Probate question

sonia1976

Hi. I hope one of you lovely people can help me. My lovely Nan died in December 2009 and has left some money to my dad and uncle for them to share between themselves and all the grandchildren. My uncle has been dealing with the solicitor side of things set the ball rolling in January. Neither my uncle or dad particularly need the money, but I am in an entirely different situation. I have three children and I struggle each week to scrape enough money together for bills and food and the money when it arrives will make a huge difference to me by easing the worry I presently have.
I have asked my dad how long it will take to get sorted but he is not the strongest character and just vaguely says that his brother is dealing with it and he doesn't know. I am not close enough to my uncle to feel comfortable asking him directly. The facts I know are....
My nan had no property to sell
Latest my dad knew, solicitors were advertising her death in the press to see if any creditors came forward.
I wondered if anybody knew how long they have to advertise for before they finalise the will and share the money out. I just want a rough idea of where we are in the process so I can budget and can have an idea of when the pressure will be lifted if that makes sense.

snapping_crocodile

Very sorry to hear of your loss. I am currently nearing the end of this process with my dad. They have to wait 6 months from when the notice is published, to give any claims the chance to be lodged. Once that 6 months is up they can then divide up the estate to the beneficiaries. Hope this helps, though by the sounds of it isn't the sort of timescale you wanted to hear

sonia1976

Thanks for the reply. Oh well....at least I can concentrate on what I have at the moment and stop thinking about the money coming. Then it will be a nice surprise when it does come through. Cheers x

RAS

if this is a small estate with nothing to sell, I am surprised uncle is using a solicitor. However, if the solicitor is the executor, there is no choice. It took one year to sort out mum's estate, which was almost all in cash, although we had fun with the lawyer who held the will.

barbeka

When my Aunt died my Mum was one executor as was her solicitor - we passed the whole thing over to the solicitor to deal with as I didn't want my elderly mum to have the stress (I was beneficiary). It was a bit bigger estate in that a house was involved but I think a good solicitor can make it less stressful no matter what the size of the estate, so don't blame the uncle for doing the same.

To answer your original question I received the cash part of my inheritance (the property took a while to sell) less than 4 months after we first visited the solicitor - probate was applied for after about 6 weeks, that took about a month to come through, & the money about a month after that.

However we had been dealing with my Aunt's finances for a year (we had Power of Attorney as she was in a home) so we knew where all the accounts where & that no money was owed & contacted all utilities etc, so that may have speeded things up. I know solicitors can be expensive, but ours cost £1500 - & I consider it worth it on the stress factor alone.

Solicitors seem to vary but I hope you get your money through soon.

tandraig

as there is no property to sell - I would expect the proceedings to take no more than six months. and it could be sooner than that. but, if you are a beneficiary - there is nothing stopping you contacting the solicitors to find out how things are going? if you dont want to ask the executor.

sonia1976

My uncle had control of her finances as she too was in a home. I'm sure dad said something along the lines of "there are no creditors but they have to advertise anyway", so I assume it will just be a fairly straightforward thing...although with solicitors nothing seems to be straightforward. I think my uncle just felt it was easier to hand it over to the solicitors.
So from reading everyones answers am I correct in understanding that...
1/ Solicitors advertise to find any creditors
2/ One satisfied, probate applied for
3/ Wait for probate to be granted
4/ Wait for cash to arrive
?????? Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to respond xx

sonia1976

I am not listed as a benificiary, but my Nan asked my dad personally to share the money with myself and my sister, and my uncle to do the same with his girls.

chesky369

Do think it's rather odd if your nan wanted you and your sister and cousins to have the money, that she didn't leave it to you all properly. I'm sure she did mean you to have it but it does seem a 'waste' of a will not to have things made clearer.

chesky369

From citizens adevice :

Finding out if money is owed

54

The personal representative can find out if money is owed by:-

• asking friends, relatives, partners about any money they know to be owing or think likely is owed
• going through past bills and other papers, looking for evidence of, for example, credit agreements and unpaid bills
• looking through post received in the weeks following the death
• contacting likely creditors to see if money is owed, for example, fuel boards
• advertising for creditors in the London Gazette (in N. Ireland, Belfast Gazette) and in newspapers (in N. Ireland, two newspapers) covering the area where the person who died held any property. The notice has to include the name of the person, date of death and name and address of the personal representative to whom claims should be sent. A deadline for claims of at least two months after the notice appears should be given. Although solicitors can put an advertisement into the London Gazette at any time, personal representatives acting on their own are first required to get probate. Local newspapers do not insist on this. Advertising in this way is good protection for a personal representative, especially where s/he suspects there may be debts that s/he does not know about. Once the two months have expired, creditors have no further claim on the personal representative and the property can be disposed of once probate is granted.

snapping_crocodile

sonia1976 wrote: »

My uncle had control of her finances as she too was in a home. I'm sure dad said something along the lines of "there are no creditors but they have to advertise anyway", so I assume it will just be a fairly straightforward thing...although with solicitors nothing seems to be straightforward. I think my uncle just felt it was easier to hand it over to the solicitors.
So from reading everyones answers am I correct in understanding that...
1/ Solicitors advertise to find any creditors
2/ One satisfied, probate applied for
3/ Wait for probate to be granted
4/ Wait for cash to arrive
?????? Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to respond xx

I think it actually goes....
1. Probate applied for
2. Probate granted
3. Collect all assests
4. Advertise to find creditors
5. No reply in 6 months, cash given out