My mother died two weeks ago.
My sister and I are co-executors of her will.
We have instructed the solicitor who drew up my mother's will to apply for probate on our behalf.
I'm sure this solicitor will do a good job, but there is a procedural matter that she has recommended that I find unnecessarily officious.
My mother owned shares in several companies and a bank account into which the dividends from those shares are credited.
My mother has bequeathed the shares to my sister and myself.
Our solicitor recommends that we contact the share registries involved in order to redirect the dividends into the solicitor's trust account (because it is already set up) and close the bank account ASAP.
The bank does not yet know that my mother has died.
The bank account continues to be debited by the retirement village in which my mother previously lived, until such time as their marketing division finds a new tenant for her unit.
It would be really tedious to contact all those share registries, identify myself, and ask them mto change the bank account for the dividends to be paid into, knowing that after probate has been granted we need to repeat the process to redirect the dividends to the beneficiaries.
What I would like to know is whether there is any rule or legislation that requires executors to prevent companies from crediting the bank account of a deceased person before probate has been granted.
Or is it perfectly kosher to allow dividends, interest and other miscellaneous credits to accrue until they can be distributed according to the will?
We have no intention of debiting the account (except to pay the solicitor and the funeral director).
Hoping someone has a quick answer.
My sister and I are co-executors of her will.
We have instructed the solicitor who drew up my mother's will to apply for probate on our behalf.
I'm sure this solicitor will do a good job, but there is a procedural matter that she has recommended that I find unnecessarily officious.
My mother owned shares in several companies and a bank account into which the dividends from those shares are credited.
My mother has bequeathed the shares to my sister and myself.
Our solicitor recommends that we contact the share registries involved in order to redirect the dividends into the solicitor's trust account (because it is already set up) and close the bank account ASAP.
The bank does not yet know that my mother has died.
The bank account continues to be debited by the retirement village in which my mother previously lived, until such time as their marketing division finds a new tenant for her unit.
It would be really tedious to contact all those share registries, identify myself, and ask them mto change the bank account for the dividends to be paid into, knowing that after probate has been granted we need to repeat the process to redirect the dividends to the beneficiaries.
What I would like to know is whether there is any rule or legislation that requires executors to prevent companies from crediting the bank account of a deceased person before probate has been granted.
Or is it perfectly kosher to allow dividends, interest and other miscellaneous credits to accrue until they can be distributed according to the will?
We have no intention of debiting the account (except to pay the solicitor and the funeral director).
Hoping someone has a quick answer.
