Family Pay Price for Executor Appointment

When appointing an executor, it is vital that you make sure you choose someone who is trustworthy. Where co-executors are appointed, it is important that they will all oversee the estate administration. The wisdom of an assiduous approach when deciding who to appoint is illustrated by a recent criminal case in which an executor, who had a previous conviction for fraud, was convicted of the theft of thousands of pounds from the estate of his late uncle.

During the administration of the estate, the man pretended that there was a substantial tax bill to be settled and used that as an excuse to pocket more than £25,000.

He also stole sums totalling more than £4,000, taking out credit cards in the names of his parents.

The executor had previously been jailed for two years for defrauding customers of the bank for which he worked out of more than £150,000.

The later fraud was discovered when one of the co-executors realised that his signature had been forged on a cheque drawn on the estate bank account.

Click here for advice on making your estate easier for your executors to administer.