Should I appoint a solicitor as an executor of my will?

Your executors, whoever they are, will carry out the terms of your will, which means they are ultimately responsible for the probate process. Choosing your executors is an important part of making a will.

Your executor does not have to be a solicitor

The executor of your will does not have to be a solicitor or other professional. He or she can be a relative, such as a spouse, civil partner or child, a friend, business partner and so on.

The choice of executor is entirely yours.

Advice from The Law Society

 The Law Society – the body which represents solicitors in England and Wales – offers guidance to solicitor-executors. Here are the key points, slightly re-worded:

1. An executor does not have to be a solicitor or other professional (hopefully your solicitor will remind you of this!);
2. Your solicitor can promote their services as an executor, but they must act and advise in your best interests;
3. You can and should ask the solicitor for their likely costs, both for carrying out the probate and for acting as executor (all solicitors should be clear on their pricing structure, and most will make a distinction between probate and acting as an executor);
4. The solicitor should tell you the basis of their costs, such as hourly rate, percentage or (less commonly) fixed fee; and
5. The solicitor should be clear and upfront about all potential fees.

These tips are just as valid for any other professional executor, such as a bank.

Advantages of a solicitor-executor

You may feel it advantagous to appoint a solicitor as your executor if:

1. You wish for your estate to be administered by the solicitor in question (the estate may be administered slightly more efficiently if the solicitor dealing with probate is also the executor);
2. You have no close relatives or friends who you wish to appoint as executor; and/or
3. You have close relatives who do not see eye-to-eye, and it may be advantageous for a third-party to administer the estate.

Asking a solicitor to renounce

What happens if a solicitor was appointed as an executor in a will, the testator (person who made the will) has died and you would prefer to deal with the estate yourself?

You should ask the solicitor if they are willing to renounce, which means to give up the right to act as executor. A solicitor is not obliged to step down, but he or she should act in the estate’s best interests. If it is the best interests of the estate for the solicitor to step down (perhaps because it is a small and simple estate, not warranting professional fees), the solicitor should renounce.