morituri te salutamus

For those of you who are about to die, read this. It could save your heirs thousands or tens of thousands of pounds. Essentially, I strongly suggest you review your will and particularly who your executors are as soon as you can. But on no account do so with your solicitor or accountant in the room. For if they were involved in drawing your will up, they may well have planted an interesting timebomb into it. And when it goes off, it'll be your relatives who are going to be counting the cost. It is a little know fact, supported by the Law Society, that professional advisors who are appointed executors are entitled to charge substantially greater fees than professional advisors who are appointed by the executors after the death. These fees include a fee which bears no relation to the work involved but to the gross value of the the estate. In short, this means they charge both for their time and what a solicitor described to me as their "profit commission". In truth, their fees were generous already so this so-called "profit commission" represents legitimate piracy. Extract from leaflet provided to the public from the Legal Complaints Service: How is a fair and reasonable charge worked out? Firstly, we work out the value of the time taken by the solicitor to carry out the work. This involves multiplying the time taken by the solicitor’s hourly expense rate. This works out what it actually cost the solicitor to carry out the work without any profit. Secondly, we add a profit mark-up which is usually 25% for an average estate, but can be up to 35% in more difficult cases. Thirdly, we add a value element. If the solicitor is not an executor of the will, the value element is usually 0.5% of the value of the deceased’s home if it is just in their name, 0.25% of the deceased’s home if it is in joint names and 1% of the value of the rest of the estate. If the solicitor is the only executor or joint executor with any person, these percentages are increased by 50%. It is very hard to revert this decision (to make a solicitor an executor) although the Residuary Beneficiaries are entitled to have the Legal Complaints Service question all fees charged, a service called the Remuneration Certification Procedure. However, their position is one which supports this lamentable state of affairs. So if you have already got a will drawn up, have a think - a) did the lawyer suggest they should be an executor, b) did they explain the fees in detail and c) is this agreement documented as part of your will? If contracts are freely and openly entered into, most relatives will not want to oppose the deceased's wishes. My beef is that many solicitors do not volunteer this information at the point of will writing thus leaving relatives to deal with a costly and difficult situation which is defended by the Law Society but questionable morally. Notes for reader: The Law Society gently encourages you to make your solicitor an executor http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/secure/file/162894/162894.pdf They do not mention the extra costs this will commit you to. The Legal Complaints Service can be contacted on 0845 608 6565 or www.legalcomplaints.org.uk. They are staffed with great people who voluntarily man the Helpline. They can supply you with the leaflet entitled 'Information Sheet - Charges'.