Just a word of warning....

macman

So who was the bank suggesting that the £25K was left to, if not the widow?
As above I suspect that the ISA value simply took the estate over the limit of £15K, below which probate is not always required.

colsten

macman wrote: »

So who was the bank suggesting that the £25K was left to, if not the widow?

It could have been left to just about anybody - how is the bank to know whether there was a will and what it says if they don't get sight of the probate?

Imagine the - justified - uproar if a bank went ahead and ignored someone's will.

PeacefulWaters

colsten wrote: »

It could have been left to just about anybody - how is the bank to know whether there was a will and what it says if they don't get sight of the probate?

Imagine the - justified - uproar if a bank went ahead and ignored someone's will.

Or whether the will produced is the most recent version.

konark

No-one is saying the bank should have released the £25,000 to the next of kin without seeing any paperwork.

The bank would have released the money to the executor once probate had been obtained.

The solicitors fees were for obtaining probate and dealing with the estate.

As others have said, probate can easily be applied for without a solicitor and costs only £215 + a few small fees

The OP's friend would have been better off by doing probate themselves to the tune of about £3,000!

Millie_Millsters

As others have said there's no need to use a solicitor to get probate, especially if the will is a simple one that leaves everything to a spouse. The probate office were excellent at talking me/my brother through the process when I lost my husband.

All you need to know here

A costly error indeed

DiamondLil

Millie_Millsters wrote: »

As others have said there's no need to use a solicitor to get probate, especially if the will is a simple one that leaves everything to a spouse. The probate office were excellent at talking me/my brother through the process when I lost my husband.

All you need to know here

A costly error indeed

Couldn't agree more.
I did the probate when my mother died; both the probate office and HMRC were helpful and supportive.

KrytenIceCubeHead

Solicitors! Damn them and their Closed Shop.

matttye

guitarman001 wrote: »

£200 an HOUR!? What's the salary of a solicitor!?

£200 an hour is not unusual. Can go way beyond that in the big cities.

[Deleted User]

It need not cost that much at all. Look at doing diy probate. I did probate after my husband died in february. It cost me a total of £220. Going to a solicitor would have cost me well over £9000

Isas can now legally be transferred to a spouse, so that the spouse gets the additional isa allowance.

CJS-90

My sister and I did all the probate stuff ourselves recently when my Dad passed away. Barely cost a peanut. We had to get the letter to prove we were administrators of his accounts, as there was no Will...but once that was obtained, Santander released the money almost immediately split between myself and my sister.

Getting the letter takes some leg work, but having what would appear to be a couple of thousand quid, it was definitely worth it...