Advertising for claims

LizW

I think I probably know the answer to this but thought I would ask for your thoughts. I'm dealing with probate for my mum's estate. Estate comprises of a property only, beneficiaries are myself, my sister and her two children.
I've applied for probate and just received the grant so I've gone on to the next step of placing the adverts it recommends. I've done the one in the London Gazette which was £70 but the checklist I have says because property is involved a notice needs to go in a local newspaper as well - I've been in touch with the appropriate newspaper for where the property is and they have quoted £350 which seems quite a lot. I'm presuming I have no choice but to do this advert as well - your thoughts?

joerugby

You could try to negotiate. Is there more than one local paper, morning, evening and / or weekly?

LizW

No there is only 1 weekly newspaper in that area

TonyMMM

You have a choice - there is no legal requirement to place a notice in any publication at all.

It is something done to reduce the risk of someone hitting the executor with a previously unknown debt, so it depends on your attitude to risk, and the likelihood of an unknown debtor being out there.

When I dealt with my father's estate I was confident there were no debts, and his paperwork was all up to date, so I didn't place any adverts and just took the risk. Needless to say, no claims ever came.

wwl

Is there anything that states how big the ad has to be ? £350 in a local sounds quite big.
But if you are certain there are no debitors that might surface there's no need.

Savvy_Sue

That sounds a lot: we paid just over £100 earlier this year and it was more than the London Gazette. May be worth checking they are quoting for the right section? I know the death / funeral announcements worked out cheaper than the 'thanks for your support at this sad time' announcements.

Be aware that DWP will take their own sweet time, whether or not you place the notices, so do work out if any overpayments were made.

LizW

Thanks - I'm pretty confident that there aren't any debts that we aren't already aware of, just a credit card debt that the bank is hounding me about.
I've checked with the newspaper and they are putting it in the public/legal notices section (and won't put it anywhere else). I did have to send them a copy of the London Gazette notice because she didn't know what I was on about so I'm presuming its not something they do very often.

Savvy_Sue

LizW wrote: »

I've checked with the newspaper and they are putting it in the public/legal notices section (and won't put it anywhere else). I did have to send them a copy of the London Gazette notice because she didn't know what I was on about so I'm presuming its not something they do very often.

That is the correct section, but I'm surprised it's not something they do very often. Have you looked at a recent edition? If they don't seem to have any then you have to ask if it's worth bothering ...

Mind you I think there are more 'bankruptcy' and 'winding up' notices than the kind we're talking about.

g6jns_2

LizW wrote: »

Thanks - I'm pretty confident that there aren't any debts that we aren't already aware of, just a credit card debt that the bank is hounding me about.
I've checked with the newspaper and they are putting it in the public/legal notices section (and won't put it anywhere else). I did have to send them a copy of the London Gazette notice because she didn't know what I was on about so I'm presuming its not something they do very often.

The credit card debt is usually payable from the estate. The credit card company may have to wait until the house is sold to get their money.

FreeBear

g6jns wrote: »

The credit card company may have to wait until the house is sold to get their money.

If the credit card company are adding charges and interest, give them an earful for it and demand that they remove the charges.

g6jns_2

FreeBear wrote: »

If the credit card company are adding charges and interest, give them an earful for it and demand that they remove the charges.

That is seldom the most effective approach. Better to send a polite letter, not email, setting out the circumstances. If the car was issued through a bank visit the nearest branch and discuss it.