Will's, Deeds of Variation and Probate

dangers

My DH has just filled in Probate forms for his late mum's estate - the solicitor would have charged us in excess of £500. I don't know how long it will take for it all to be completed!!! The forms do look daunting, but it is something that can be done.

noh

Conanius wrote: »

Sorry Noh, but I guess you missed my post further up, the Pension (Civil Service work pension) is asking for probate before it pays out in any way.


With everyone asking for Probate we are keen to get things done as fast as possible. I'm not keen on getting stuck when really 3 months is near to the maximum we can wait for everything to be processed. we only have access to a finite amount of money and we can't risk getting stuck half way through the process.

I did not miss your post.
There is no reason that I can think of why they need probate.
See the post by Biggles above.

RAS

I think you are making an awful hash of this

Conanius wrote: »

Without going into the details here , it looks like we will need to do a Deed of Variation to sort things out with the will, followed by going for Probate to be able to actually start sorting out the estate. Mum would be the only listed beneficiary of the amended Will.

WHY?

Mum and Dad were married, living in the same home and had both their names on the deeds of the house.

In which case either the whole of the house (joint tenancy) or mum's portion (tenants in common) are outside the estate.;


Mum is the listed beneficiary on dads pension

As long as mum was nominated as the beneficiary, the death in service grant is outside the estate.


2 life insurance policies (one a 'real' life insurance, one an endowment which pays out early on the death of one of the policy holders).

If these are in trust, they are outside the estate.

In total I think the estate will come over the £325k cap,

What else do they own that you have failed to list, since all the above are outside the estate?

weanie

I must agree with previous posters regarding the ease of DIY probate. Information is available on the web, the forms are available to download and there is a pone line to offer help if you are in any confusion.
I completed a very simple probate for my mother months ago and although I had some wait for the probate appointment after completing forms [2+ months], the appointment was simple and the small amount of money in the bank was released quickly after i had taken the completed forms to the bank.
My husband died in February - total shock and very sad. I will have a more complex probate to sort out there as we have a property in Spain [a long story and costly to sort out] and some other bits and pieces which are additional to our joint home.
I am not rushing - so far, i have completed the Land Registry change by downloading the forms and sending them off [price of a stamp], contacted the banks and pension people with the death certificate and arranged to change the mortgage and also the bank accounts into my name. I have had a long toing and froing with the tax people as they seem to take forever and when I have the tax situaion confirmed and any liability paid, I will take a depp breath and throw myself into the probate forms.
I think that the effort of solicitor's appointments - not to mention the cost would lead me to choose the DIY option here in UK and for once, I am heartily recommending the system we have in this country as user friendly.
good luck

Gettingeven

weanie wrote: »

I must agree with previous posters regarding the ease of DIY probate. Information is available on the web, the forms are available to download and there is a pone line to offer help if you are in any confusion.
I completed a very simple probate for my mother months ago and although I had some wait for the probate appointment after completing forms [2+ months], the appointment was simple and the small amount of money in the bank was released quickly after i had taken the completed forms to the bank.
My husband died in February - total shock and very sad. I will have a more complex probate to sort out there as we have a property in Spain [a long story and costly to sort out] and some other bits and pieces which are additional to our joint home.
I am not rushing - so far, i have completed the Land Registry change by downloading the forms and sending them off [price of a stamp], contacted the banks and pension people with the death certificate and arranged to change the mortgage and also the bank accounts into my name. I have had a long toing and froing with the tax people as they seem to take forever and when I have the tax situaion confirmed and any liability paid, I will take a depp breath and throw myself into the probate forms.
I think that the effort of solicitor's appointments - not to mention the cost would lead me to choose the DIY option here in UK and for once, I am heartily recommending the system we have in this country as user friendly.
good luck

I recently did the probate for my late father-in-law's estate.The solicitor had quoted £2,000 + vat to my mother-in-law. I did it for the princely sum of £107 (one original copy plus 2 certified copies). As said previously, all the forms are available to download off the internet from government site).

I hadn't made a will before, but I've just set one up via tenminutewill.com online. Mirror wills, dead simple. I even did the LPAs too. I think the internet is going to have the same impact on the profits of lawyers etc as it has on the high street shops and everything else.:T