Better together
The Scottish Independence Referendum in September got many people thinking. Few
of us get to do something really influential in our lifetimes, so for those who got to vote
on a nation’s status, it must have felt very empowering. The electoral turn out shows that
when a decision really matters, we feel more engaged in it, and the outcome suggests
that, to the majority, doing things together is often better than going it alone.
A Will is probably the most influential document most of us will make: it can govern
everything we own and, in writing one, we get to make far reaching decisions about
what happens on our deaths. Perhaps, more significantly, we also get to choose who will
deal with everything when we are gone.
The first concern for many of us is choosing who will inherit our assets; the appointment
of executors is secondary. But merely having this choice is already a big advantage for
those who write Wills: the intestacy rules (which apply where no Will is left) don’t allow
any choice at all over who deals with an estate.
Exercising that choice requires careful handing. The Will writer needs to have complete
confidence that their executor will carry out their wishes, which usually means having a
good and objective understanding of family circumstances. It might also mean having
to deal with a few of those elephants that have remained in the room. For many couples,
when one of them goes, the family dynamics they leave will change.
The tasks for an executor can be both daunting and exacting. Their duties extend to
registering the death and arranging the funeral; identifying every asset and liability as
at the date of death including joint assets, sometimes to the nearest penny; obtaining
reliable valuations of assets such as jewellery, shares and property; ensuring all income
tax responsibilities have been met including filing returns; making sure that any
inheritance tax liability is identified and can be paid on time; and arranging bridging
finance if needs be. Only then can the executor call in the assets and use the proceeds to
pay the debtors (in the correct order, of course), draw up a formal account of the estate
and, finally, make distributions to the beneficiaries.