Advice on probate needed please

Kimitatsu

Hi

My MIL passed away recently and FIL is having issues with the probate so I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction

The house was in joint names so the house should pass to FIL - can someone confirm that for me please?

All of the savings accounts were held in MIL's name as she did not work and only had a state pension for tax puropses. Apparently the lady in the bank said to FIL that as one of them had over £20,000 then the probate had to go through a solicitor. They have around £80,000 in savings scattered around so could someone confirm this please? Its not one I have ever heard of.

And lastly, one of the siblings is very keen that none of this should go through a solicitor as they have "heard" that solicitors will charge 6% of the estate value in fees, any advice on this would be really good (should point out that this was the sibling who had persuaded mum and dad to put the estate in trust and they would be the executor of it in the case of anything happening........Mum had a terminal illness and I persuaded them to change to mirror wills so that Dad has complete control over his own affairs, rather than having to ask someone else every time he wants to access any money - long story but they seem to have their eye on what will be left when he goes :mad::mad::mad:)

He has downloaded the form from the probate office and would like to keep the fees down to as little as possible, so any help would be appreciated

Thanks

zzzLazyDaisy

Firstly, I am sorry for your loss. This can be a difficult and confusing time if you have no previous experience of these things.

This isn't my specialist area, professionally, but I do have some personal experience of going through probate. I'll try to answer some of your questions, and no doubt other people will be along soon with more info.

Yes a house in joint names passes automatically to the survivor, and doesn't go through the estate. The deceased person's 'half' does count for IHT purposes, but if everything is going to the spouse, that isn't an issue. However, the land registry should be notified of the change of ownership (from joint names to sole name). I suggest you give the land registry a ring about this, there will be a form to complete, but you should be able to do this without using a solicitor.

There is no need to use a solicitor for probate. Their charges can be expensive and in the case of a simple will like this, it is easy to do it yourself. The staff at the probate office are used to dealing with recently bereaved people who don't have any experience of probate, and they will talk you through it.

Hope this helps

Daisy

Biggles

I am just doing my second probate in 15 months and wouldn't dream of going near a solicitor for something as basic as this. Not just due to the cost, it would take so much longer.

The HMCS staff are very helpful if you have any queries, and it only takes about five or six weeks from beginning to end.

Norman_Castle

Hi.I dealt with something similar a few years ago.Once you have been granted probate you will have access to the accounts.Their is no need to use a solicitor to be granted probate or access the accounts.You will be sent a "sealed copy".This is a printed letter detailing the grant of probate embossed with a seal.Take this with proof of id to the banks..Extra sealed copies cost £1 if requested at the same time you apply for probate.A few extras may useful if you need to post requests to access funds etc.All of the banks I visited simply photocopied and returned the original.
Dealing with the probate office was simple and straightforeward.As said above, the staff are helpful and understanding.
Hope this helps.

Starrystarrynight

I dealt with my mother's estate last year and found the process wasn't as bad as I'd thought. The HMRC forms were more daunting than the probate service ones, but I took my time and read the guidance notes carefully.
My mother had accounts in a few different banks & building societies and they all had differing balance limits at which they required probate to release the funds.

Kimitatsu

Thanks to all of you for the advice I am going to get on the phone this morning and get all of the forms sent to us so that I can help him fill them all out.

I was pretty sure we wouldnt need a solicitor, and since the last estate they did cost them £18000 in solicitors fees :eek: it seemed a little ridiculous. To be fair I dont know how complicated the estate was as my MIL did it but even so!!

Thanks again - you are all superstars :T

Savvy_Sue

Sorry for your loss, can I recommend the Which guide to Wills and Probate, or something like that, if you get it from the library make sure it is recent enough to cover the changes to IHT.

Is your FIL sole executor? If he is, and they are mirror wills, as soon as he can bear to think about it he needs to make a new will. Or there will be no named executor on his will. It's a solvable problem, but one that could get 'interesting' if there's a dispute over who should do it.

And the lady at the bank is talking through her posterior. IF the provisions of the will include a trust being set up, then it makes some sense to involve a professional for help with that, but it doesn't have to be a solicitor - we're planning to use an accountant to set up and run the trust in Dad's will.

bryanb

Who is the executor under the present new will? Is it still the sibling? The executor is normally the one to apply for probate.

Kimitatsu

bryanb wrote: »

Who is the executor under the present new will? Is it still the sibling? The executor is normally the one to apply for probate.

No its Dad who is the executor (I got him to change it when they changed the wills) and the entire estate now passes to him.

Savvy thanks for the point about the will - that needs to be checked out because estate will probably go over the IHT threshold, and so I think he needs to take some advice on that.

I have had a very productive morning on the phone, have downloaded all of the forms off the web and the HMRC chappy even gave me the exact wording to put on the form, so thanks once again to all of you, its made things so much easier

Thanks as well for all of your condolances, its hard but she had terminal cancer and so in some respects our grieving started before she died, as we were all aware as to what would happen. Thankfully in the end it was quick and she was able to die at home which was what she wanted.

zzzLazyDaisy

re the IHT threshold - remember that if all the estate passes to the spouse, the IHT allowance is not used, and so when the second spouse dies both IHT allowances are available. That doesnt necessarily mean that you get double IHT allowance as the MIL's allowance is carried forward as was at her death, and by the time FIL goes his allowance may have increased. Nevertheless, this process will mean that many estates will be exempt on the death of the second spouse.

Starrystarrynight

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

re the IHT threshold - remember that if all the estate passes to the spouse, the IHT allowance is not used, and so when the second spouse dies both IHT allowances are available. That doesnt necessarily mean that you get double IHT allowance as the MIL's allowance is carried forward as was at her death, and by the time FIL goes his allowance may have increased. Nevertheless, this process will mean that many estates will be exempt on the death of the second spouse.

Ah! So this is what my Dad was telling me about last week. It all makes sense now. Thanks zzzLazyDaisy.