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3.
Demutualisation
3.2
Halifax Advice
Notification of death
It was late on 8 January 1997 in the evening that I received the
telephone call that my father had unexpectedly passed away.
Although it was late, the first thing I did was to pass the
message onto our immediate family.
By profession I am an Accountant and had year-end
responsibilities (the financial year-end of the company I worked
for was 31 December 1996) and so although I needed time off and
my employers were generous, I was not able to take as much leave
as I would have liked.
I drove to Bognor Regis on both 9 and 10 January 1997 and
visited the Bank, Funeral Director's, Father's house, Doctor's
surgery, the Registry Office and the Halifax Building Society in
London Road Bognor Regis.
Visit to the Halifax
Looking at the notes I made at the time, I went to the Halifax
office at 11:45am on 10 January 1997 and I was told by the
Halifax that:
We must change the account name and consider whether my
brother's or my name should appear first on the account as
executors to maximise the share bonus.
The name should
be the name of the person who would otherwise have received the
lowest bonus.
The account
balance can be increased, and we should ensure the balance at
the end of February 1997 was at least the balance on 24 November
1994.
We would lose the share bonus if we closed the account or did
not change the name.
I explained to a tall gentleman called Tim the financial
position of my brother and myself with regards to our
investments and borrowings with the Halifax, and his
recommendation was that my name should appear first on the
passbook, as this would result is my father's estate receiving
the maximum share bonus consisting of the fixed and variable
shares.
Return Trip to Bognor Regis
On 14 January 1997 I returned to Bognor Regis, registered the
death, made final arrangements with the Funeral Directors and
handed in my father's pension book to the DSS. While I was in
Bognor Regis, I confirmed with my father's bank at 10:45am that
they needed probate forms before they could release the funds.
The Halifax Building Society also confirmed that they too needed
probate forms before they could change the account details.
While there I confirmed our proposed action was optimum. After I
left, I realised I had not identified the final balance on the
account.
Agreement with my brother
Since the Halifax had advised me that my name must appear first
on the renamed account, there seemed no point in my brother
acting as an executor as this would not affect the share
allocation (later found to be false). So, I suggested he need
not apply to being a joint signatory as this would have
unnecessarily impeded the probate process.
So, I telephoned the Halifax later on 14 January 1997 to
identify the current balance on the account and noted it on the
Halifax Letter what the balance was. We needed just under £1,000
to maximise the share bonus and my brother offered to fund this,
and I accepted his offer. The scan below shows my telephone call
to the Halifax and a follow up fax transmission.
I posted the Probate forms off to Winchester on 15 January 1997.
Funeral and Halifax Top-Up
17 January 1997 was a sad day and the day of my father's
funeral; friends and relatives arrived, including my brother
from London. After the funeral we adjourned to the White Swan
and reminisced. Later in the afternoon, my brother and
myself visited the Halifax Building Society, reconfirmed what we
were doing was correct with the staff and my brother deposited
£1,000 into my father's Halifax Building Society Account.
Summary
To summarise. My father's death was very sudden and unexpected
and I had year-end accounting work pressures that left me with
limited time to do the research I probably should have done. I
sought guidance from the Halifax Building Society on the optimum
approach I should take to maximise the share bonus and followed
that guidance through.
I was therefore convinced that I knew that the estate would
receive 450 Halifax plc shares. I had relied upon the Halifax
Building Society providing honest and accurate advice.
Page created on
26 June 2002, last updated:
22 October 2006 22:54
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