Probate

Dilly

Unfortunately my oh and I are down to one parent each. While both are fairly healthy, we have had to start thinking about life without the.
On both occasions of our other parents death we have not been activly involved in all of the paperwork
Could someone please explain how Probate works and what we shall need to do?
I am particularly concerned as my sister, who does nothing for my father, will decend upon the place and take whatever she can get her hands on. Sad I know but true and I'd like to be better informed as to the process and to the legalities of the situation
Any info is greatly received

fredsnail

Information about probate can be found here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029799

Information on applying for probate can be found here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029716

I suspect though that will not be enough to stop your sister, maybe you'll need to get a locksmith to change the locks for security purposes if you don't know where any spare keys are?

fs

flossy_splodge

Are you an executor in either case?
if not, might be worth finding out who will have these duties and then you know who to look for as and when the vulture(s) descend as it's the executors role, I believe, to ensure this problem doesn't arise.
Also, do you have Power of Attorney inplace?
Could be so very important if one of your remaining parents were to become incapable. Same scenario often happens in this situation (ie vulture(s) descending). :eek:

ukmaggie45

Have your parents written wills? Do you know where they are? If not, who does? Even with wills in place it takes time for Probate to be granted.

My parents both died in 2007 (July and September) and due to the incompetence of the solicitor named jointly as executor with my husband we are still waiting for most of my inheritance. :mad: Last week the last of the money left to my daughters and to my husband by my mother was finally paid out (the girls had half a few months ago). I am still awaiting the shares to be transferred to me. We had to instruct another solicitor (this one is a STEP practitioner) to sort out the mess. And it seems it is likely to be an even worse mess than we suspected. :eek:

I started a thread about it all here. It now stretches over 12 pages (!) and a lot of very generous people have shared information there.

I hope that your remaining parents remain in good health for a long time. But you should also consider what they (and you) would do if they need care at home or in a care/nursing home at some time in the future. Monkeyspanner's thread on Continuing Health Care has a lot of useful information about this.

I applaud your decision to get information ahead of events! :A

Best wishes, Maggie

monkeyspanner

Encourage your respective parents to make wills (if not already done). They should appoint preferably 2 executors each (in case one predeceases them) and I would say better not to use solictors or banks as these are very costly and time consuming. Ask them to tell you who the executors are and where the paperwork and wills are kept. Sensitive matter I know!

If the worst happens you should let the relevant executor know immediately and it will be their responsibility to secure all the assets and gather together all information to prepare for obtaining probate. Nothing should be removed from the deceased property and their personal effects should be given to the executor for valuation. I know it is not uncommon for anything of value to be divided up unofficially but this should not take place prior to valuation or without the executors knowledge.

Essentially the executor has to value the deceased estate at the date of death so the IHT can be paid and probate granted. The degree of difficulty this involves will be related to the type and extent of the deceased pocessions and investments. Because my MIL's estate was simple and under the IHT limit I obtained probate in 5 weeks, but it can take considerably longer, my BIL's took me more like 5 months. If the estate is worth less than £200,000 then it is more or less a formality to obtain probate and pretty staightforward.

Practical suggestions:
-Obtain a number of copies of the death certificate dependant on the number of financial organisations you have to deal with, so you can deal with them simultaneously. They can take a long time to deal with paperwork and return documents so you can send the paperwork out to the next company.

-Obtain a number of certified copies of the will for the same reasons.

-If you need valuations of valuables e.g.furniture, jewellery make sure the valuer knows it is for probate as this value will be lower than for insurance purposes.

-If any pocessions could depreciate quickly try to get them liquidated asap as tax will be payable on the value at the date of death. If the value falls and the asset is not exchanged for cash you can end up paying more tax than you should.

Dilly

Thanks for all the adviceeveryone. It is appreicated
Part of the problem is that both my sister and myself are executors, together with a family friend. Both parents do have wills
I am more concerned that things will 'go missing' and can see things getting nasty. Not that I mind that and I am quite prepared for it to happen.
A better understanding of the whole process can only be to my benefit. Forewarned is forearmed as they say

Pee

It is worth noting that as executors, you could take it to a solicitor to deal with. You would then be the executors and "in charge" and the solicitors could assist you as required. This means you could do what you wanted/ were able to and ask them to do the rest. You can apply for Probate direct through the Probate Registry, but unless you have a lot of spare time and find the process interesting (in which case maybe you should look into becoming a Probate solicitor, there is a shortage) you will find it a lot easier, basically because there are two systems in place and solicitors can use the simple system with a lower court fee.

CLAPTON

Dilly wrote: »

Thanks for all the adviceeveryone. It is appreicated
Part of the problem is that both my sister and myself are executors, together with a family friend. Both parents do have wills
I am more concerned that things will 'go missing' and can see things getting nasty. Not that I mind that and I am quite prepared for it to happen.
A better understanding of the whole process can only be to my benefit. Forewarned is forearmed as they say

It is very difficult to prevent 'things going missing' if your sister has access to the house especially as both of you are executors.

Otherwise the important things are probably to make sure you know where all the paperwork is... basically details of their assets
.. house, bank a/cs, saving a/cs, stock and shares, pension details, any high value goods
and also details of any debts

Whether it's worth involving a solicitor depends upon how complicated their affairs are and whether you feel you can/wish to do it yourself...
and of course the likley value of the estate.

The basic process is straightforward.

The main drawback of solicitors is they charge quite a lot and take a very long time to resolve things.