Use a solicitor for probate or do it all myself?

MotownFox

getmore4less wrote: »

As well as the IHT there will be tax returns to DOD and for the period of administration, these should be simple but may not be obvious imediately.
Form r27(HMRC) deals with the tax to DOD. I just sent a letter for the administartion period and HMRC sorted it out.

There is no rush but I found it theraputic to do the reading and start the process.

A lot of people think that this is difficult and shy away from doing the Income Tax and think that they may have to end up paying tax. The opposite is usually true, if tax was paid during the last tax year of the deceased's life then there is a refund.
The time when this is not so true is if the affairs are complicated or when the person dies just before the end of the tax year, although even then a small refund might be available.

wife-spent-it-all

Thanks for all the replies - I had more or less made up my mind and then late yesterday afternoon I had a call from the solicitors dealing with a legal matter that my dad had been going through for a while to say that a few days before my dad died, my dad had won his case and they had made a settlement deal with the other side. My dads estate could now be worth around £350K and I'm still in shock and just wish my dad was around to see all his hard work and patience pay off for him.

His estate can use the IHT from my mum so the actual limit will be £650K so IHT still wont be an issue. The solicitors also offered their probate services and although I trust the solicitors and everything they have done so far, I dont want to make my refusal of the probate services affect the way they deal with the money coming from the other-side in this legal case. Personally I dont think it would affect things but the only time I've ever used a solicitor before is when moving house!

Based on this new information, would anyone's advice change in any way?

daska

No, I'd ask them to finalise the settlement and tell them you'll let them know when you've made a decision. They may be extra speedy thinking their actions might gain them the job

RAS

I assume the solicitors are getting their fee for the work they did on the case?

Would not change the advice at all re probate.

daska

FWIW If they're tardy about dealing with the settlement you can be sure they'll make Probate pretty long winded as well.