Probate

danblan1976

Hi all,

I need your assistance please.

My mother has recently passed away and has instructed me as Executor of her will.

The will is quite straightforward insomuch that there are no issues like inheritence tax and the only potential issue is in respect of occupancy of her house, which my family have all agreed to sell once probate is granted.

My mum has numerous creditors and these accounts have now all been frozen until such time that probate is granted.

We have decided that due to the total value of her assets (ie no inheritence tax to be concerned by) I will deal with probate direct as opposed to the additional costs of a solicitor.

My query is how long does probate usually take to be granted? Everything within my mother's will is straightforward and we don't foresee any issues with her creditors waiting to be paid until such time that probate has been granted, although we are aware that we may need a solicitor to intervene should we need to hold off the creditors until such time that the property is sold.

Also, do I need to open an Executor account in preperation of probate being granted or is this part of the process of applying for probate?

I'm reading stories of six months for probate to be granted, which is somewhat concerning but would be grateful for the experiences of others.

Thank you.

owsaboutthatthen

I used to work in this area of law as a legal secretary. Six months seems quite a long time for Probate to be granted. I only imagine it would take this long if there are complications. I've known the Grant of Probate to come back from the Probate Registry within a month before now, bearing in mind that everything is dealt with correctly when sending off the documents.

In connection with your late mother's accounts etc, the banks/building societies etc will want sight of the Probate document, together with a signed form of authority from you as the Executor to settle the accounts.

Good luck and I can only sympathise with what you are going through in this very trying procedure at such a sad time.

PaulLuke

Probably sounding far too clincial but the time it takes to get probate is pretty much down to how fast you can draw up the relevant forms.

Once you have a complete list of assets/creditors you will be able to complete the relevant forms and apply for a grant of probate.

As long as the value of the estate is less than the current IHT threshold this need not take long at all. If I were you I'd give the local probate registry a call and ask how long between submitting the paper work and an appointment to swear out the oath.

I'd definately recommend opening up an account to adminster the estate, although you will have to wait until you get the grant before doing this, (at least I did).

HTH

John_Pierpoint

PaulLuke wrote: »

I'd definately recommend opening up an account to adminster the estate, although you will have to wait until you get the grant before doing this, (at least I did).
HTH

I got Yorkshire BS to open a postal pass book account for me as the executor of Mr Dog before probate. I could pay in but not draw out.
This was useful as there will be some organisations who want to close the deceased account ASAP and will print out a cheque made payable to "The executor of .........".

I would recommend placing adverts in "The London Gazette" and a cheap local rag advertising for creditors to send in details of their claims. This reduces the possibility of something nasty crawling out of the woodwork from 6 years to two months.
This procedure is fairly expensive (200 - 300 quid) for what it is BUT as debt is involved it will protect the executor from nasty debt surprises (not to mention long lost "love" relations).