Duties of Executor of Will

[Lex Foutish]

A friend has made me executor of his will.

I'm hoping I won't have to worry about it for a while but, when the time comes, what will my duties/responsibilities be?

 

[missdaisy]

Being an executor basically means that you have to administer the deceased's estate in accordance with the terms of the Will and in accordance with law and as soon as possible after death.

You have to pay all the debts of the estate and establish exactuly the value of the estate.

You have to preserve the assets until such time as they pass to the beneficiaries.

If there were any legal disputes at the time of death you would have to continue them as represntative of the estate of the deceased.

You have to make sure that a spouse and children know about their rights in terms of inheritance (if for example they aren't provided for adequately in the Will)

 

[mathepac]

A friend has made me executor of his will...

You can be "named" as executor in a will but you can't be forced to accept the role or to do the work; if asked before the will is drawn up, you can say "thanks, but no thanks" or you can decline after death.

While its satisfying that your friend has trust in you and respect for your undoubted integrity, the role itself can be difficult, stressful, thankless and is almost guaranteed to result in your removal from someone's Christmas card list, IME.

 

[Vanilla]

An executor also has onerous duties to ensure that all tax is properly discharged from the estate/beneficiaries as they have themselves a personal secondary liability to such taxes.

 

[Millix]

Is the executor expected to know whether beneficiaries have already received gifts or part of their inheritance before the death of the person whose estate is to be administered ? If for example a nephew received a gift of 20000 euro in 2007 from the person who subsequently leaves them 40000 euro in their will after their death in 2009, then given that the threshold limit for group B is 43400 euro, a liability to tax of 25% x 16600 = 4150 euro appears to apply.

Is this right ? Is the executor supposed to know about all previous gifts ( above the annual 3000 euro limit ) given by the deceased person to everyone who is a beneficiary of the estate ? Does the executor have a personal secondary liability to such taxes ?

If this is so it is indeed onerous.

Fromwww.revenue.ie

You should be aware that, in addition, the personal representative has secondary liability for the payment of any Inheritance Tax due by the beneficiaries in respect of the benefits they take under the will or intestacy. This means that if a beneficiary should fail to pay, the personal representative will have to do so

 

[mathepac]

The key word in the quote is "secondary", IMHO.

This is the reason the solicitor / executor / personal representative requests PPSNs and details of beneficiaries, gifts received from for the testator and notifies Revenue in advance so tax liabilities and deductions can be calculated prior to disbursements being made.

IMHO, if it emerges that a beneficiary failed to notify Revenue of taxable gifts in tax years prior to taking out an inheritance, I can't see how the personal representative can have a tax liability (I'm not a lawyer / accountant).

If you can locate form "CA25.PDF", A Guide to completing the Inland Revenue Affidavit (Form C.A.24), on the Revenue web-site it is very helpful and informative.