How long does Probate take? Less than 2 months in one case.

theartfullodger

Dear all MSEs..


Thought it might be worth posting my experience of handling Probate and the time-scales to assist anyone in future needing to deal with such matters.


Mother-in-Law died mid-February 2009.
Funeral about 2 weeks later
Probate interview (Winchester) early April 2009
Received Grant of Probate mid-April 2009. (just under 2 months from date of death).


There was a will & we knew which solicitor held the original (released with no problems at no charge). Will was fairly straightforward - everything to 2 offspring equally except for a few specific requests. There were no disputes & all of the family get on very well. Executors were 2 offspring (one my wife) but I did the work/paperwork, with instruction & signatures when needed. I really wasn't trying to do it fast – there were a few other matters to resolve as well as the rest of life to carry on. Indeed never having done it before I was rather plodding/methodical when filling in the forms. MiL's house was already with LandRegistry, registered in her name & her 2 offspring. There were 2 Life Assurance policies, 5 bank/building society accounts and a few premium bonds etc. etc.. Estate was about £130k (mainly MiL's share of house) so no Inheritance Tax issues.


I'd never dealt with Probate myself before. Probate Court (Winchester) were very helpful and understanding. The guidance from their website
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/index.htm
seemed to me straightforward and helpful, and there are good leaflets available. The fees were £92 (Standard charge + 2 extra copies of Grant).


Clearly I would have preferred my MiL to still be alive: She was a lovely lady.


Overall a much less difficult process than I expected. The Law Society (Solicitors trades' union) states “It is not unusual for it to take up to a year, perhaps longer if things are not straightforward” (Your Guide to Probate, Version1, 2005 see www.lawsociety.org.uk. ) Clearly it is not a race.


Now talking to Land Registry to get Title Deeds amended to remove MiL name (Planning to rent out house for the time being) and recovering monies from bank Accounts & one Life Policy with Grant of Probate.



Cheers & Best wishes to all


Lodger

dmg24

When my Grandma left us a year ago it also took just a few months. The house was already in the name of her children, and the will made it clear where the rest of the estate was to be allocated.

As horrid a subject as it can be, there is a lot to be said for forward planning, and also for good communication between the concerned parties.

debtfreein4years

its much easier to obtain probate when everything is straightforward. i used to work for a bank dealing with deceased accounts and probate can take anything from weeks to years. it does depend on how organised the deceased was and the size of their estate.

from personal experience with my late granddads estate, he died in december 07 and the estate accounts were finally settled at the start of this month due to complexities and irregularieties in his tax returns. probate was granted in november 08 after things had been wound up and agreed with hmrc.

gxx

squirrelchops

How about 31 years....is that a record!! Honestly....unfortunately was all due to it being land and person not leaving a will...very complicated. however, due to other circumstances it is now in the final stages..woohoo!

Biggles

Yes, I think that's about par for the course.

My mother died 11 Jan, probate interview 17 Feb, probate granted 26 Feb, just 6½ weeks.

Found the Probate Office very easy to deal with. My brother was the other executor but promptly signed the 'Power Reserved' form so I could handle everything.

Administering the estate was made much easier due to the fact I had held Power of Attorney, so had already been dealing with all her banking and savings accounts, and the house had already been sold as she went into a care home in 2006.

monkey_spank

Unfortunately most solicitors and the cowboy type willwriters will be telling you that it's a difficult and stressful task in your moment of grief and that they should be appointed as your executors.

It is straightforward, and you should appoint executors that are honest and sensible, so don't be fooled by those so called professionals.

Oh and yes I agree - try and keep your own affairs in order as that will certainly help your executors later.

beyond_skint

When my gran died it took 12 months

clarew76

I am just applying for Probate. My Grandmother died in November, left a will leaving everything to me and my brother apart from a small cash amount to her brother in law.

It will be posted off tomorrow so if anyone's interested I can put the timescales on here?

Clare

RAS

It took 9 months to extract the will from the legal firm who held it, and who refused to state whether they know if one of the executors was alive or not.

So we had to get our own legal representative so we could pay the IHT without probate and to extract the will from them.

However the necessary paperwork regarding value was all ready 6 weeks after the funeral. Once we located the second executor, it took 10 weeks to get the first major payout, most of that delay because the Probate Office demanded additional documents from the executors before allowing them to resign.