Will Executors?

[SeattleRocks]

I have an issue I would like to get the forum's thoughts on.

My DW and I have up to date wills but the executor is an issue. We dont have any children or close relatives and neither of us would ever think to burden any of our friends to be executors of our wills. So, we selected a local legal firm that we trust to be our executor.

Now I am thinking of the cost of this decision because I expect that it will be VERY costly for a law firm to act as our executor. We have a sizeable estate and (2) houses with probably alot of things to tie up. We even thought of our pets in our will.

So the question is - in this situation, do any of you have any other recommendations instead of using a law firm as executor?

We would be gone and wouldnt know what was going on anyway, but the thought of our life savings getting eaten away by lawyers just finalizing our estate is frustrating. (we are giving everything to charity when we are gone)

But I guess it is what it is unless any of you have a better idea. Much appreciated.

 

[RetireeRobert]

I am no expert by any means. From my own searching into "wills and trusts" and related topics area, I have become aware (in my city, at least) there do exist firms whose business is to assist with probate process and administration of trusts and estates. These are "not" law firms per se, but are fiduciary type companies experienced in handling the duties involved in this area. I believe their fees would be a percentage of estate value, but again, that might depend on the firm. I would not think fees of this type of "non-lawyer" firm would be as much as law firms would charge, but I have no real experience with it to say for sure.

One other thought is to determine which charity is the be one of "the largest beneficiaries" of your estate when you pass. And contact them to see if their offices have experience handling or assisting with estate administration of deceased "donors" estates. I believe some of the biggies, like Salvation Army, Red Cross, etc. do have departments specifically set up to help deal with this type of thing.

If you do find out some good specific information about this, I for one would be interested in hearing your findings.

 

[Sunset]

An earlier thread about this issue contained a post by a lawyer, who said it's very expensive to have lawyer bill rates occurring for your executor.

I wonder if banks or trust companies might provide this service.

 

[RetireeRobert]

With a little searching I found at least three nationwide banks offer estate settlement type services, US Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank America. For example here is Bank America's webpage:
https://www.privatebank.bankofameri...8a0570f60eaa1bd2113d106c2782bb8a&gclsrc=3p.ds

You might check with you local area and/or regional banks as well to inquire about available services and fee structures.

 

[Dash man]

We are using Schwab’s trust department with my sister-in-law as a co-trustee. Our attorney has the power to fire Schwab if it doesn’t work out. Our will’s executor is also my sister-in-law, but only has to deal with our household items if anybody wants them. The rest will be taken care of by Schwab and the trust.

 

[Car-Guy]

If I didn't have any kids, I wouldn't hesitate to ask a relative or close and trusted friend. Maybe the biggest beneficiary, if that makes sense in your case? Of course they should be fairly compensated "by the estate" for the job. Better than paying some strangers, IMO. I've been the executor for a couple of wills (lower 7 digit range) and it's not that big of a deal. Even selling a house and car(s) with the estate was actually pretty easy. Have you considered using advanced directives like POD or TOD to make things easier where possible? Even filling out the last tax returns was simple enough but that could be handled by any tax attorney if the executor desired.

Maybe your states probate process is complicated or maybe you have 10's of millions to distribute or something else that would make this complicated. But for most estates, I would think a relative or trusted friend would be a lot better than some "institution"... But each case is different and YMMV.

 

[Scuba]

We are in a similar situation. My high school best friend is an attorney and she is our durable POA as well as executor. We provided for a fee for her in our estate plan to do this service for us. I trust her far more than a third party. A close friend who knows our beneficiaries is in a much better position to make any decisions that may be necessary in carrying out our wishes, in my opinion.

My current best friend is our healthcare POA. She knows both of us very well and I trust she would make decisions on our behalf that we would have made ourselves had we been able.

We have also named backups for both of these positions, in the event our first choice is unable to serve. My biggest worry is that we will become incapacitated/unable to make good decisions slowly, and won’t realize it is happening until it is too late. Not sure how to manage that risk. Hopefully if it happens, it won’t happen to both of us at once, so the other one can put appropriate safeguards in place before we both lose it.

 

[HarveyS]

We even thought of our pets in our will.

Can the person/entity taking care of your pets be the executor?

 

[SeattleRocks]

I am no expert by any means. From my own searching into "wills and trusts" and related topics area, I have become aware (in my city, at least) there do exist firms whose business is to assist with probate process and administration of trusts and estates. These are "not" law firms per se, but are fiduciary type companies experienced in handling the duties involved in this area. I believe their fees would be a percentage of estate value, but again, that might depend on the firm.

If you do find out some good specific information about this, I for one would be interested in hearing your findings.

I think this is a very good suggestion and I am going to look into this. For my purposes, I need an "agency" and not an individual to be executor. I will let you know what I find out

 

[SeattleRocks]

With a little searching I found at least three nationwide banks offer estate settlement type services, US Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank America. For example here is Bank America's webpage:
https://www.privatebank.bankofameri...8a0570f60eaa1bd2113d106c2782bb8a&gclsrc=3p.ds

You might check with you local area and/or regional banks as well to inquire about available services and fee structures.

This is awesome. Thanks for doing the research. I will look into this for sure. A bank may be the way to go here.

 

[SeattleRocks]

Can the person/entity taking care of your pets be the executor?

Unfortunately that is not an option. Again, I am using an agency for this and not a person and something smart I have done is put in a rather sizeable donation attached to the pets going to a good home facilitated by the organization to ensure the right thing happens here. In addition, we know the agency well and they will do the right thing.

 

[Texas Proud]

I would say banks also, but I worked at one for years...


Also, if you are leaving your assets to a charity then ask that charity who they recommend...


