Help please with Inheritance

jbatista

Right here I go my Dear Dad passed away last week and I need help and advice as to what to do next.

My livings:
Council Tenant for 19years, I work part time and my hubby is Long term sick, we have 4 children the eldest is just about to go to Uni in Sept.

Inheritance

Property worth about 140,000, cash of about £13,000

In his will Dad left everything to me as I am only daughter, he was divorced 16 years ago.


My worries:

I dont want to live in the house as the memories are to many, I would want to sell it but not right now, months down the line.....
Would I have to pay council tax on that house?

Will hubby lose his benifits if I sold Dads house and bought another property and or kept the money from the sale in the Bank(ISAS etc)

All is in the solicitors hands now-will I end up paying a big chunk to him as he was the executor of the will and is applying for probate etc??

So many questions I have to ask so please feel free to reply and also write what you feel I would be better off doing.
My head is spinning everywhere

UPDATE

Hi all well we are a month down the line and very little has been done by the solicitor, except to send me the original quote and a bill for Probate valuation. I have sorted out all of Dads bills that needed paying. I am not sure if the solicitor needed to know that or not, but I feel he is a waste of time. He is never in the office, so have taken it on myself to get some Estate Agents in next week to value the house as its going up for sale.
Thanks for your advice and comments.

Willman_Rodders

Hi jbatista,

Sorry to read of the death of your father. Our thoughts are with you.

To answer some of your points ....

Your father's solicitor is responsible for sorting out your father's affairs. He will need to gather information about his assets, and any liabilities, and then apply for Probate. Probate is the formal document authorising him (the solicitor) to distribute the estate in accordance with your father's will.

The gathering of the information takes time. Settling the estate often takes 6 months, and frequently takes 2 years. Your father's estate does include property so it is not as simple a case as some, but neveretheless nor is it unduly complicated.

Their could be possible complications from his former wife. Has she remarried? If not she may be able to put a claim in under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 - but hopefully this aspect will have been covered by your father's solicitor when he drafted your father's will. I would not worry unduly about this at this stage; there is nothing you can do - just be aware that this could delay settling the estate.

So, to cover one point in your post, you being able to sell the property may not be an option anyway for some time.

You might want to liaise with the solicitor about arranging the sale of the property anyway. By selling now you avoid the property being transferred into your name (and the solicitor charging you for the time spent arranging the transfer) and then being sold shortly thereafter (with further costs being incurred.) Indeed, if the property goes on the market now you will avoid the costs of the Home Sellers Pack (or whatever you have to have by 1 June 2007, that costs around £400.)

I dont know the answers to the council tax question, or the question re your husband's benefit entitlement. I do know your father's solicitor will charge for his services; usually they apply a fixed rate of between 3 to 5% of the estate value, with a fixed minimum fee often of several thousands. But not all do. Speak to the solicitor to see what they charge, and how you might be able to help reduce their fees.

jbatista

Well I had a quote today from the solicitor for the work which was probate, transfer 3 bank accounts to my name and he is working on the assumtion I want to sell the property.
£3,300!!!:mad:

I am going to the CAB on Monday morning,

Can I do probate or as the Executor is the Solicitor has he GOT to do it all??

Advice and help please

Mrs_pbradley936

People often appoint professionals to oversee their Estate because it reduces the complications although it is fairly straight forward to deal with Probate unless there are numerous assets, inheritance tax, umpteen bequests and so on. You really need to ask an IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) about the benefits. Perhaps because the assets will be yours you may not have to declare them to the benefit people. To be on the safe side I would open an account in just your name if you do not already have one and pay any and all money into that.

seven-day-weekend

If your husband is on Incapacity Benefit and/or DLA the inheritance should not make a difference as neither of these are means-tested (unless he also has an Occupational Pension, when IB will be reduced - but even so, the inheritance should not make a difference if he is on these benefits).

You can apply for exempton on Council Tax for an empty property, but I believe only for six months.

Mrs_pbradley936

A thought just occurred to me, as the solicitor is already involved you may as well let him do the whole lot and take his fee. The reason I say that is because you are unlikely to reduce the bill by much and you would have to take on a whole load of formalities that you are not familiar with. If the solicitor was not already involved I would say try and deal with it yourself and only get professional help if you need it. Since he is the Executor (appointed by your late father) the decision has already been made.

Willman_Rodders

Hi jbatista,

Following from your update the answer is that many solicitors will not relininquish their appointment as executor; but some do.

As pbradley936 says you do not need a solicitor to complete probate - you could do it yourself. In a simple estate (simple as in there is no property to dispose of, or trusts to set up) it is a relatively simple but sometimes time consuming task. It becomes more difficult when there are trusts to create and property to sell, and many people seek the help of a professional with the process in these cases. The difficulty you have is that your father appointed his solicitor as executor in his will - so you may not have the option to do it.