Advice please. Can this financial advisor do more to help a friend?

It sounds like a can of worms. Executors have to deal with the will in accordance with the law and an IFA should be well aware of the consequences of acting fraudulently in the way the woman thinks he should do as executor. Their responsibility is to the estate and they are not allowed to show bias in favour of any beneficiary. The woman needs to be told that the executor has to deal with the will strictly according to the law and that there is no room for "flexibility" in this context. Just because she thinks that wills are often dealt with illegally is no excuse.

Peter Crosland

If your question is "Can something an adviser does *outside* of work affect his position *in* work", then the answer is definitely yes. Presumably he's authorised by the FSA, in which case he has to satisfy the 'fit and proper' test. If he was found to have, say,dishonestly provided incorrect dates for gifts with the intention of defrauding HMRC of inheritance tax, that might well result in him losing his authorisation and thus being fired.

It seems strange to me that this is a problem now. Does the daughter feel that there is a particular 'rule' that she wants him to bend?

In what way does she think he might be willing to bend the rules? You've made an example of falsifying the dates on which gifts were made. If quoting the wrong date purposely results in less IHT being paid then that is tax evasion and carries penalties. One might ask, who would know, if no record of the gift was made? But this might be challenged by the Revenue. It's fraught with problems and if the IFA ends up in clink then, yes, it will affect his career. Can the daughter give an example of an executor actually having been flexible, or is she just guessing?

Rob Graham

There are two distinct issues here. First, there's the administration of the

*estate* - which is gathering in all the assets, applying for probate, and settling any IHT and other relevant tax bills. If *anyone* doing this is caught acting illegally - such as making false declarations in order to avoid IHT - it is taken very seriously, and the person may incur severe penalties. This won't do the career of a Financial Advisor any good!

Then there's the administration of the *Will* - which involves distributing the net assets in the way laid down by the deceased. On completion of the probate process, the Will will be placed in the public domain - so all beneficiaries can see what they are entitled to. If the Executor exercises 'flexibility' in favour of one beneficiary at the expense of the others, it may not be illegal per se - but it could certainly be challenged in the civil courts. However, if *all* the beneficiaries agree, there's no reason why the estate can't be divided in a different way from that laid down in the Will. This would best be handled by drawing up a Deed of Variation. Care needs to be taken because this *could* affect IHT liability if, for example, an asset which was to have passed to a spouse tax-free passes to someone else instead.

Everyone here is assuming fraudulent intent, but it is possible to change a will quite legally, as long as all the affected beneficiaries agree.

It is? In what way would people go about doing this - I certainly dont want my will being changed whatsoever, especially with regard to trusts for my minor nephews.

Roger Mills has already given the answer to that. I believe the trust would be a beneficiary, so would have to agree to such a change. However you should consult a lawyer if you want to be sure that your will is watertight. IANAL.

If the executor does not treat distribute the estate according to law that is also serious since it is a breach of trust for which he could incur criminal penalties. There is no question about a Deed of Variation being the "best" way to deal with some agreed changes it is the only way. However, the tone of the OP strongly suggests that the daughter was expecting some kind of underhand behaviour by the executor.

Peter Crosland

You're out of luck then. If *all" of the recipients agree to the change there is nothing that you can do to stop them changing it.

tim

The beneficiaries can, if they all agree, arrange a Deed of Family Arrangement in which they can change who gets what. This can be a big help in mitigating inheritance tax, for example.

Rob Graham