Executor Stress

Settling someone’s financial affairs after their death can be traumatic.  Here we will look at how to manage the process as when you lose someone close to you, working through piles of paperwork and talking to a whole host of financial providers is probably the last thing you’ll feel like doing.  However, if you are the named executer of your loved one’s will, you will have to distribute their estate and, unfortunately, that makes these tasks unavoidable.

During this difficult time, the least you should be able to expect is that firms treat you with compassion and respect.  However, a recent survey by Which? readers showed that this is by no means guaranteed – in nearly one in five cases (18%), people said the providers they dealt with were unhelpful, and 13% said they weren’t treated sympathetically.

Within this article we will try and outline the steps you need to take after a death to ensure the process of settling financial affairs goes as smoothly as possible – from closing accounts to handling probate.  We will also address what you can do if the companies you deal with along the way fail to manage your situation properly.

Register the death

Before starting to think about executing the will, you will need to register the death.  This must be done within 5 days (eight in Scotland), and you will need to bring a medical certificate from a GP or hospital doctor.

You can go to any register office, but if you use the one in the area where the person died you’ll receive the death certificate on the same day, instead of having to wait for it to arrive in the post.

Funeral Planning

Help your family during their time of grief!

Being a member of the S.K.I Club (spending the kids inheritance) I decided to look into what could be done when my last ski run has been and gone.

Your loved ones have already lost you, they are grieving and they need to say “Goodbye” as part of the grieving process.  You can help them with this – you can make this difficult time “easier”, you can reduce the stress and anxiety of your loved one, by pre-planning and or pre-paying for your funeral.

Pre-planning a funeral does not necessarily mean it’s pre-paid.  

There are arguments to be made both for and against pre-payment.

On the plus side, pre-paying guarantees the wishes of the deceased are honoured, as they themselves select what they want and pay for it.  It saves the family or legal representative the cost and anxiety of last-minute decision-making in the midst of grief.

Pre-payments offer built-in inflation protection, as providers assure the cost of the funeral will not increase, whether death occurs in three months or 30 years.

Will disputes may increase with an ageing population

The press reports that the children of Michael Inchibald are involved in a will dispute surrounding his £20 million estate. The deceased was a renowned interior designer. 

The dispute centres around whether the deceased knew and approved the content of his 2007 will which replaced a will made two years earlier. 

The second, most recent, will split the estate equally between the children. The previous earlier will placed the daughter’s half share in trust such that she only received the income for life with the capital sum reverting to her brother and children on her death. 

In this case reported in the Evening Standard, it is argued that Mr Inchibald was suffering from dementia in 2007 and that he did not understand the fundamental change.  

We have an ageing population who are suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

Putting your affairs in order

After working for many years in the Local Authority Adult Safeguarding Team, and working with those who are facing probate and related issues.  Organising your finances towards the end of your life can be a big help to those you leave behind.  Here, we aim to outline the steps you need to take.

None of us want to think about our own immortality let alone discuss it.  However, by being pragmatic about your own demise is in both yours and your family's best interests.

Here at the Edith Ellen