Only child, Dad died, I thought it would be straightforward!

Tete_en_l'Air

Hello, my dad died last week following a long illness. I am an only child and he was divorced (and my mother died some years ago anyway). I have found a cheapy (Post Office?) will, signed and witnessed in 2004, which states all possessions are left to me to "do with as I please". Assets are a house and car (not worth more than about £100,000 altogether). I live in the house but am not named on any documents.

I had naively assumed that as there's only me and I'm way below the inheritance tax threshold it would simply be a case of producing a death certificate and having mortgage, bank accounts, etc. signed over to me. But reading the MSE 'Guide to Death' thing, it seems I have to apply for a Grant of Representation (which looks fairly straightforward), and also value the estate!

How do I go about valuing the estate, do I need a solicitor? Presumably I won't have access to bank accounts without the Grant of Representation, which I can't get until I've valued the estate..?

What else might I be missing please?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

SeniorSam

Contents value is only nominal and as far as the house goes, you can ask a couple of local estate agants to give a value on the basis that you MAY be selling. The valuations are usually free. In that price range the figure is unlikely to be questioned. You will eventually need to have the house put in your name by contacting the Land Registry. They will let you knoe what they need.

You should not need a solicitor to deal with this. If in doubt, just call the probate court or citizens advice and ask for help.

Sam

RAS

The funeral can usually paid for by the funeral director billing the main bank account directly.

Small savings and bank accounts will often release the money on receipt of a copy of the death certificate, as long as you sign a disclaimer promising to repay if there are any problems.

The mortgage is the sticking point; will you be able to repay that if you transfer the house into your name? Or have the income to arrange another one in your own name?

You will need probate to get the house transferred to your name but you can take a bit of time over that. Ask three estate agents for a value for sale? If you are not close to the IHT limit, that should suffice.

Savvy_Sue

So sorry for your loss.

I think it's worth buying one of the guides to wills and probate: I used the Which one which I found very good, but I've also seen one written by a solicitor who felt that it was generally within the competence of most family members to deal with a simple will.

Go and take a look in a bookshop. You might then want to order online but make sure it's a recent edition.

FreeBear

Who is named as the executor ?
They are usually the one(s) responsible for valuing the estate, filling in the forms, and applying for probate.

If no executors are named, then you would need to apply for the grant - The forms are not very difficult, and you will find the banks & other financial institutions will provide balances on the accounts on production of a death certificate.

Check with the mortgage provider and see if there is any life insurance that will pay out to cover the outstanding loan - if there is, it will save quite a bit a grief on your part trying to transfer the mortgage to your name.

When I filled out a IHT205 recently, I based the valuation of the property on recent sales in the area from Zoopla. Valuation of chattels was little more than a stab in the dark at £1500 which was probably overly optimistic. As the total value of the estate was well under the Inheritance Tax threshold, HMRC didn't query the figures. There were a few items mentioned in the will that we paid for an independent valuation for (some paintings & jewelry) - On reflection, we could have saved ourselves the money.

If you ring the Probate Registry help line, you will find them very helpful - They know how distressful these things are and can point you in the right direction. As long as the estate is under £325000 in value, there is no rush to get the forms filled in and returned.

Tete_en_l'Air

Thank you all for your considered and sympathetic responses. I must admit I've done nothing other than funeral arrangements since my last post but I'm definitely going to make a start in the morning (funeral is later today). I feel I definitely have some idea of where to start now though!

With regards to funeral, I have saving to pay for that so it's no problem, and as for the mortgage, although I don't know exact figures, there's not a lot left on it and the repayments are low so that won't be a problem either, it's just the transition bit in between that'll be a headache.

Thanks once again for all your comments, if I come up against any stumbling blocks I'll pop back

G_M

Assuming you are the executer you'll need to
Complete a probate application form

You can either:

• fill in the probate application form PA1 yourself
• call the Probate and Inheritance Tax helpline to get help filling in the form

and


Complete an Inheritance Tax form

You must work out how much the estate is worth. Depending on its value, there may be Inheritance Tax to pay.
You must also fill in the appropriate Inheritance Tax form - even if you think no tax is owed.




https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview