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I am in the process of a probate/inheritance since a relative of mine died.

There are different kinds of assets which the executor I hired to process the probate needs to consolidate. He already received necessary informations from the banks etc.

He told me, the next step is to contact the IRS and send them a form / list of all assets. Next, he plans to transfer all money from the different bank accounts to one single account, in order for the split to be easier to handle.

In order to do so, he requires the bank books, which currently are in my physical posession.

He argues, that without them, it will be much harder to get the banks to agree on the transfer and that this would be a time consuming process.

What guarantees, that if I hand out those bank books he does not disappear with all of them?

Is this standard procedure?

If this is important: the location is Sweden, the executor is from https://www.familjensjurist.se/

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  • The estate is also in sweden.
    – boxer402
    Sep 20, 2022 at 12:29
  • Is the executor an attorney? In most countries, attorneys have fiduciary responsibilities so that you can have confidence in the attorney that you are hiring.
    – new name
    Sep 20, 2022 at 13:01
  • Yes, he is an attorney.
    – boxer402
    Sep 20, 2022 at 13:44

1 Answer 1

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What guarantees, that if I hand out those bank books he does not disappear with all of them?

Like many things in life, that he would be committing a crime that he could go to jail for and lose his license to practice law.

Especially for an attorney, who is likely somewhat wealthy and has a reasonably successful career. Even if that amount in your bank books is large, he or she doesn't have incentive to risk jail and his or her career to steal your money.

This attorney likely does this all the time as well and maybe even for much larger amounts than you have. If the attorney was going to steal money they likely would have done it already.

In the end, you need to have some trust for professionals that you hire.

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  • I think an important caveat to this answer is - how do you know that this person is a lawyer? OP should clarify that this legal firm was found in a registered list of law offices in their region if possible. If it truly is a registered law office, and especially if it is a multi-person firm, then it is quite likely that their assets surrendered are protected directly by law. Sep 20, 2022 at 18:24

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