Slow Probate / Inheritance?

redrosegirlie

Hi,

Can anyone tell me the average time to have to wait from probate being granted to gaining assets such as savings / stocks and shares etc?

It has been 7 weeks now since probate was granted on my FIL estate and he had a few bank accounts, a couple of investment policies and some shares.

Is the solicitor being slow or are the bnks taking an unusually long time with dealing with the requests?

Thanks

dzug1

The solicitor is being slow, but solicitors always are slow. I'd allow at least 3 months

He has to send an official copy of the Probate document to each of the institutions. Depending on how many copies he ordered (heaven forbid it was only one....) he has to wait for it to come back before writing to the next one. There's bound to be at least one that takes ages to reply.

Even when he's collected the money in he will probably want to advertise for claims which I think has to have a month for replies.

So don't hold your breath. DIY is always quicker if the will allows it and you are reasonably organised/in the right frame of mind to do it.

redrosegirlie

dzug1 wrote: »

Even when he's collected the money in he will probably want to advertise for claims which I think has to have a month for replies.

Why would he need to do this if all of his estate is willed to his wife?

ukmaggie45

My parents died in 2007 (Dad in July, Mum in September. We had probate granted in July this year, and are still waiting. :mad:

The solicitor named as executor jointly with my husband has been ridiculously slow all along, and now we have another solicitor involved. Parents' accountant found it very hard to get details needed for tax returns too.

You can read the whole dreadful story in my thread in Silver Savers - Solicitor slow over probate... Be warned, it's a VERY long thread! 10 pages. :eek:

Currently the smaller legacies have been paid out, our daughters have had half of their inheritance, and I've had the lump sum that was named in Mum's will. I am the residual beneficiary. Husband hasn't had money left to him in Mum's will yet.

Are you keeping the shares? New solicitor said it can take some time for ownership to be transferred. Might be worth asking for an interim payment?

Best of luck!

redrosegirlie

Maggie, your story is awful !

Originally the solicitor said it would take approx 2 weeks for the money to start coming in. I hope he ordered numerous copies of the probate but I don't know for certain.

The shares are being cashed in. This decision was made before the credit crunch

My MIL is unwilling to chase it for fear of 'upsetting' him

Pennywise

Don't automatically blame your solicitor.

I've been doing my mother's estate myself and have been constantly annoyed at how slow EVERYONE moves.

I sent off probate to Halifax bank and it took them well over 2 months to release the monies from basic bank accounts. It is three months already and nothing back from National Savings.

I had no end of trouble getting probate in the first place. Not because any of the forms were wrong, but the probate registry was just soooooooooo slow - they say to expect a delay of 4 weeks, but they took the best part of three months before they even looked at the probate application forms - they weren't waiting for anyone else as there was no IHT so they couldn't blame HMRC delays. Even when I went for the meeting to make the declaration, they hadn't done the paperwork and had to run it off whilst keeping me waiting.

It even took the doctor the best part of a week before he signed the death certificate (natural causes and not unexpected).

ukmaggie45

redrosegirlie wrote: »

The shares are being cashed in. This decision was made before the credit crunch

We decided to keep the shares as when Dad died they were losing value fast. Might have sold at least some of them if they'd been transferred in a timely manner following probate for Mum, but as it stands I just see the value dropping each day. Ah well, easy come, easy go... :rolleyes:

redrosegirlie wrote: »

My MIL is unwilling to chase it for fear of 'upsetting' him

I wouldn't be too bothered about 'upsetting' a solicitor any more after what we've been through. Husband had several meetings with ours, mostly he just didn't address the questions asked. Lots of phone calls, when he was inevitably out - 'in court', 'in London', 'on holiday', 'working at home'.

Accountant quite worried by it all.

Even new solicitor had problems getting to speak with him (not sure they managed to), and he didn't answer letters either for ages. Finally did just before second solicitor went on holiday (will be back end of next week I think).

BTW a word of warning - solicitors charge an hourly rate, but also take a percentage (up to one and a half percent :eek:) of the Gross value of the estate.

dzug1

redrosegirlie wrote: »

Why would he need to do this if all of his estate is willed to his wife?

In case there are debts that he hasn't been told about - or even your mother doesn't know about. Unlikely, maybe, but he needs to cover his back as he will be personally liable for them if he doesn't advertise.

redrosegirlie

dzug1 wrote: »

In case there are debts that he hasn't been told about - or even your mother doesn't know about. Unlikely, maybe, but he needs to cover his back as he will be personally liable for them if he doesn't advertise.

Oh, I see although I am pertty sure there are no debts outstanding.

I think it is disgusting that banks keep hold of money that is not theirs to keep !

dzug1

redrosegirlie wrote: »

Oh, I see although I am pertty sure there are no debts outstanding.

I think it is disgusting that banks keep hold of money that is not theirs to keep !

They will continue to pay interest up to the date of payment though.

But I share your frustration at the slowness with which things happen

redrosegirlie

Maggie, the fees worry me also as when MIL asked how much it would be the solicitor said don't worry about that, it won't be much :eek:

I'm pleased that interest is being added however the shares value has dropped / falling still