No response from Executors specified in will?

[MortyFide]

My DM passed away recently and I am busy sorting out the usual bits and pieces.

She used a local solicitor to set up her will, and in it they are appointed as executors. Since Tuesday I have left them 2 answerphone messages and sent one email, with no response. They are definitely still authorised and practicing, and definitely still working albeit with reduced staff (whatever that means, there are only 4 solicitors and an administrator anyway).

The main reason for the urgency is that I had POA and was selling mum's property before she passed away in a care home - now of course my POA has expired and I no longer have any authority over anything.

The estate is straightforward and I wouldn't mind them renouncing and me becoming administrator, but how can I do that if they don't respond? How long is reasonable to expect a reply, even in these corona conditions?

In these circumstances - longer than 48 hours!

Fair enough!

It took a week for us to get a response and this was in November so pre-covid.

Oh that makes me feel a bit better @ShowOfHands, no need to worry unduly then.

Hi from my other thread BTW.

It took THREE YEARS for my mum's very straightforward estate to be sorted by the solicitors. First one went on holiday, then went sick, then second one had to jobshare... and, in consquence, it cost us a fortune (12k). We (DB and I) were chasing and ringing and emailing...

So don't expect them to hurry, OP.

Oh crap. They are so distant I'm hoping they will renounce anyway, I'll do it myself. But mum's most recent solicitor (who did the POAs, but for reasons unknown did not update the will nor consider that the old firm no longer acted for mum) took a look and suggested that I ask them to provide their "first level of assistance" at a fixed price of £600 + VAT.

I've done that by email but havent heard - the solicitor was in mum's home town, she knew her personally.

I'm just a bit concerned about upcoming expenses, in addition to the fact that mum's property is on the market, but if we were to receive an offer I'd have no authority to accept it.

There is a pre-paid funeral plan but as I no longer have authority to use mum's funds, I'm paying for various other things myself which I can ill afford.

I'd say give it 2 weeks.

I doubt they'll renounce. It's probably fairly easy money for them.

The POA would have expired on your mums passing anyway 🙁

If you had been using the POA post death you didn’t have authority to do so but don’t worry too much just don’t offer that information up to anyone! It’s a nightmare when you aren’t an executor and things need paying. I would try the solicitors again and advise them that this is very urgent and they need to use any available funds to deal with the estate expenses

I used to work in this area - if a family member asked us to renounce we usually did, unless there was a reason not to (specific instructions from the testator, usually).

The PoA lapses on her death so please stop using that. What else are you paying for? Most people are happy to wait for a grant of probate if you tell them that your mother has died. Remember that, as you are not an executor (at present, may become and administrator later) you don’t have authority to act on her behalf, so other than dealing with the funeral please tread carefully - one of my clients got carried away after his father died and did all kinds of things without authorisation (closing bank accounts and the like) and got into a bit of trouble over it.

Finally you are probably waiting for a response because they are getting the will back from archive to check that they have been appointed as executor before calling you back. You’d be amazed the number of times people get executors wrong! I’m sure you’ll get back from them soon, but someone has to physically got to the archive and get the will (so not a work from home task), and sadly probate departments are very busy at the moment.

I think some have misread my post. She passed away 5 days ago, I was using the POA until then.

Your mum passed away 5 days ago, for which I am very sorry, but you need to slow down.

The house is not going anywhere. If an offer does come in you can accept subject to receipt of probate.

But really truly, you need to take a breath.

TheOP knows the POA expires on her Mum's death! That's why she's worried, she's in the process of selling stuff under the terms of POA, that now suddenly doesn't exist, so she needs advice.

Jeez doesn't anyone read the OP !

Sorry for your loss, OP.

I doubt the executors will renounce, so just pass any bills on to them now. If probate is required (likely with a house sale) it's going to take a while so again, hand the sale of the property over to them and let the Estate Agent know.

Yes, I did read the OP, and subsequent posts.

5 days ago her mum passed away, 5 days!

Hi, I am a fee earner in private client. Where I get notification that a client has passed away I try to call the family that day if I can, but only where they are a beneficiary on the Will. If someone rings who is not a beneficiary then I would ask my assistant to call them to let them know that I cannot discuss anything with them.

Usually, where I do ring people back and if they are beneficiaries, family members think that they have to deal with everything straight away so I just want to speak to them to go through the process and also to let them know that they don't have to do anything immediately.

The only thing that does have to done straight away is to inform the buildings insurers of the change in circumstances. Even if you notified them when your mum went into care you will need to contact them again now, to inform them that she has died.

With regard to renouncing probate, this is a relatively straight forward procedure but obviously you actually need to speak to them to see if they will consider this.

Just as an aside, I don't see how they can offer a flat fee service of £600.00 plus VAT and disbursements if they are executors. This is a service that we offer, where family members are executors, and we just deal with the application for the Grant. When the Grant arrives we then forward this on to the executors for them to administer the estate themselves. But in your case the solicitors are the executors and therefore if they apply for the Grant on that basis, then they will be administering the estate. You wouldn't be able to do this, because they are named on the Grant.

If the solicitors has a website and if they have individual email addresses for the private client staff on there then I would send them an email directly, asking them if they are prepared to renounce.

I just think it's bad form not to ring someone reasonably quickly when they have lost a family member. And by reasonably quickly I mean either the day the family member rang or the following day. Usually people are grieving and have no idea what practical steps need to be taken. Just talking to them can take a lot of stress out of the sad situation they are in.

And by the way, even during lockdown I have applied for Grants in many estates. Timescales at the Probate Registry are currently about four weeks from submitting the application in an excepted estate, so if the estate is relatively straight forward then excessive delays are unnecessary.

The legal side of things can be so hard to deal with on top of everything else @MortyFide. But at the same time, it can make you busy and sometimes that's a blessing. Not always though.

Have you opened her handbag yet? I keep thinking of you sitting with it and hoping you're okay.

@BalloonSlayer yes did read the OP. A general power of attorney expires so thought it was that.

POA will lapse on death. Confusion of terminology!

OP sorry for your loss

I am keeping mum's handbag close to me @ShowOfHands, haven't managed to open it up yet.

The executor kindly contacted me today, all is well and I feel less tense about it now. Mum would have expected me to be super efficient and organised and be getting on with everything as she would, not dawdling and waiting for others to act. A previous comment made it sound like I was trying to hasten the process of managing the estate before she was even cold, which was upsetting.

Thank you @didyoueverdancewiththedevil for your insight, and others for your condolences.