But circumstances change – not least these days that we are all living a lot longer than we might have expected even a few years ago. The wonders of modern medicine are one thing but living does obviously come at a cost and that means we might work our way through more of our assets than we had banked on – including having to dip into savings that we had originally ring-fenced for family members after our death.
The cost of burying your mother is the first claim on any cash in the estate. They get paid even before the tax authorities or any other “secured creditors”. The executor is also entitled to what are called testamentary and administration expenses. These are essentially the costs – legal and otherwise – in dealing with the estate, including the cost of probate.
Only once all that is done do we get to what’s left in the estate for distributing under the terms of the will. This is where things might get tricky and you will probably need to talk to a solicitor. Getting back to your mother’s will then, there is a ranking order here. Legacies are apparently not all of equal standing.