!)
There are four main elements to the executor one:
- Instructions on what I would like to do with the family home - i.e. sell it or rent it out for future use by the girls.
- My accountants details to support the closure/sale of the company, as well as historical tax items to consider
- The request to get 3 quotes on any costs to be incurred by the estate greater than 1k
- A password for shared drive account where I update a list of assets roughly once a quarter ! The file itself is also password protected and includes that password as well. The idea is the executors have a rough idea of the various assets and can track back through the bank statements as needed since the last time the file was updated. Otherwise, with everyone online (and potentially international) these days, it could be impossible to find assets
Nothing really too exciting, but more to make their role easier...
If I'm trusting the guardians with my children they can do what they feel is in the best interests of my children. I'd rather they had to power to for example buy a bigger house for themselves if they are taking in my children etc. I'm more interested that my children are well taken care of even if it means the guardians (sibling) aren't so great with money.
This really depends on the size of the remaining estate, and at what age both myself and my wife may pass away at. If for example the girls were 15 and 17 when I pass away, there should be no reason to have to sell the house, as its likely they will have a strong emotional attachment to it. Its also very close to a number of universities, so no reason they should not wish to use if it they go to college in Dublin. If we were to pass away now (when the girls are 7 & 5), its potentially a different matter. That said, the level of life assurance both of us carry between us should mean there is absolutely no reason to have to sell the family home for financial reasons alone.My view of the family home is that children can't stay in it and they have to live somewhere. So better to sell it.
Fair enough, and its something I am likely to consider over time. The wishes can always be ignored anyway by the executorsI wouldn't be looking for 3 quotes for 1K costs. I'd make that 5K. You get hardly anything for 1K ! And you're making the exector job more difficult (speaking as an executor !)
Of course !! The executors have been selected carefullyI hope your executors are computer literate and that you don't forget to change the password on the instructions when you change it in real life
Glad I am doing something rightBut the list of assets and bank accounts etc is a good idea.
Letter of wishes is separate to your will; you can leave a copy with spouse / relatives etc.
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