Grant of Confirmation

neamuragh

buddy9 said:

Two suggestions

…

1. Strike through your docket entry, initial or sign it, and write out the docket anew.

I struck through the names that were wrong, initialled the error, and wrote the corrected names; this has been accepted. 

GCS27

Having read every post on this topic I’ve found lots of helpful advice.  Hopefully I can give some "pay-back" with my contribution.

My situation - I was appointed as Joint Executor, along with solicitors, of my father in law’s Will. I asked the solicitor to “resign” and obtained a Minute of Declinature from them. My father in law’s Estate was quite simple.  It comprised of 50% of his house (owned jointed with his wife) and a couple of bank accounts.  He had a few other “nominal value” assets (e.g. mobility scooter, iPad, etc) but because the total value of his Estate was well short of the IHT threshold (at just under £100k) I ignored these other assets.

I hand delivered the Confirmation documents to Aberdeen Sheriff Court this morning at 10am.  The court called me at 2.30pm to say that all was in order and ask me to pay the court fee. 

I could never have got this through first time without all the help on this forum.

I have attached some screenshots from my submission of some of the more important parts of the process.  Good luck!

buddy9

GCS27:

Well done.

If I can add a comment in respect of the declaration (box 2) for the benefit of others.

While this declaration does not contain relationship information,  the court will normally look for information to be included in box 2, either stating the familial relationship to the deceased (where such relationship is wife, husband, civil partner, or a relationship which excludes the possibility of marriage or civil partnership - such as son or daughter), or statement that the executor has never been married to or in a civil partnership with the deceased.

PD1502

Similar to others, I have found this invaluable, and enabled me to get confirmation at first attempt (well almost). So thanks and in particular to Buddy9, and a small addition relating to my experience dealing with an English Will.

I was the first named executor along with a distant cousin for my mother in law, who had only moved to Scotland 2 years ago and had a will from 1989, drafted in England. The estate was basically only her new property in Scotland and 2 bank accounts (Scotland and England).

I cannot really add more than is already contained within the preceding pages in terms of C1, however I did have an issue with the will. Dumbarton sheriff court wrote to me after 3 weeks to say that as the will was subscribed in England, I needed a letter from an English solicitor. I had read this may be the case, but thought I'd try first. On approaching the solicitor that had assisted with the move to Scotland, giving them the letter from the Court, they were at a loss as what was required (as it was obviously a valid will and had never encountered this before - they were actually worried they would charge me for a letter that the court would reject). They suggested I use a solicitor that had dual registration, but in the end I spoke to the court and they were very relaxed about it and ultimately a general letter confirming it was valid from my solicitor, with their stamp on a copy of the will was accepted and I had the call within 4 days of sending everything back by registered post to say confirmation was granted.
I am currently selling the property, and discussing with the Scottish solicitor doing the conveyancing, he said when he has this, he just rings the court and tells them it is valid, and they accept that..... so could have possibly approached him first, but not sure what reaction you'd get before knowing if the C1 is correct.

Hope this adds to what has been an extremely useful post (though perhaps a bit too long !). Thanks again, and in case of use, a copy of my C1 below.
 

buddy9

In case anyone has a situation the same as PD1502 (deceased domiciled in Scotland with a will executed in England) then in the event of encountering a less than relaxed approach from the court, there is an agreed style (as below) that might need to be used.

dbarclay81

Hi all, new to the forum and found this post very useful! My father passed on Christmas Eve and I am acting to obtain Confirmation on behalf of my sister and I who were both named executors in the will. My mother was also named as executor but she passed away in August 2023. For para 2 I was going to say

"<<my name>>, along with <<my sisters name and address>>, the executors nominate of said deceased conform to his will dated <<will date>> which is herewith exhibited, docquetted and signed as relative hereto, and that I am the son of the said deceased and the said <<sisters name>> is the daughter of the said deceased. In said will, <<mothers name>> is also appointed executor nominate but pre-deceased the deceased. In said will, I am designed as residing at <<my previous address noted on will>>, a former address."

Does this sound right? Its mostly the part about my mums passing i'm not sure how to phrase.

Thanks
David

buddy9

dbarclay81 said:

. For para 2 I was going to say

"<<my name>>, along with <<my sisters name and address>>, the executors nominate of said deceased conform to his will dated <<will date>> which is herewith exhibited, docquetted and signed as relative hereto, and that I am the son of the said deceased and the said <<sisters name>> is the daughter of the said deceased. In said will, <<mothers name>> is also appointed executor nominate but pre-deceased the deceased. In said will, I am designed as residing at <<my previous address noted on will>>, a former address."

Suggestion: I would make two small changes

1. Omit your name

2. Change‘.

In said will, <<mothers name>> is also appointed executor nominate but pre-deceased the deceased.

to read

In said will, <<mothers name>> is also appointed executor nominate but <<mothers name>>pre-deceased the said deceased.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

This assumes that the will appoints the three as co-executors and that none are substitutes.

In the box at the top of page 2 include both addresses eg 

[full name] residing sometime at [address] and now at [address]

Do not list your late mother in box 10

dbarclay81

buddy9 said:

This assumes that the will appoints the three as co-executors and that none are substitutes.

Thanks buddy9, your posts on this topic are invaluable! Can I check what you mean about substitutes? Per the will, my mum was sole executor whom failing my sister and I were the executors nominate. Does that require a change to the wording?

buddy9

dbarclay81 said:

Thanks buddy9, your posts on this topic are invaluable! Can I check what you mean about substitutes? Per the will, my mum was sole executor whom failing my sister and I were the executors nominate. Does that require a change to the wording?

In that case here is a suggestion:

That I am

along with [sisters name and address], the executor nominate of said deceased conform to his will dated [will date] which is herewith exhibited, docquetted and signed as relative hereto, and that I am the son of the said deceased and the said [sisters name] is the daughter of the said deceased. [Mother’s name (and will address)] who was appointed executor nominate primo loco in said will, predeceased the said deceased. In said will, I am designed as residing at [will address], a former address.

dbarclay81

Think I'm nearly ready to submit my forms to the court. Just a few more queries, I keep reading this forum and more questions come to mind and I'm starting to doubt myself!

1) My dad had 3 bank accounts with Santander, all three had the same sort code which relates to Bootle (assume head office) so I have put these under Estate in England & Wales. For the inventory do I give each a separate item number or include all under the same item and list the account details and balances of each?

2) My dad made gifts of £x,000 in 2023/24 to family (the beneficiaries of the will). No previous gifts. For box 23 I have taken the inventory total plus £x,000 less £3k allowance for 2023/24 less £3k allowance for previous tax year unused. For box 24 I then took this gross total less funeral expenses from box 12 to give the net (no liabilities or mortgages). No money left to spouse or charity so box 25 = box 24. 

3) I'd rather hand into the court (Paisley) rather than risk loosing documents in the post. Do I need to make an appointment or do I just attend the reception desk?

thanks