US/UK Estate Planning and Executors.
Feb 27th 2021, 10:26 pm
#1
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US/UK Estate Planning and Executors.
Here are the facts; I'm divorced, US/UK citizen living in Massachusetts, no children and all my relatives are UK citizens living in the UK. UK inheritance is not an issue, US Federal inheritance tax is not yet an issue, but MA estate tax will be. I have named my nieces back in the UK and a couple of charities as beneficiaries on my financial accounts ie IRAs, 401ks etc so it's just the will, power of attorney, healthcare directive and revokable trust for my house to avoid probate that he will be drafting. I am also giving money each year to the relatives to manage the MA tax liability. He has advised me against naming UK relatives as Executors as a practical matter. So it looks like I will name the lawyer as Executor. To set things up will cost $1500 and he estimates a cost (at today's rates) of around $25k to be the Executor, nothing should have to go through probate.
So what have other expats done about wills and inheritance? Did you employ a lawyer as Executor and how much did it cost?
So what have other expats done about wills and inheritance? Did you employ a lawyer as Executor and how much did it cost?
Feb 28th 2021, 5:55 pm
#2
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
Posts: 9,965
Re: US/UK Estate Planning and Executors.
We had our wills drawn up by a US lawyer some years ago. 2 Executors, one son in the US and one son In England. One can deal with our UK affairs and the other the US ones. Wills were straight forward everything to the other spouse, or divided equally between 3 sons. The lawyer wasn't worried about overseas executors and charged us $300 each for the two wills. Some years ago is around 2008.
Mar 1st 2021, 11:32 am
#3
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Location: Athens GA
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Re: US/UK Estate Planning and Executors.
The US lawyer who drew up our wills would not act as executor, saying it involved a conflict of interest. Instead we have appointed the trust department of a local bank as our executor. It so happens that they have extensive experience of handling wills with both UK and USA assets.
Mar 1st 2021, 1:17 pm
#4
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Re: US/UK Estate Planning and Executors.
The US lawyer who drew up our wills would not act as executor, saying it involved a conflict of interest. Instead we have appointed the trust department of a local bank as our executor. It so happens that they have extensive experience of handling wills with both UK and USA assets.
Mar 1st 2021, 2:20 pm
#5
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Location: Athens GA
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Re: US/UK Estate Planning and Executors.
OK, as I don't have family in the US I either have to use a close friend or some sort of professional. Do you have any idea what your executor bank will charge to settle your estate? That seems to be a difficult number to get as it will depend on the complexity of the estate and maybe the size.
