Wll Executor

[1ndex]

Dad made me executor of his will without telling me. Dad left everything to mum and solicitor changed house ownership and gave mum dads bank monies for his funeral. I resigned as executor after completion.

Solicitor now says the hospital want payment for dads private treatment 3 years before he died. It was sports injury costing £12,000 and as executor I have to pay. Mum and me dont have enough, what will happen ?

[factor-fiction]

The executor normally spends around 6 months sorting out the estate including settling any debts before the balance is distributed. The executor should take reasonable steps to identify all such debts but of course there's only so far you can go to find out about possible debts. Did the hospital submit any requests for payment before the estate was distributed?

[factor-fiction]

Sorry Index- can you clarify for me what you meant by 'resigned as executor after completion'? Was there a formal legal process you had to go through?

I agree that sometimes being an executor is a thankless task. I've done it 4 or times and was never the major beneficiary- in fact twice I got none of the estate. And I didn't charge for my time and expenses either

[1ndex]

I resigned as I wanted the solicitor to contact my mother instead of me as I live 80 miles away and with a family I cant take time off for meetings. Dad never said his treatment was private and why did the hospital send a bill after his death. dad died of heart attack but not due to injury.

[FredPuli43]

If the debt exists, it is the estate's debt, not the executor's. And it's not yours. Ask the solicitor by what logic or legal principle the solicitor says its your personal debt. It rather looks as though you instructed the solicitor to do the work for you but he or she was incompetent in not ensuring this debt was found and paid out of the estate.

[dzug2]

The debt still exists and ultimately is the responsibility of the beneficiaries who received the estate monies.

The executor can only be held personally responsible if he didn't advertise for creditors in a local paper and the London Gazette. It's unlikely a solicitor would have neglected to do this - although it's not clear if the solicitor was actually executor in the first place.

What will happen is that the hospital will decide if the debt is worth pursuing. If it is the beneficiaries will ultimately, directly or indirectly, be taken to court for it.

[themas]

This is a muddle:

1. From what you say, you did not receive anything from the estate (it all went to your mother). If so, you cannot be liable personally unless no advert. was placed.

2. Even if an advert. wasn't placed, if the debt is due at all it is arguable that it is due from the estate - i.e. from your father's share of the house which was transferred to your mother. The creditor could make the estate bankrupt in order to recover their money. This could conceivably lead to the house having to be sold to raise the money. (I'm assuming the house was the main asset & that he didn't leave anything else of value.)

3. The solicitor was presumably not an executor. His responsibility therefore depends on what you instructed him to do. If you simply asked him to transfer the house then he won't have any liability, but if he was instructed more generally in relation to the estate he should have advised you of the need for an advert. If he failed to do so, you could complain of his negligence & go to the Legal Ombudsman if necessary.

4. If there was an advert., & it was correctly dealt with in accordance with the law, then you do not have any liability.

5. It is very odd the hospital raised this (apparently) soon after the death. I very much doubt that they would have failed to invoice & chase the debt for 3 years. It could be that they had been chasing it but your father had done nothing about paying it. How did the solicitor find out about it? Why would the hosiptal raise it with them?

6. As you can see, there are potentially a lot of issues here. You should start by finding out about the advert. (or its absence) & getting a proper explanation from the solicitor of why he says you are personally liable.