- The amount of work involved
The first thing to think about when choosing your executors is the amount of work involved. If your estate is relatively small and doesn’t require the sale of any property, a financially-savvy friend or family member may be comfortable acting as an executor. But if the situation is more complex and requires the sale and distribution of property, you may be better off choosing a professional executor service.
- How they’ll feel after your death
Another thing to consider is whether the people you choose will appreciate having to deal with your estate. Between dealing with grief and planning your funeral, being an executor of a will can feel like an unwelcome burden to some people, so it’s important to bear this in mind when appointing executors in your will.
- How much it will cost
If you choose to appoint a professional executor service, there will be a fee involved for them to deal with your estate. Traditionally, this is either worked out as an hourly rate or on a percentage basis – sometimes even a combination of the two. So if your estate is worth £500,000 at the time of your death, this could end up costing £20,000.
We understand that people like knowing exactly what things are going to cost upfront, so we created a more transparent executor service called Will Help Trustees. Rather than working on a percentage or hourly rate basis, we charge between £1,000 and £2,750 depending on the complexity of your estate. This is always quoted upfront, so you know exactly how much this will cost in advance.
