I Have Few Questions Regarding The Legality Of A Will And Executors Rights.

[pipester]

A) if a will has been signed by and dated by two witnesses but not signed or dated by the person writing the will is it still a legally binding document?
B) if a will has not been accepted by all beneficiaries is the executor of the will allowed to dispose of any assets of the estate or must they wait to have the will accepted?
C) similarly is the executor allowed to use a credit/debit card from the estate to pay any bills accrued during the period of waiting for the will to be accepted?

I would really appreciate any guidance here before consulting a solicitor.

[Barmaid]

A) possibly yes, possibly no. A Will does NOT have to be signed by the testator. It can also be signed by someone else in his presence and at his direction. See s9 Wills Act 1837. A Will does not have to be dated.

B) It is not for the beneficiaries to accept. If there is no challenge the appointed executor can apply for probate. There is no "acceptance" required. If the beneficiaries think that there is something wrong - eg the will is invalid or there is a later valid will they can lodge a caveat and prevent probate being granted. In the meantime, there is nothing to stop the executor getting on with things.

C) Technically, if the WIll is valid and appoints an executor the assets vest in the executor immediately following death. An executor does not have to wait for probate. However, practically speaking, most bank accounts will be frozen once they are notified of the death of the deceased and will require a Grant of Probate to be released. Furthermore, if there is a challenge, the executor would be a bit silly to do this.

You may wish to read some similar posts here which give some info:-

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Question1365789.html
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Question1365587.html

I think its about time I went back to work. Clearly there is a lot of this stuff about right now.

[Peter Pedant]

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C yeah I was gonna say practically speaking, you cant do much without probate. You should be able to get limited expenses ( funeral mainly ) without probate but I have never met anyone who has managed to ( xc Barmaid of course ).

No they must not use the dead man account as tho he were still alive - wind back on some questions on this. Keep accounts and the executor can pay off the charge on application.

In terms of "accepted" - a beneficiary can refuse a bequest if he wants.
Much commoner in EU where the estate doesnt pay IHT but the lucky beneficiaries do, and some decline the tax and therefore decline the gift !

Pipester this sounds like a reposting of a previous question

honestly if someone is acting on an unsigned will
you need a solicitor's advice....

I like the bit about two witnesses being witless enough to witness an unsigned will. wow. You need the will and advice like PDQ !

[Barmaid]

Well if this isnt a duplicate question Peter and we are looking at a different set of facts to a recently posted question (!), I would say that i have successfully had a number of estates released without a Grant under the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965. The limit is £5k, but I've achieved it with up to about £15k.

[atalanta]

When I was executor of a will, the deceased's bank paid up for funeral expenses without a murmur, though it was ages before we got probate. I suppose the bill from the funeral director could hardly have been forged by the executors - who were eventually going to be the beneficiaries anyway.

[Peter Pedant]

Thx Barmaid - Stack v Downton was a load of phun.

I think as a neighbours d has tragically died aged 19 I will be using the weeny estates procedure anyway - easy ?

and as for the duplicate question - there cant be TWO wills unsigned but witnessed in country at the same time, can there ? Four dumb clucks in a field of 60m.

[pipester]

I must apologise. This is a duplicate question. I had not realised that my wife had also asked it on here. However thank you to all who responded. It has given us useful information and I will be consulting a solicitor as a result.

[Peter Pedant]

That is OK pipey

we have been blocked by lack of detail.

a) - it seems pretty obvious that you have just been told this but not seen the document.

b) we were confused by "accepted" as possibly meaning probated. IN fact you mean that some beneficiaries and hopeful are saying ' that document what we havent seen, isnt a will '. Is he allowed to dispose of assets before probate - I think no because of a)

c the executor cannot use the dead man's crdit card as the dead man. If it is a joint account then the live one can go on using his own card.

and yes we all think you should stop asking us and go and see a solicitor TODAY !