Changing executors on a will?

[quickstepqueen]

Someone I know has fast declining vascular dementia. She made a will years ago, but made the solicitors executors. Her finances are complicated and her family would need legal advice when dealing with the probate. However, they do not trust the solicitors.

In previous dealings, the solicitors have not acted in the best interests of this family and quite frankly, without going into detail I believe the firm are unscrupulous, greedy and dishonest. I just know that they will fleece the family. I've spoken with the family members about this and they all want to remove the executors and replace them with someone else. They've contacted a solicitors for advice but was told they couldn't change her will. 2 family members have LPA and all the family and partners are all agreeable that these "shoddy" executors need to be removed before it's too late. Are they stuck with the will as it is or can they change it?
Thankyou in advance for reading this.

 

[nitram]

Sorry, if the person lacks testamentary capacity the will, and therefore the executor, cannot be changed.

The only reason for a change would be that the executor declined to act.

 

[Beate]

I'm really sorry but nitram is right. Attorneys can act in financial matters for the donor but they cannot change anything about a will.

 

[nitram]

As long as they act in the donor's financial interests the attorneys can simplify the complicated finances thus reducing the potential fee charged by the executor.

 

[quickstepqueen]

Sorry, if the person lacks testamentary capacity the will, and therefore the executor, cannot be changed.

The only reason for a change would be that the executor declined to act.

Thankyou Nitram.
I'm gutted for the family that they can't change the executors on behalf of their family member. Personally I feel that the Solicitors should seriously be reported for their past actions. I am a very fair person, but they have acted in ways that I think have been illegal or certainly totally unprofessional.

If the family report them, and they can't get them off the will then I worry about the consequences. Unless the solicitors could be persuaded to give up their position (but why would a solicitors give up the chance of good money?), then the family are doomed.
Thankyou for your swift reply.

 

[BIWO]

An interesting thread - when I divorced my ex husband,I had to setup a new will and used the solicitors that dealt with the divorce. They advised to set up the executors as 'family members' and not to use the solicitors (as there is degree of uncertainty about who will be around in the future). The dealings with my Mum's Will suggest you need to carefully select executors and revise them if need be over the years.

 

[quickstepqueen]

The dealings with my Mum's Will suggest you need to carefully select executors and revise them if need be over the years.

And that's the problem. The family want to revise the executors, change them, but it seems they can't. Even though they know the executors are untrustworthy and underhand, it appears there is no way to take them off the will as executors.
Common sense to me says that if you find out one of your chosen executors isn't right (eg. That trusted person turns out to be a complete fraudster/in prison/abuser) then you should be able to change them on a will. The person with dementia gave her family power of attorney for health and finances when she was well. So I don't understand why they can't change her executors on her behalf. The law is the law but it appears it doesn't help us in this situation.

 

[quickstepqueen]

Thankyou to all of you for contributing to this thread. It's really helpful (even if it wasn't really what I wanted to hear lol)

 

[Beate]

If the person still has mental capacity they could write a codicil to the will changing the executors. If they haven't, no one else can, although if you have proof the solicitors have acted illegally in the past and can get them convicted, I'm pretty certain they can't be an executor from a prison cell.

I think the best thing to do, as nitram suggested, is to get the attorneys to simplify the finances to an extent that's it's very difficult to do something dishonest. Always know exactly how much money is where and have proof for it so if the heirs don't get what they should, you can report the solicitors for fraud.

 

[quickstepqueen]

If the person still has mental capacity they could write a codicil to the will changing the executors. If they haven't, no one else can, although if you have proof the solicitors have acted illegally in the past and can get them convicted, I'm pretty certain they can't be an executor from a prison cell.

Hi Beate. Unfortunately the person with dementia is unable to write a codicil. I am going to let the family know that they are stuck, unless the solicitor/executor "resigns" from the will of their own accord. Many thanks again to all contributors xx

 

[KAT365]

Hi,
Sorry to hear your friend(s) are in this situation there is something called a Statutory Will, which maybe worth investigating. They would also need to apply to the COP.
Best of luck
KAT365

 

[Ludlow]

Just came across this website and it reminded me of this thread.
This only relates to after the person who wrote the will has died but thought it might be of interest.

https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.u...7/removing-a-professional-executor-of-a-will/