Executor's fee

[Guest]

I am the sole executor of my mother's will. There are two beneficiaries; my sister and myself. I applied for and have received Probate. I offered to do this myself rather than using a solicitor as they were very slow and expensive for my late father's estate some years ago. The total estate for our mother was around £220k. I guess a solicitor would have charged 3% of the total ie about £6,600 plus disbursements. There was a lot more work than I anticipated in dealing with the estate for my mother. My sister gets a lot more than half the estate because we didn't have time to amend the will before mum was diagnosed terminally ill and died. For this reason I will discuss with my sister if she would be happy for me to take a fee to do the executor's tasks. I was thinking of half what a solicitor would have charged ie £3k. I'm pretty sure my sister would be happy to agree to this and I believe it is legal even though I'm not legally qualified. I wanted to double check before distributing the final estate that the above would not pose any issues. *
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[lawboy65]

Carrying out the job of executor can be *time consuming, complicated and stressful, so it is not uncommon to feel that you should receive some compensation.* *However executors are not automatically entitled to be paid for their time spent in administering the estate* An executor that is a family member, friend or any other non-professional is not entitled to be paid for administering the estate.
However, Just because you can’t charge for your time and work, costs incurred by **the executor *can be claimed back as executor’s expenses. Executor expenses usually involve things like the grant of probate application fee, costs relating to the funeral.
There are not strict rules in place as to what can and can’t be claimed as an executor’s expense. The decision on what is acceptable to be claimed can sometimes be left up to the executors and beneficiaries own discretion. *As you say, a good idea would be to discuss this fully with your sister before deducting anything from the estate.
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[des8]

An alternative course of action is to vary the will:*https://www.gov.uk/alter-a-will-after-a-death

[lawboy65]

I don't think a variation would cover a fee for an unqualified executor.

[Magpie1]

I was the 'guest' - now registered. The two year's time limit for Deed of Variation has just passed as I was slow with the processing. It was complicated because my brother died unexpectedly without leaving a will before my mother. He had no partner or children and was due 25% of the residue as per mum's will. So following advice from a Law Centre my sister and I are splitting that between us proportionately. I'll look into how much the funeral fees were but think my sister paid those. Thank you so much for your help.

[des8]

I don't think a variation would cover a fee for an unqualified executor.

Agreed, but the OP was looking for a way to balance the legacies more evenly
If they had been within the 2 year period a variation may have worked for them

[Magpie1]

I checked and I paid all the funeral expenses out of mum's bank account and declared it on the inheritance tax form. So I can't claim that. Having checked with my sister I could pay the remaining 25% of the residue (in the will given to our late brother who died before Mum) to myself as she's happy with that. But she will probably claim Jobseeker's Allowance in a year or so as she isn't working and finding it difficult to get a job. So the DWP would class that as 'depriving herself of funds' in order to claim benefit. So that way of evening up the legacy is probably out.

[des8]

If your sister is content with that I don't see that a deed of variation will affect any possible future claim.
Such a document does not need lodging anywhere except with the executor.

The variation is taken as being made by the testator himself.
They are often used to avoid IHT and are accepted as such by HMRC, and so IMO if DWP ever came to hear about the variation it should be similarly understood.

Later (if I ever get the time*) I'll trawl through DWP regulations and see if there is anything there
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[des8]

Deleted double posting!

[Magpie1]

Thank you! Unfortunately two years has just passed since Mum's death so we can't make a deed of variation... The remaining 25% of the money originally due to my late brother (approx. £26k) is still in my late Mum's account. Had I known we could have written that deed and the DWP would not be able to claim my sister 'deprived herself' of the portion she would have got (1/3rd of the £26k as 2/3 due to me) we'd have written one.

[des8]

The deed does not have to be lodged with anyone (unless it varies the tax due)
It can be a letter that needs to be dated within two years of the death.

[des8]

Regarding deprivation of assets:
Assuming your sister is not currently claiming benefits, and it is not certain if* she will she should be able to gift it to you without being accused of deliberate deprivation.
Also if a deed of variation had been drawn up, again she cannot be guilty of deprivation because she had never received the assets
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5aa6311040f0b66b5fb4b348/CIS_0798_2017-00.pdf
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5aa6311040f0b66b5fb4b348/CIS_0798_2017-00.pdf