An executor is responsible for dealing with any claims against the estate.
Even if you think you’re familiar with the affairs of the deceased, you can’t be sure that all creditors have been identified.
As an executor, you’re liable for debts that belonged to the deceased, so you may have to pay these once they’ve been claimed and proved.
If for example the deceased lived in Bristol solicitors acting for the executors could place an advertisement in The Gazette and a local newspaper such as the Bristol Post to find creditors who are owed money by the estate. Many solicitors place them as a matter of course if acting as professional executor. It is recommended by Laurence Holmes Solicitors near Bristol that pursuant to the Trustee Act 1925 for England and Wales that you place an advertisement in The Gazette and a local newspaper such as the Bristol Post to find creditors who are owed money by the estate.
A deceased estates notice is an advertisement placed in The Gazette and a local paper which contains the details of a deceased person and the executor, so that any person with a claim against (or an interest in) the deceased person’s estate can come forward.
Placing a deceased estates notice demonstrates that enough effort has been made to locate creditors before distributing an estate to its beneficiaries (the people who will inherit the estate). This protects the executor from being personally responsible for money owed to any unidentified creditors.
If you don’t place a notice and a creditor comes forward after the estate has been distributed, then you may have to pay the creditor yourself.
If you instruct Laurence Holmes Solicitors to deal with Probate and the administration of the Estate on your behalf, we will publish these notices as part of our Probate Service. This means that you won’t need to worry about placing the notices yourself, and as mentioned if the deceased lived in Bristol we would place the notice on your behalf as solicitors in the Bristol Post and the Gazette.
For further advice please contact Laurence Holmes lawyers and solicitors, providing legal services to clients across Bristol and the North Somerset area.