A Few Questions On Wills and Probate Etc

pjmartin1971

Hello there everyone, I'm looking for some help and advice please.

My girlfriends mother has just recently passed away but before dying, she made a will of which we have a copy.

Having already lost her father some years earlier, my girlfriend and her sister now stand to inherit their mothers house and some limited funds held within her bank account.

My girlfriend Emma has just received a letter from the solicitor who drew up the will and he has offered to apply for grant of probate and execute the will, for which he is looking for a fee of around £5,000.

This fee sounds a bit steep to me and its also £5000 that neither Emma nor her sister have and it certainly wouldn't be covered by any funds within their mothers bank account.

Both sisters were planning on using the house as a rental property and gaining a small monthly income on the property in the short term whilst they decided long term with what to do with their inheritance.

The house is probably worth around £350,000 in todays market but houses in the Christchurch, Bournemouth area are not at their best at the moment and hence why they've also decided that they feel rental would be the best option.

Are there any options available to the sisters to cut down on these £5000 costs i.e. could they do this themselves and if so, what would they need to do and achieve? As they do not wish to sell the house simply to meet solicitors fees.

I'm looking to help them both along the way as it's clearly an upsetting time for them both.

Many thanks in advance,

Paul

Annisele

Who is named as executor in the will?

If it's your girlfriend and/or her sister, they can deal with probate themselves - or employ a solicitor if they so choose. If it's somebody else, then it's the somebody else's responsibility.

pjmartin1971

I'll have to check to see who it mentions as executor, thanks. Is it possible that is could be the solicitor who drew up the will in the first instance or is this highly unlikely? As i'm simply wondering why he suddenly got in touch about it all, and so quickly for that matter.

SmlSave

5000 for managing the whole estate - if its a fixed fee - is a pretty good price in my experiance! Terrible though it is.

On average just to get the grant of probate through a solicitor costs about 3000. But if you are prepared to do the work its not that hard to do it yourself and you can always just get a solicitor to check the forms over.

Of course some estates are very simple i.e. All goes to the spouse and only a few accounts and some estates can take years to finish i.e. Lots of properties/family problems/difficult banks.

troubleinparadise

Hi - your starting point is the will - that will show who the executor is as named by your girlfriend's mother.

Have a look on the Directgov website which gives information about what needs dealing with after a Death and Bereavement.

It is perfectly possible to do the application for probate yourselves - it is a little arduous, but HMRC have a good helpline, and the forms are pretty straightforward. It does take some time, but unless the estate is very complex it is not beyond most people.

I've been doing my mum's; principally because I'd have to find most of the information needed for the form myself in the first place; making a phone call or sending a letter to get further information isn't an enormous task. Then you end up with a figure to enter onto the form - you don't need a solicitor to do that for you!

Some aspects like transferring the property to the new owners will need legal advice to achieve.

Good luck!

paddy's_mum

If they are already baulking at £5k, they're going to get a very nasty shock when they discover the costs, the requirements and the intricacies of the law relating to renting out the house. They will become landlords with all that that position entails.

I suggest that you take a look at the House Buying and Renting section of this forum for guidance before you go very much further.

I'd also add that it is my understanding that what are called 'testamentary expenses' (ie all the fees required to settle an estate, which would include the Probate and/or solicitor fees) come out of the estate, along with any outstanding debts, before the remainder is paid out to the beneficiaries. I too think that £5k is a reasonable amount, especially if is actually is a fixed fee, so no nasty surprises when the invoice is tendered. Good luck.

pjmartin1971

Nobody is balking at £5k for starters, my girlfriend and her sister both appreciate that legal fees are expensive and that reading through the web, it's not uncommon for someone to charge a fee of around 4% of the estate. After all, this website's names says it all, it's a way of obtaining advice and help in ways to hopefully save money rather than having to spend it out.

What the two of them were trying to achieve was to limit the costs so they could afford to pay all the fees without the need to sell the house to make ends meet. Obviously the house is the majority of their inheritance and they would ideally like to retain the house if at all posssible because it is a special place to them as a family home and also because they both see the property as an asset rather than as a large lump sum payment. So there's some sentiment in their decision as well as them seeing the house as an additional income source.

An added bonus is also that they have a family member who owns a local estate agency and is willing to help with all the legal and administrative duties of the letting market.

Thanks for the replies everyone. We'll have to look through the will and see who is mentioned as executor.

mrschaucer

Don't be put off. £5K is better off in your friends' pockets if at all possible. If the sisters are named in the will as the executrices (?), which they may well be as the solicitor is only OFFERING his services, then tell them to go for it and do it themselves. They can take their time and it really isn't beyond most people if the estate is fairly simple. As mentioned, the probate helpline people are excellent.

BitterAndTwisted

If their mother's home was indeed "a special place to them as a family home" then the very last thing they should do is rent it to strangers. I do understand the reluctance to part with the property and draw a line under it all but for most people, most of the time, becoming landlords just brings with it a whole world of responsibilities and potential aggro. The costs of something going very, very wrong will make that five grand pale into insignificance. Also, I obviously don't know that family member who owns a local estate agency but some of them know less about the current Landlord & Tenancy legislation than my cat Stanley does. Property prices aren't going to suddenly soar any time soon, so renting it would just put off the inevitable, while they're taking financial risks and shouldering any maintenance and repair costs unless one of them buys out the other's share and decides to live there.

CRANKY40

If either of the sisters is named as executor you can do probate yourself for £105 plus £1 extra for each copy of the probate document from the probate registry. I did my husband's myself. Two years ago it cost me £94.
https://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/probate/probate-registries.htm

mountainofdebt

pjmartin1971 wrote: »

they would ideally like to retain the house if at all posssible because it is a special place to them as a family home and also because they both see the property as an asset rather than as a large lump sum payment. So there's some sentiment in their decision as well as them seeing the house as an additional income source.

An added bonus is also that they have a family member who owns a local estate agency and is willing to help with all the legal and administrative duties of the letting market.

So are they prepared for their special place to be trashed by strangers (yes I know they would be sensible enough to take a deposit to cover any damages but still)

Also will the relative expect payment for their services?

What happens when one of the sisters needs to sell to realise their inheritance?

Sounds like a minefield.