Executor Of Will

[RAINYDAYS]

Myself & husband want to make a will. Can our son be the executor? He lives in another country and would not be able to be in solicitors office,. ?

[Buenchico]

Your son can be an executor of your wills [plural].
(You can't make a joint will; you must have one each).

There is no need for an executor to be present when a will is signed and witnessed and there is no requirement for the process to be carried out in a solicitor's office (or, indeed, to involve a solicitor at all).

There is no need to use a solicitor to obtain probate or to distribute the estate of a deceased person. The executor(s) can do it alone. In the past it would have been necessary for the executors to attend a Probate Office in order to swear an oath (which would have made doing the job from overseas difficult) but probate can now be sought online (without a requirement to swear on oath in person):
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/personal-applicants-can-now-apply-for-probate-online

[jourdain2]

My husband and I have just made what are called 'Mirror Wills', which are the easiest and simplest and you can still leave individual small gifts as you wish. Our children will be Executors and Buenchico is perfectly correct in all his reply (I'm only up-to-date with it because of actually signing mine today!).

I would mention that we have also approved and signed 'Power of Attourney' documents, which we consider vital. Give you an example. A close friend's Mum had a stroke a couple of days before Christmas. She can scarcely speak, babbles, is physically incapable of feeding herself etc.. It's all fairly horrible. Even worse is that my friend and her husband cannot access her Mum's bank accounts, sell or clear her house or anything to help pay the £3K per month for the nursing home she is now in and for which they are liable. As Mum cannot now sign powers over to them they are having to go through the courts. Its a long, horrible job on top of all the worry and pain and will cost over £4K, they've been told. I would strongly advise that you consider this option as well as Wills.

[woofgang]

I don't see anywhere here that indicates it will cost so much money https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy/fees

[jourdain2]

That does sound somewhat different, woof, but they were told so by a professional - it depends on individual cases I suppose. The stress and strain of all this is horrible though.

[jourdain2]

^^ P.S. I'll give them this link, thanks.

[woofgang]

yes I can imagine how horrible it must be. I think there was a time when going through the Court of Protection did cost a lot more.

[RAINYDAYS]

Thanks everyone. Very detailed information.