DIY distribution

Yorkshireman99

Mojisola wrote: »

Why would a court be involved if the minors' inheritance is not being changed?

It would only be required if the interest was being changed. Apologies if I di not make that clear.

jo.anne

Still a bit confused. Grant of probate was granted in February this year and we assumed this was all that was needed. When probate was applied for, we also filled out the tax forms at the same time. We have a spread sheet of things that have been paid out, but as this is done by ourselves I am now concerned would this stand up. The reason I ask is no other family members have helped one bit in removal and tidying of the property to sell, nobody else took the time to offer any help, just came up with the excuses they were busy and not well themselves. My stepfather (who as the grant of probate) who is the eldest suffers from COPD and it was me his granddaughter who did all the running around and all the leg work filling forms in and ringing for hours on the phone. The family are now inquiring about what is happening and now have the nerve to say they feel they are being left in the dark..... This as really opened my eyes to what money can do. My stepfather just wants the estate to be divided as the law states but I am trying to explain that we need to do it correctly so that no one comes back in months time when their inheritance as been spent saying it wasn't equal. So to ask the question do I now need to apply for `letter of administration` or is the grant of probate sufficient? Also can my own spread sheet be signed by all family members to accept the dividing of the estate?

Yorkshireman99

jo.anne wrote: »

Still a bit confused. Grant of probate was granted in February this year and we assumed this was all that was needed. When probate was applied for, we also filled out the tax forms at the same time. We have a spread sheet of things that have been paid out, but as this is done by ourselves I am now concerned would this stand up. The reason I ask is no other family members have helped one bit in removal and tidying of the property to sell, nobody else took the time to offer any help, just came up with the excuses they were busy and not well themselves. My stepfather (who as the grant of probate) who is the eldest suffers from COPD and it was me his granddaughter who did all the running around and all the leg work filling forms in and ringing for hours on the phone. The family are now inquiring about what is happening and now have the nerve to say they feel they are being left in the dark..... This as really opened my eyes to what money can do. My stepfather just wants the estate to be divided as the law states but I am trying to explain that we need to do it correctly so that no one comes back in months time when their inheritance as been spent saying it wasn't equal. So to ask the question do I now need to apply for `letter of administration` or is the grant of probate sufficient? Also can my own spread sheet be signed by all family members to accept the dividing of the estate?

I think there has been misunderstanding here. Please clarify if there was a valid will and this has been admitted to probate? If so that gives the executor full power to distribute the estate according to the terms of the will. The executor has no authority to distribute it in any other way. If there was no will then the only way probate could be obtained would be by applying for letters of administration. If that was the case the estate would have to be distributed according to the intestacy rules. . The person granted the LOA has no discretion but has to distribute according to the rules. In either case deeds of variation can vary the distribution if all the beneficeries agree.

jo.anne

Sorry for not being more clear. There was no will left. My stepfather is the eldest child and is the one applied for probate. On closer inspection I can see on the letter that it does in fact state
AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that Administration of all the estate etc, as been granted to my stepfather. So I am assuming this is the form that gives him the authority to divide the money. I am going off the above subject but I have just noticed on the
letter that when it was applied for last year the estate was roughly valued and was not likely to exceed £43,000. This is now incorrect and is approximately £57,000 before any deductions and £49,000 after funeral costs and solicitors fees. So do we need to do something else now because of this difference.

Yorkshireman99

jo.anne wrote: »

Sorry for not being more clear. There was no will left. My stepfather is the eldest child and is the one applied for probate. On closer inspection I can see on the letter that it does in fact state
AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that Administration of all the estate etc, as been granted to my stepfather. So I am assuming this is the form that gives him the authority to divide the money. I am going off the above subject but I have just noticed on the
letter that when it was applied for last year the estate was roughly valued and was not likely to exceed £43,000. This is now incorrect and is approximately £57,000 before any deductions and £49,000 after funeral costs and solicitors fees. So do we need to do something else now because of this difference.

Thanks for clarifying that. What your stepfather needs to understand is that he MUST distribute the estate strictly according to the intestacy rules. He is not allowed to do what he considers fair. By the way if there was a house why was the total estate so low in value? Was there a large mortgage that had to be paid off?

Mojisola

jo.anne wrote: »

There was no will left. My stepfather is the eldest child and is the one applied for probate. On closer inspection I can see on the letter that it does in fact state
AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that Administration of all the estate etc, as been granted to my stepfather.

So your stepfather does not have probate but Letters of Administration. It gives the same powers but talking about probate makes people think there must have been a will.

Does he know about the intestacy rules and how the estate must be divided up?

jo.anne

Yes a mortgage was paid off. When probate was applied for and we filled all the inheritance tax forms in, we had to roughly approximate the house value and house as only just been sold 12 months since she passed and sold for more than expected. So now I am concerned as the probate letter states it does not exceed £43,000. We have looked into laws of intestacy and aware that two living siblings get 1/3 and 3 children of a deceased sibling share the last 1/3.

Mojisola

jo.anne wrote: »

We have a spread sheet of things that have been paid out, but as this is done by ourselves I am now concerned would this stand up.

The reason I ask is no other family members have helped one bit in removal and tidying of the property to sell, nobody else took the time to offer any help, just came up with the excuses they were busy and not well themselves.

My stepfather (who as the grant of probate) who is the eldest suffers from COPD and it was me his granddaughter who did all the running around and all the leg work filling forms in and ringing for hours on the phone.

The family are now inquiring about what is happening and now have the nerve to say they feel they are being left in the dark.....

Also can my own spread sheet be signed by all family members to accept the dividing of the estate?

It's the executor/administrator's job to deal with the estate. Family members may help but the person who applies for LoA or probate is personally taking on the responsibility.

He is entitled to claim back from the estate any expenses - phone calls, post, travel costs, cleaners, removals, etc - that he incurred dealing with the estate but can't charge for his time.

The beneficiaries don't have to know about every penny that was spent - a simple account sheet of categories of money in and money out will be enough. I wouldn't give them the opportunity to start quibbling about minor points this late in the process.

Yorkshireman99

As the estate comes nowhere near the IHT threshold there is no problem that the house was undervalued.

Tuesday_Tenor

jo.anne wrote: »

I have just noticed on the
letter that when it was applied for last year the estate was roughly valued and was not likely to exceed £43,000. This is now incorrect and is approximately £57,000 before any deductions and £49,000 after funeral costs and solicitors fees. So do we need to do something else now because of this difference.

I agree with Yorkshireman; no need to notify HMRC.

When your step-grandad sent in the IHT forms he will have signed to say he would notify them if the final value of the estate was different to the estimate and made a difference to the amount of tax payable. As this estate is well below the IHT threshold you don't need to notify them.