• Trustees may hold money until a child is old enough to inherit; or
  
• Trustees may hold money in a trust fund for the benefit of several beneficiaries; or
  
• Trustees may retain property for the occupation of a beneficiary during his lifetime.
  

Executors and Trustees are usually the same people and they may simply swap their "Executor" hat for a "Trustee" hat when the estate has been wound up.

WHOM SHOULD I APPOINT AS MY EXECUTORS?

Relatives or close family friends and even beneficiaries of your estate can all be Executors.

Executors should be trustworthy and they should be asked whether they have any objections to being appointed.

Richard Connor (Principal of Wills on Wheels) will be pleased to act as an Executor either alone or with a member of your family if you wish.

Banks may also act as Executors, but their charges are usually higher and cannot be challenged in the same way as the fees of a Solicitor.

A good combination is sometimes to have one professional Executor and one or more personal Executors.

HOW MANY EXECUTORS CAN I APPOINT?

You can appoint up to four Executors. You should appoint substitute Executors in case your first choice decides not to act or dies before you.

It may be sufficient to appoint your spouse or partner as a sole Executor initially but you should appoint at least two Executors in the event of you both having died.

If money is being held in a trust fund (for example until a child reaches the age of eighteen) a single Executor may be obliged to appoint a second Trustee to act jointly with him.

WHAT DO EXECUTORS DO?

Briefly Executors:

• bring in all your assets
  
• pay your debts and tax (if any)
  
• pay any gifts of money
  
• transfer any gifts or personal belongings
  
• deal with the remainder (your residuary estate) in accordance with your Will.
  

Non-professional Executors can ask a Solicitor to do some or all of the work for them.

DO EXECUTORS GET PAID?

Most Wills provide that Solicitors or other professional Executors will be paid their normal fees.

The charges of most Solicitors will normally range between 2% to 2.5% of the gross value of an estate. Their charges may be challenged independently as to what is "fair and reasonable" taking into account the value of the estate and the amount of work involved.

Wills on Wheels currently charge, on average, between 1.5% and 2% of the gross value of the estate. If preferred Wills on Wheels will agree a fixed fee in advance.

A bank’s charges may be considerably higher (perhaps 3.5% to 5% of the gross value of the estate).

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DO NOT APPOINT AN EXECUTOR?

IF you have not made a Will; or

Your Will fails to appoint an Executor; or

All your Executors have died before you; or

Your Executors have all decided not to act ("renounced");

THEN the Probate Registry will appoint someone to deal with your estate (your "Administrators") according to a legal pecking order.

There will always be someone able to wind up your estate but the person(s) appointed by the Probate Registry may not be your first choice.