Executors in Braintree (or anywhere else in the UK) are typically appointed during the course of the Will Writing process. However, you may or may not already be aware that high street banks sometimes actively encourage their customers to make Wills by way of an additional service at a discounted rate or even for free on occasion. In such circumstance the ‘only’ concession for this service is usually that the bank in question is named as one of the individual’s executors in Braintree (or anywhere else).
The problem is that this seemingly small decision could have significant negative ramifications. This is because in the event that the individual that made their Will passes away then the aforementioned bank could serve to employ their own solicitor for the purpose of dealing with the Probate process at a significant cost to the deceased’s estate. The fee taken is then divided between the bank and the solicitor according to some prior agreement.
The extent of this problem can be effectively illustrated by a recent example that a client told me about. In this instance, a lady had a relatively simple Will drafted that was relatively simple and straightforward since it merely left the residue of her estate in equal shares to her 3 children. However, along with appointing all 3 of her children as executors in Braintree, the lady in question also appointed her bank as an additional executor. This became a significant problem because, despite the aforementioned lady only having an estate that was relatively modest in value and three children that got on well and could work together on this as her executors in Braintree, the bank wanted to charge a fee that was equivalent to around 2.3% of the whole estate’s worth.
With this in mind, when it comes to making your Will you are advised to, if at all possible, to always look to appoint your relatives or trusted friends/advisors as your executors first before looking to appoint any professionals. This is because this will mean that your executors will then maintain more control over the process and can look for the best deal on legal advice if they require it.
Contact Andrew Douglas Wills and Legal Services today via www.andrewdouglaswills.co.uk to see how we could help you to get your affairs in order to protect both yours and your loved ones best interests with regard to your appointment of your chosen executors in Braintree and throughout Essex.
Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ADouglasWills.
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AndrewDouglasWills.
