Money In Account After Death

Darkstalker420

Sorry if this is in the wrong section as i was unsure where to post it. My gran died in January leaving £14000 in her Lloyds bank account. The account was of course frozen after speaking to Lloyds they agreed to release funds to pay for my nans funeral charges.

After my mum spoke to a solicitor about the money and he said she would have to get probate (what ever that is?) or sometimes a letter from a solicitor would suffice. to my knowledge they agreed a letter would suffice (the account was to be split fairly between my mum and my auntie). My mother visited the bank recently only to be told by a smerking Lloyds official that "we can hold on to this money it may take years to sort out" and that "unless both parties are present the funds won't be released".

The problem is that my auntie is also suffering from ill health (she is waiting for a double kneecap replacement) so we are unsure if she will be able to make the journey to us. Is there anything that can be done? is it possible to withdraw half (my mothers) of the fund and for Lloyds to keep my aunties half until she is well enough to travel? it may seem we are just after the money but there are things still left to purchase (such as my nans headstone!) which unfortunatly my mum is unable to afford herself.

Thanx.

Dillence

Sorry for the loss of your gran. My mum passed away on Jan 1st, so have dealt with this problem over the last few weeks. Its seems that each bank makes it own rules. All HSBC needed from me was a copy of the will and the death certificate. My brother is the other beneficiary and he did not have to attend. Total money was transfered to me in 10 days (£5000)

It might be worth speaking to head office at lloyds, most banks have a bereavement section to try to make things easier for you.

Probate is fairly easy to do yourself if your Gran had a simple financial accounts. I got my mums by the end of February to allow me to deal with her estate. Your local probate office can advise you of this (a solicitor will charge over £500 to do this)

Hope you manage to get it sorted.

evenasus

Similar experience as Dillence.

My mother had £14K savings in Halifax when she died.
I/We went into Halifax armed with her death certificate and her will.
My husband was executor, handed over the documents and a cheque was issued for the full amount right there and then.
This was several years ago.
I believe that if the amount is under £15K then probate is not required.

nigem

If I remember right, Lloyds TSB had a form that needed filling in by both executors/beneficieries, and a photocopy of the will was taken. It would have been possible to attend separately at different branches if necessary and post the forms to your aunt for her to take with her. When probate was granted they took a copy of that and transferred the money to the executors account. The funeral bill was settled directly between Lloyds and the funeral directors.

JamesU

Darkstalker420 wrote: »

Sorry if this is in the wrong section as i was unsure where to post it. My gran died in January leaving £14000 in her Lloyds bank account. The account was of course frozen after speaking to Lloyds they agreed to release funds to pay for my nans funeral charges.

After my mum spoke to a solicitor about the money and he said she would have to get probate (what ever that is?) or sometimes a letter from a solicitor would suffice. to my knowledge they agreed a letter would suffice (the account was to be split fairly between my mum and my auntie). My mother visited the bank recently only to be told by a smerking Lloyds official that "we can hold on to this money it may take years to sort out" and that "unless both parties are present the funds won't be released".

The problem is that my auntie is also suffering from ill health (she is waiting for a double kneecap replacement) so we are unsure if she will be able to make the journey to us. Is there anything that can be done? is it possible to withdraw half (my mothers) of the fund and for Lloyds to keep my aunties half until she is well enough to travel? it may seem we are just after the money but there are things still left to purchase (such as my nans headstone!) which unfortunatly my mum is unable to afford herself.

Thanx.

Yes, sorry for your loss, a stressful time. As mentioned by Dilence, an executor of the will needs to apply for a grant of probate and then has the authority to release the money and it is quite easy for you to do this yourself. Costs will be in the region of £120 for the application. If this is inaffordable, the court fees can be reduced for various reasons outlined in their application form. The probate helpline is very helpful and can answer any of your questions. And regarding the funeral costs (keep receipts) and headstone etc, these are usually deducted from the value of the estate remaining (on the HMRC return of estate information form which you have to send with the probate application) before any proceeds are distributed to beneficiaries. In the case of the headstone, it is perfectly acceptable to put an estimate for this cost on the HMRC form. The probate helpline can explain this to you also.

The bank cannot hold the money "for as long as they want." Application for a grant of probate followed by a brief meeting with an official at a local court, and then receiving the grant of probate by post from them, takes 4-8 weeks, sometimes a little longer. It does not necessarily "take years to sort out." As soon as you have a grant of probate (and possibly a copy of the death certificate may still be requested by the bank) the bank will be obliged to release the money immediately to the holder of the grant of probate.

This first link is to the probate service and helpline:

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/helpline.htm

This second link is the general procedure on how to do it yourself:

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa2_e.pdf


Hope this helps

JamesU

zzzLazyDaisy

We had similar problems to OP with Yorkshire Bank. They refused to release the money unless we both attended in person with the original will and our passports (we were both executors). The fact that we both live about 4 hours drive away in opposite directions and both work full time made no difference to them. They then said they would only release the money to a solicitor BUT that it had to be a solicitor local to the branch!

The estate really wasn't large enough to warrant involving a solicitor, so in the end I formally renounced my executorship so my sister could get probate in her sole name. This of course involved depositing the original will at the probate office.

