Death of stepmother last year

SmlSave

Hi WWW

Its not unusual for the adminsitration of an estate to take anything from 6 months to a year and even longer! That's even when Probate has been obtained.

just thought i'd let you know

wildwestwales

Thank you SmlSave for your reply. So even though my DF died in 2002 and probate done within 6 weeks and death of stepmother occurred 6 weeks ago, does it mean the administration of my DF estate only starts at her death?

SmlSave

If your Dad left everything in trust until your stepmothers death then it could work like that. Unfortunatly I know almost nothing about trusts but I have been working on an estate file that was opened in August 2008 so they can definitely drag on! (I'm a legal sec so I've picked up useful infor but always trust a trained solicitor over anything I've heard)

If you don't feel like you can chat to the Executors then it's probably worth having a word with a solicitor who deals with Probate/estates in particular, the CAB could probably suggest some that give a free 30mins.

RAS

You can also ring your local probate office and ask them to tell you hiow they would expect things to be done.

What sort of value are we talking about - expensive house and investments, or a rented house and small pot?

Hawkeye4aneye

The Probate of your Stepmother is not needed for the Trustees to deal with the Investments that should have been set up after your father's death. If in a Building Society or in shares or any investment they should have been registered in the name of the Trustees at that time so encashing them would just need the Trustees signatures. I assume there is no property involved, but if there is then other action is necessary.

The cheques issued in repayment/encashment will normally be in the name of the Trustees BUT they can sometimes ask for such cheques to be issued to a single person or direct to a bank account, this could of course be your stepmothers daughter or her bank account!!

This could of course be what she is doing and then issue you with a cheque once all the monies are received. However if any of the estate was in shares the Trustees should ask you if you require these encashing or transfering into your name and then taking the necessary action.

But obviously you need to know what the investments are, in fact the Trustees should have provided these investment details once the Trust was set up after the administration period of your father's estate had finished.

There may be Inheritance implications if the two estates added together cause the total to exceed the IHT (Inheritance tax) Threshold. However the Executors can transfer any unused Inheritance Tax threshold from a late spouse (i.e. your father) to the second spouse (your stepmother) when she died. This can increase the Inheritance Tax threshold of the second spouse and mean there is no tax to pay, whereas before 2007 there would have been IHT on the second death.

I would send a tentative letter asking how things were since her mother's death and ask if she needs any help dealing with finalising your fathers estate. If you do not get a reply within a few weeks, or you get a reply that doesn't mention what the Trust is, then write again asking more directly what is happening with your fathers Trust and that you want full details. Still no joy after this then I think you will need to consult a professional and pick a firm that has someone who is a member of STEP. STEP is the professional body for the trust and estate profession in the UK and worldwide and currently has over 15,500 members.

http://www.clt-step.co.uk/default.aspx?id=1137

wildwestwales

My brothers and sisters are going to consult a solicitor, to enquire what is happening with regard to my DF will, next week. Thankyou to all who have posted.