Who can certify a copy of a Will

jamez79

Hi,
My dad passed away a few days ago and I'm the executor of his will. Everything is going to my mum and I'm trying to get things sorted out for her ASAP.

A couple of companies have asked for the original will to be sent with paperwork or a Certified Copy of the will.

I would rather send a certified copy so that I can send a couple of copies away rather than waiting for it to be returned before contacting the next company.

Other than solicitors (who charge a ridiculous fee for five minutes work) can someone please tell me who else will certify a copy of a will and how much they will charge?

Also, what needs to be written on the document to certify it? Ie, "this is a true copy....?"

Thank you for any help provided.

James

lolly_896

https://www.gov.uk/certifying-a-document

getmore4less

Are you doing this without a grant?

If he has any property or shares in his own name it will need the grant and the institution won't need the will to tell you what the value is for the IHT forms.

spacey2012

Anyone of "good standing" not related to you.
There is no definitive list of who is in good standing, only recommendations funny enough including some of the last people you would trust., .

jamiedavies02

I recently obtained a certified copied of my grandfathers will, the solicitor did this free of charge. (FYI the original copy of the will is held by the solicitors, we only had a photocopy)

newbutold

Local solictors here will certify a copy will for £5. If I was you I would ring one and ask them, it may be cheaper than you think.

jamez79

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. I was going to do it without a grant as everything is in joint names with my mum. Everything is going to my mum and my brother and I are the executors.

He did have a few shares, less than £400 in his own name. I was going to speak to the Halifax and see if they need a grant before giving it to my mum. I read that if its less than £5000 the grant is fee free.

As for IHT, do I work out the value of the estate as a whole or is it half of the total if my mum owns half of everything as a married couple?

One more question....they have a small endowment mortgage which will be paid off with dads insurance policies (I've included these in the estate valuation). The mortgage is such that you can draw on it by writing a cheque (Doesn't need both signatures, one can sign for the money to be paid out).

To assist with paying for the funeral and bills etc until its all sorted out, can my mum draw some money from it and then repay it all in full once the policy comes through to her? I don't want any of us getting into trouble when we're just trying to do right for my dad and mum.

Thank you

James

getmore4less

the IHT forms explain what you need to do regarding joint assets.
IHT205/IHT400 and suppliments there are notes to go with each.

All the joint assets should be able to be handled with just the death cert.

It's what's left after that ISA sole owned accounts might need grant

any soley owned property(or tenants in common) will need grant

check the shares if soly owned they should need grant.


Mum can draw any money from the mortgage as it is now her sole resonsibility.

It might be worth keeping the mortgage and letting it run full term a handy sourse of funds for cashflow.

No one is watching big brother style so it is very hard to get into "trouble"

Just keep good records of everything.

also consder the transferable nil rate band for when the time comes to deal with mums estate, the will or grant will be needed so keep the records of the administartion for future use.

jamez79

Thanks for that GetMoreForLess. A good point. I hadn't thought about keeping records for the future. Should I have the records signed by a witness or anything or is it just a case of being able to prove things if the tax man comes knocking?

I'll have a read of the forms you mention.

Regards

James

getmore4less

For future nill rate band the will or grant will do as both will show that all transfered to spouse. Cuurently I think that is all that is asked for on the relevent IHT form, having a grant means HMRC have a record allthough there must be loads of transfers done where there was no previous grant on first death.

jamez79

Ok.

I was filling in the IHT form and it asks about gifts...

About 4 years ago, my mum and dad took out a loan to pay my brothers deposit for his house. The deposit was a gift and they haven't got a share in his house or anything. They are still repaying the loan.

Do I enter the whole loan amount as the gift figure or is there a different figure, such as what they've repaid or what they still owe?

Thanks again for all your help.

James