She then sent the probate papers to the bank, who then still insisted that they couldn't release the money without the original will. Fortunately she had kept a copy and they accepted that, and a copy of her passport (which they weren't entitled to as we had probate, but we were past arguing!).

When my MIL died LTSB just accepted the will and death certificate (although they did lose their photocopies three times.....)

JamesU

evenasus wrote: »

Similar experience as Dillence.

My mother had £14K savings in Halifax when she died.
I/We went into Halifax armed with her death certificate and her will.
My husband was executor, handed over the documents and a cheque was issued for the full amount right there and then.
This was several years ago.
I believe that if the amount is under £15K then probate is not required.

A grant of probate is usually required for any amount above £5K ("though this can vary"), and any bank can insist on receiving a grant of probate first above this amount. But as you rightly say above, there is flexibility on the absolute amount depending on the financial provider and customer relationship with them. Unfortunately in more recent years the banks have started to centralise probate matters away from local branches, certainly in the case of Barclays and Lloyds recently. Given the ambiguity on £5K versus higher amounts the easiest solution would be to phone the probate helpline and clarify this. But given the bank seems inflexible in any case according to info on the thread, applying for the grant of probate is probably the easiest way to sort this out.

JamesU

Darkstalker420

Thank you for the replies my mother was told by the solicitor she spoke to that she would not need probate because the amount was less than £15000. She is currently just started to recieve a pension and because my brother lives with her and is not in reciept of any benefits or working she is having money taken out of her pension and also they are demanding council tax payments from her. Naturally this is adding stress to an already stressful occasion. Im just disgusted by how the bank is treating the matter. When she visited the local branch she has both times spoke to the same "man" who seems to find the whole matter amusing (and acts like she is asking for the money out of his own account!!)

I myself have had problems with Lloyds she was the executer of my nans affairs (my nan suffered from dementia) she had no will when she died and unfortunatly my mother is still trying to cope with the loss of her mother and is snowed under with the whole matter and has been offered no advice from anyone how to deal with the matter.

Thanx.

Hermann

Sorry to hear of your Grans Death.

You haven't said if there was a will left, and if there was who the executor is.

The bank quite rightly won't release funds without the correct paperwork, it may seem obvious to you who the money is to go too but it isn't always that straightforward. If the sum of money is small they will usually release funds with just a copy of the Death Certificate and Will however £14,000 is too large a sum for this.

Assuming the there is a will the named executor should apply for probate as the estate exceeds £5000. This is a simple matter and there is no need for a solicitor unless the estate is very complicated.

Once the executor has applied for probate the court will issue a 'Grant of Probate'. This is a legal document that allows the executor to deal with all your Grans affairs including Bank accounts.
Once the executor has the Grant the Bank will have to release the funds when asked to, there's no taking years over it unless the executor has a reason too.

There is no need for the beneficiaries to attend the Bank.

(my comments assume you live in England!)

Some general info on Probate is available here .... http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029799

Including .....

If the person who has died leaves a will

In this case one or more 'executors' may be named in the will to deal with the person's affairs after their death. The executor applies for a 'grant of probate' from a section of the court knows as the probate registry. The grant is a legal document which confirms that the executor has the authority to deal with the deceased person's assets (property, money and possessions). They can use it to show they have the right to access funds, sort out finances, and collect and share out the deceased person's assets as set out in the will.

I know it may all seem awkward and insensitive but the rules are there to try and protect your Grans assets and ensure that her wishes are carried out correctly, and I'm sure thats what evryone involved wants it's just unfortunate you've encountered a very insensitive bank official.

Hermann

Sorry you replied while I was typing my last reply.

The fact there is no will is a very good reason for the bank not releasing funds until the correct paperwork is in place.

I'm slightly confused by the solicitor saying that below £15000 doesn't need probate, the figures on the government website suggest it's £5000.

As there's no will I can't the issues being resolved without probate.

Read the link I posted to earlier and now as there is no will also read through the following link ...... http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029802

Hope that answers some of your questions. Still not sure if you're in England though!

Darkstalker420

Hi Herman yes were in the UK as said the solicitor stated that she would not need probate and i guess we took his word on this (we guessed he would know what he would be talking about....) he said a copy of the death certificate and some sort of letter (from him i think?! sorry wasn't privy to the details myself) would suffce.

However this now seems not to be the case he said he would do this because if he did the probate it would cost my mother over £500 (i think?) and that this would be enough although he said that the money by law would be split between the two daughters (this was going to be done anyway as nan wanted).

Should my mother contact him again? (afterall the advice/letter was next to useless!!) or will she be charged for further advice? Im sorry if these seem silly questions but this is the first contact we have had with any sort of solicitor and we don't really know how to proceed. As i said my mother is only getting a basic state pension (which seems to be getting less each time!) and she can't really afford solicitor fees etc.

As i said when my nan died no one was there to show us what we had to do and i guess the bank's rather rude/unhelpful attitude and not stating exactly what would be needed for this matter to be dealt with has left us with a bad taste in our mouth's.

Thanx.