How to settle the estate of a deceased relative and force late banks to hand over cash

Stephen Gold is a retired judge and author who recently acted as executor of his beloved late aunt.

In part one of a series in which the frustrating ordeal of being an executor, he explained how financial institutions can be forced to pay damages for unacceptable errors and delays.

In the second episode he described how to be an ‘unbiased’ goodwill payment from the estate service.

Today, in his guide aimed at helping This is Money readers sort out a loved one’s finances, he collects even more compensation for her state of underserved businesses.

It should now be a piece of cake. Shouldn’t it? No.

You may have obtained that grant of probate, but you will probably discover that getting money ‘out’ is not as fast as ‘getting it in’.

Banks and mortgage banks rightly want to see the inheritance document.

It’s worth asking the easement service for additional certified copies of probate at £1.50 each so you can send them all to anyone who needs them at the same time.

In each case, I sent institutions holding my aunt’s money a copy of the probate document, stamped with the Supreme Court’s seal and a nice little silver seal to boot. I even included a small certificate from myself as to its authenticity.

Paper was a bit thin, although you can’t expect too much for a fee of £273 (but no fee if the value of the estate is £5,000 or less, or if you’re on a low income or receive certain benefits).

However, that’s all you get these days: no longer a more robust document with a copy of the deceased’s will attached and treated as the original probate.

Charter Savings Bank threw it back. They could not accept a certified copy. I protested. They withdrew their objection.

Close Brothers has let me down again. After 19 days of getting my papers, they still hadn’t paid out. I complained. They processed the payment the next day and paid a fee of £50.

“I can assure you that we are taking steps to ensure that such a situation does not happen again,” they told me.

Zopa was quick enough to pay what was owed after they received the paperwork, but getting a final statement from them — an essential step to check the numbers — was another matter.

Nothing for 15 days after asking and then only online access, needed a username and password which didn’t work for me.

A complaint acknowledged the delay and led to the payment of £50 compensation – and a copy of the statement by post which I had pleaded for.

Vanquis Bank Savings was the slowest. After waiting 29 days for payment and despite filing a complaint, they were still sitting on the estate money.

And just as irritating and clumsy, they won’t transfer money electronically, but insist on sending a check when they lift their finger, resulting in additional delays that occur. I called and moaned.

“I’ll send you a check today, first class,” they said.

“Why does it have to be a check?”

“We don’t do electronic transfers to executors, but we’ve had other complaints about this and that’s something we’re looking into.”

They had specifically told me they didn’t need proof of my identity because I had saved with them on my own. As a result, they checked me out ages ago.

The check arrived seven days later. The company’s distribution department handling the secondment was ‘rotating department’, leading to delays for which they were sorry – as was I.

Vanquis has since apologized for the overall delay with a £50 compensation offer which I accepted. It took nine days for the apology letter to be delivered, but that may be partly or entirely due to Royal Mail and that’s another matter for another day.

NS&I had received paperwork for the repayment of Premium Bonds from me for almost 28 days. An acknowledgment but still no money. The gentleman who answered my call sounded extremely charming and helpful. I asked if he was a robot.

“I’m a virtual assistant,” he said. He then indicated that since no magical 28 days had passed, I should come back on another day.

The bond money landed in my bank account 27 days after the paperwork. But not some prize money after death. Warrants would follow. They did.

My award for the fastest payer of a deceased person’s estate – cue drumroll – goes to Oxbury Bank, which had previously paid me compensation for delay, but paid itself back.

It came up with the account balance due within eight days of receiving a copy of the probate and accepted photocopies of all relevant documentation sent by email. What bliss.

Final Comment: Will My Story Help You? Can you help me?

My efforts to hold accountable the banks and firms that rendered bad services raised about £600 more to my aunt’s estate and her beneficiaries.

Besides, I have to rewrite my own will and find a new executor. If anyone is interested, let me know. Are you still there? Where have you been? My business is quite simple. Coming back. Please!

> Do you have any feedback for Stephen Gold and This is Money about your experiences as an executor? Are you waiting for the granting of inheritance rights and how long has the delay been so far? Have you managed to get financial firms to pay a fee?

Tell us in the comments below, or write us at editor@thisismoney.co.uk (mention EXECUTOR in the subject line).