Probate - Advice on best solution for House ownership

Rouseman

Hi All

This is my first thread on this forum so apologies if this is the wrong location ...

My mother passed away in May leaving her estate (incl the house) to both myself and my brother equally, nothing has been left for our father. We are dealing with the probate and I have a number of questions with regards to how to best deal with the house to:

1) Provide security to my father
2) Preservation of Assets for future generations & allow for options later on
3) Maximise return
4) Local Authority & Care Homes cannot take into consideration

I have already seen a solicitor; could anyone please advise who I could see to provide me with the best advice on this?? i.e. Financial advisor, another solicitor or other organisation \ body?

Many Thanks in advance

Terry

slummymummyof2

Rouseman wrote: »

Hi All

This is my first thread on this forum so apologies if this is the wrong location ...

My mother passed away in May leaving her estate (incl the house) to both myself and my brother equally, nothing has been left for our father. We are dealing with the probate and I have a number of questions with regards to how to best deal with the house to:

1) Provide security to my father
2) Preservation of Assets for future generations & allow for options later on
3) Maximise return
4) Local Authority & Care Homes cannot take into consideration

I have already seen a solicitor; could anyone please advise who I could see to provide me with the best advice on this?? i.e. Financial advisor, another solicitor or other organisation \ body?

Many Thanks in advance

Terry

Hi Terry - sorry to hear about your mother passing away. :(You're going through a tough time made harder by dealing with probate and things. You could try contacting ITC Legal. They have a free probate helpline, can talk you through what to do with a self-help pack & do home visits if necessary. 0800 195 2924 Hope that helps. Jeni x
PS - I think they work out cheaper than a solicitor.

zzzLazyDaisy

You don't have to pay anyone to sort probate out.

If you speak to your local probate office, they will talk you through the procedure. They are used to bereaved people dealing with these things and are incredibly helpful.

If you want your father to remain in the house, you simply need to follow the will's instructions to vest the property in the joint names of the two beneficiaries. As co-owners you can then let your father stay in the house as long as you want. That would be a private arrangement, and as the will leaves him no interest in the house, there is no issue re care homes.

There may be IHT to pay depending on the size of the estate (you need a valuation on the house), and if the two owners later sell there may be CGT, if the owners have not lived in the house as their principle private residence, depending on how much the house has risen in value from the date they inherited the house, but both co-owners can use their annual CGT exemption to set off against this.

Finally, this is the sort of thing that can get complicated, and you will only ever get general information on a public forum. If, after speaking to the probate office, you are still struggling, you should seek advice. Personally, if things are that complicated, I'd go for a solicitor who is quailfied to deal with probate issues, but that's just me.

slummymummyof2

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

You don't have to pay anyone to sort probate out.

I'd go for a solicitor who is quailfied to deal with probate issues, but that's just me.

Sorry - should've said... as far as I could understand from their website they don't charge for advice or call outs. I think they just make the same charges that a solicitor would but cheaper . I just thought the phone advice might be better than a public forum (as you said lasydaisy!)

Rouseman

Hi All

Thankyou for all your responses. We are currently dealing with the probate and have applied for this. The house is way below the IHT limit.
My query is with the different options we have available?
My father does not feel happy until he has a % stake in the house but this then opens up the estate to potential means testing further down the line....

localhero

Hi Rouseman,

To answer your questions, we need a bit more info:

• Does your father currently live at the property?
• Does he have a financial interest in the property? (Contributed in any way towards the purchase/improvement)
• Why does he feel entitled to a percentage of the property?
• Why did your mother cut him out of the Will?
• What is his financial situation - ie can he afford to live elsewhere?

sloughflint

slummymummyof2 wrote: »

Hi Terry - sorry to hear about your mother passing away. :(You're going through a tough time made harder by dealing with probate and things. You could try contacting ITC Legal. They have a free probate helpline, can talk you through what to do with a self-help pack & do home visits if necessary. 0800 195 2924 Hope that helps. Jeni x
PS - I think they work out cheaper than a solicitor.

Are you linked in any way with this Warwickshire company slummymummyof2?

It's just that this company has been mentioned twice before and not very favourably:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1165823

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=12366009

slummymummyof2 wrote: »

I think they just make the same charges that a solicitor would but cheaper

But are they likely to be any good? They also write Wills but there is no mention of membership of a professional organisation.Immediate no-no for me from what I have learned in recent months.

Apologies for going off topic but I feel a warning is necessary here.

slummymummyof2

sloughflint wrote: »

Are you linked in any way with this Warwickshire company slummymummyof2?

No, but I was looking for probate advice for MIL and came across them so thought it might help the OP as his query was about probate. I don't usually come on this forum as I'm still a youngster (LOL!). Anyway... taking nose out now.

sloughflint

slummymummyof2 wrote: »

No, but I was looking for probate advice for MIL and came across them so thought it might help the OP as his query was about probate.

Can you expand as you seem knowledgeable on pricing structure/self help packs etc? I wonder if probate advice is offered or rather a hard sell on how difficult administrating an estate can be? That's certainly the slant the website gives:

Most people use a professional probate provider to manage the process. However, a minority of families apply for probate themselves. Before making this decision, you should be aware that some areas of the probate process are complex and it should not be taken lightly. Unless it is a very simple estate, probate will normally take between six and nine months to complete.

In most cases a professional will have been appointed to apply for probate on the deceased’s behalf:

Most people who apply for probate themselves are doing so either because they have the right experience, or because the estate that they are dealing with is very small.
In any case, you should think carefully before applying for probate yourself as the law applies to you as a layperson in the same way that is applies to a professional person acting on behalf of an estate.

Failure to comply with the law could have very serious consequences. And success will depend on planning, patience, and abiding by the law in every detail.
itc Legal Services can take care of the entire probate process for you, click here to find out more about our probate services.

:rolleyes:

monkey_spank

slummymummyof2 wrote:

I think they just make the same charges that a solicitor would but cheaper

That makes a lot of sense.

I'm not convinced about this firm either - a definite no no.

slummymummyof2

sloughflint wrote: »

Can you expand as you seem knowledgeable on pricing structure/self help packs etc? I wonder if probate advice is offered or rather a hard sell on how difficult probate can be? That's certainly the slant the website gives:

:rolleyes:

Crikey - last time I try to do a nice thing . I don't know anything about them apart from I was trying to find information about Probate in our local area to help my mother-in-law. I saw Rouseman's post and thought it might help him. Do I have to be involved just because I live in Warwickshire? Am I selling them - no. It would seem however that you are determined to slur them - do you have something to gain? :rolleyes:

I contacted their probate helpline and spoke to someone who gave me some advice about itc's services, I explained that MIL was recently bereaved and that there was an issue regarding the property which was held as tennants in common and she'd been told she'd need to obtain probate by the Land Registry. Being a local firm they seemed like a good choice, but after further delving into the estate and finding some other complexities we decided to use a local solicitor, based in part on advice from itc, as MIL felt happier with a face-to-face service.

Sorry Rouseman - I tried to help. Obviously Sloughflint has an issue with me (or more to the point ITC!) so I'm backing off now as I feel he's getting personal here. I hope you get the answers you want though & get your mum's estate sorted.