-
Money Moral Dilemma: Should my sibling compensate me for handling our parents' estates?
This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks... My sibling and I lost both parents, who were separated, in quick succession. My sibling lives overseas and has been great moral support, but hasn't been able to help with the huge amount of related admin. We split the inheritance equally and paid for flights from the shared…
-
Fee for obtaining Probate copies to increase
The Ministry of Justice has announced that the fee for obtaining copies of probate grants, wills or letters of administration in England and Wales will increase from £1.50 to £16 per copy on 17 November 2025. Notice appeared in London Gazette, spotted 14/11/25.Apologies if someone else has already reported this.
-
30 day survivorship clause - does time of day matter?
My father-in-law died 29 days ago.There is a 30-day survivorship clause in his will.We found out today that my mother-in-law, who has a Do Not Resuscitate in her notes, has been placed on an end-of-life pathway . She could pass today, tomorrow or could recover and go on for years. If she passes today, then the relevance of…
-
Meeting with IFA / Wealth Advisor & 2027 pension changes
We have been self-employed for 40 years, retired at 70 this year, I own my home and invested in commercial property and diverted surplus funds in to / my our SIPP's to the value of £1.5 million, house value 850k + savings. We had a meeting with a wealth advisor. IHT estimated at today's rates / regulations valuation is…
-
House sells for more than probate valuation?
Hi. Hopefully a straightforward question that I can't find the answer to here so far. What happens if my mother's house (father has already died) sells for more than the probate valuation? In the process of preparing to apply for probate, there will be no IHT to pay. Thanks in advance.
-
Does a 'will trust' / 'interest in possession trust' form part of the beneficiary's estate?
My father is named as sole beneficiary of what appears to be an interest in possession trust. My step mother died recently, her estate value is approx £275k, consisting of cash and shares. With regard to the trust, my step mothers will states only the following: 1) My father has the right to interest from the trust for…
-
"Informal arrangements" letter to HMRC - structure and contents query
I'm administering my late mother's estate. Everything was completed a week ago and I'm now ready to send an "informal arrangement" letter to HMRC to report the final figures. The estate meets the informal arrangements criteria. I'm not clear what information this letter should provide, or its structure and any…
-
Cannot find Will.
Hello all. I`m in the unfortunate position of having to deal with my Fathers estate after his recent death. My uncle says he had made a Will, but having looked I cannot find it (and in all honesty I don`t think he would have made one). I`m sole beneficiary and looking into doing the Probate at home hopefully as it should…
-
IHT400/IHT403. Gifts from surplus income help please.
Sorry for yet another post on gifts from surplus income, but I am going round in circles. I am the executor of my father's will and I am in the process of applying for probate. His affairs were pretty straightforward and his will leaves everything to his surviving spouse. The only thing I am unclear on is some gifting that…
-
Gifts from income or capital
I'm old enough now to be concerned about making things easy for my executors when I die. I know that I can make regular gifts out of surplus income that will not involve IHT but that these gifts must not erode my capital. What happens if my total expenditure over the year reduces my capital but some of my expenses are…
-
Making a Will
Hi, I am looking to make a simple Will for just myself and looking at using Farewill to draw this up. Has anyone used them and can recommend them or had any issues with them? They state that for a £10 subscription per year you can make unlimited changes to your Will and if you opt out of this you would need to pay £100 per…
-
Help Appreciated - IPDI , Trusts and distribution of previous legacies
I thought I could sort out my dad’s estate but probate and
IHT and other anomalies are becoming confusing
the more I read and find on the web. Dad died at the beginning of September and I'm one of three
executors who are the three main beneficiaries. My sister wanted to get legal
help but I persuaded her to do it ourselves…
-
Fudiciary Law and executors
Hello, I would like to know if the inventory list of a deceased estate is available to the public (that's me)! I am aware of a situation regarding the conduct of the executors. 1. The person died in September 2022. 2. Money has yet to be paid to a creditor. 3. They pulled out of the sale of property located in France which…
-
LPA application process questions
I
have valid EPA but have decided to draw up LPAs for Property &
Finance and Health & Welfare and register them immediately. I’ve
almost completed the 1st, but have a couple of questions
which will apply to both: I’ve
appointed husband & son as Attorneys to act jointly &
severally. As husband is a couple of years older…
-
NIL: RATE BAND DISCRETIONARY TRUST
my wife died last Nov ands her death invoked a NRB trust, it was a pre 2007 way to avoid IHT. Our combined assets are nowhere near IHT threshold, but I want to close this NRB. Our Property title has a standard FORM A Restriction 'no disposition by a sole prprietor....etc' which I can remove witha RX3 through Land Registry…
-
Discretionary Trust Will - how to wind up and do we need to do a DOV
My dad passed away this summer so my mum, brother and I as executors are sorting out his estate. As he had a discretionary trust will we are wondering whether we need to get further advice from a solicitor to action certain things or whether having a solicitor involved is even necessary. We would value any advice here so…
-
Do I need an interest bearing Executors account?
Hi, As an Executor to an estate I am concerned about my personal Income tax. I have obtained grant of Probate and received the savings from the financial institutions. I used an old Nationwide Flex account to receive and pay out funds. The problem is with my MIL's flat which has structural problems. This is likely to cost…
-
Died intestate with no assets and catalogue seeking payment
Hi, I hope someone more knowledgable than me can help. My mother in law died intestate over 4 weeks ago. Her policies paid for the funeral and she had no assets, the house was rented and she had very little left in the bank. No letters of administration were applied for as the policies did not require these, neither did…
-
SIPP and probate application
I'm about to send in a probate application for the estate of my late cousin, who passed away aged 69. He left a SIPP - am I correct in thinking this doesn't have to be declared anywhere on the form? I realise it is not subject to IHT (yet). Grateful for any help.
-
Tenants in Common and IHT
A while back when making new (mirror) wills my parents (married) changed their owned outright (no mortgage) property from joint tenants to TIC on the advice of their solicitor. Their wills say that any cash etc will go the surviving spouse, their portion of the house (50% each) is left to direct descendants…
