What you must tell a client before being appointed
executor
21 March 2011
The Law Society has issued a new practice note
for practitioners whose clients are considering appointing them as
executors.
The guidance sets out certain pieces of
information that practitioners must give a client when promoting
their own probate services. The client must be explicitly told that
he can instead choose to appoint lay executors only. He should be
reminded that these lay executors always have the option of
engaging a professional to help with the estate administration if
necessary.
Before selling one's own services, the
practitioner should also consider whether the estate really
warrants a professional executor. "If the estate is small or
straightforward, it may not be appropriate to encourage the client
to appoint you or your firm as the executor", says the Law
Society.
The client must also be told whether the
practitioner's administration charges will be based on an hourly
rate or a percentage of the estate.
The practice note also briefly discusses how a
professional executor should deal with a later request to renounce.
Relevant factors in considering such a request would be the reasons
why the practitioner was originally appointed, and whether
circumstances have changed since then; in particular, whether the
estate administration could now easily be handled by a lay
executor.
The new guidance applies to all types of
will-writing services, whether done face-to-face or by on-line or
postal packs. They also apply to legal professionals who work with
a third party (e.g. a high street bank) that sells executor
services.
Source
Law Society