I helped out a local youth hostile and one of the board members died and left almost all of his assets to the national chapter... they handled the estate and did not charge a thing...



If it is a college they also have people who handle estates... and I would guess it is also free...

 

[easysurfer]

I named my attorney as executor of my will.

If I was to die today, there are surviving family (siblings) members. But I do feel naming them as executor would be a burden on them and for that reason named my attorney. In my case, I think my family members would either be unable (needs a certain level or organization to be an executor) or disinterested in serving as executor.

So, weighing the pros and cons, for me I have not problem with the most likely added expense of have a legal person handling my estate as I feel a better chance of having that done right.

 

[CaliKid]

I would look for private professional fiduciaries. That's their job and they will be cheaper, and probably more efficient, than having an attorney do it. In California they are licensed and bondable. Not sure about your state.

 

[MBAustin]

A friend of mine who is a CPA has done this for a few of her clients. if you have a long-term relationship with your CPA, you might ask if they would consider it, or if they have suggestions.

 

[RetireeRobert]

Also, if you are leaving your assets to a charity then ask that charity who they recommend...


I helped out a local youth hostile and one of the board members died and left almost all of his assets to the national chapter... they handled the estate and did not charge a thing...



If it is a college they also have people who handle estates... and I would guess it is also free...

+1

I had a friend who passed away. He was single and no children or living siblings or parents. He left his estate to his college, a state university fifty miles from our town. They had a department who handled everything. They even arranged for the sale of his house.

Have also heard stories of charitable organaizations who are beneficiaries who handled estate settlement duties.

 

[rk911]

I have an issue I would like to get the forum's thoughts on.

My DW and I have up to date wills but the executor is an issue. We dont have any children or close relatives and neither of us would ever think to burden any of our friends to be executors of our wills. So, we selected a local legal firm that we trust to be our executor.

Now I am thinking of the cost of this decision because I expect that it will be VERY costly for a law firm to act as our executor. We have a sizeable estate and (2) houses with probably alot of things to tie up. We even thought of our pets in our will.

So the question is - in this situation, do any of you have any other recommendations instead of using a law firm as executor?

We would be gone and wouldnt know what was going on anyway, but the thought of our life savings getting eaten away by lawyers just finalizing our estate is frustrating. (we are giving everything to charity when we are gone)

But I guess it is what it is unless any of you have a better idea. Much appreciated.

call your bank and see if they offer fiduciary services.

 

[CaliKid]

A friend of mine who is a CPA has done this for a few of her clients. if you have a long-term relationship with your CPA, you might ask if they would consider it, or if they have suggestions.

I think is a great option BUT from mid-February through mid-April CPAs are too busy to deal with anything else. For some trust beneficiaries this wouldn't work. other than that concern I think CPAs are a great choice. Of course consider their age and remember they will have access to all your money (as is the case with any trustee).

 

[Brat]

I recall auditing a small bank in Chehalis years ago that had an estate department. They were very ethical and, frankly, not a bank that would be attractive for the likes of Chase to acquire. That is a drive from Seattle so may not meet your needs. Were I in your shoes I would choose an institution in my vicinity unless I chose the major beneficiary to be my executor.

 

[big-papa]

I have an issue I would like to get the forum's thoughts on.

My DW and I have up to date wills but the executor is an issue. We dont have any children or close relatives and neither of us would ever think to burden any of our friends to be executors of our wills. So, we selected a local legal firm that we trust to be our executor.

Now I am thinking of the cost of this decision because I expect that it will be VERY costly for a law firm to act as our executor. We have a sizeable estate and (2) houses with probably alot of things to tie up. We even thought of our pets in our will.

So the question is - in this situation, do any of you have any other recommendations instead of using a law firm as executor?

We would be gone and wouldnt know what was going on anyway, but the thought of our life savings getting eaten away by lawyers just finalizing our estate is frustrating. (we are giving everything to charity when we are gone)

But I guess it is what it is unless any of you have a better idea. Much appreciated.

My Father In Law chose to have the same attorney who drew up his will also act as executor. It was an extremely costly mistake, in my opinion. Surprised it was even allowed, frankly.

 

[Out of Steam]

At the time 24 years old, we thought our daughter was too young to be a sole executor of our wills. We named an older niece as co-executor, but our daughter can decline the co-executor if we die after she turns 30.

In the event that only one of us dies, the other is executor, so this is in the unlikely event of both of us dying in the next few years.

 

[omni550]

My bachelor uncle chose the attorney who drew up his will (a large international charity was the sole beneficiary) to serve as his executor. This was a BIG (expensive and lengthy) mistake.

My sister and I were POAs for my uncle for the last 8 years of his life, and our 'powers' expired upon his death. It took me 9 years AFTER my uncle's death of hounding the executor-lawyer every few months before he FINALLY sent the remaining funds to the charity. Tiring of years of inaction from the executor-attorney, I contacted the charity to tell them that they were the beneficiary of a sizeable amount, but the executor-attorney was not moving very quickly to settle the estate. Within a month of my contacting the charity, the logjam was 'magically' removed and the funds were transferred to the charity.

omni

 

[RetMD21]

I don't know your situation but I would think of putting the heirs/beneficiaries in charge. They have the most at stake.

 

[bolt]

As omni550 & RetMD51 imply, I also have seen numerous WILLS, POAs, DPOA's, TODs, POD's benefit those w/initial immediate access to said funds enormously and not benefit others named in the documents once the $ is paid out.

Good luck & Best wishes.....

 

[Sunset]

Acting as executor right now.
I'd suggest everyone (including myself), list banks, brokerages, annuities, and life insurance policies - just the institution name and account/contract number.

It's amazing how difficult it is after the fact to piece together the location of various pots of money.
Worse is because of no list, there is that nagging thought that something was missed.