Probate: how long after assets being collected will it take for inheritance?

justwondered00

Hi this is my first post on here, I was wondering if anyone would be able to advise me. My uncle died 4.12.15 leaving a will to be split 4 ways between myself and 3 others equally. It is being dealt with by a solicitor as the executor lives abroad. I have received next to no information, the latest I heard at beginning of April was that probate was granted, savings had been cashed in and that inland revenue were checking if any taxes were due. There is no IHT to be paid as it us under the threshold and my uncle was in a care home 2years prior to dying so no property to sell or bills to pay; the care home was paid using money from his house that was sold when he moved to care home. I have Google'd and Google'd this and I think I'm right in assuming that once debts and taxes have been paid that beneficiaries will receive their money, so we are at the final stage but my question is how long does this final stage take? Thanks in advance for any replies.

TonyMMM

Solicitors are famously cautious about paying out estates too soon in case an unknown debt suddenly appears - they will almost certainly wait 6 months after probate and maybe up to 12 months.

You can chase them and could ask for an interim payment, but it will be their decision.

justwondered00

How can I find out when probate was granted?

Brighty

justwondered00 wrote: »

How can I find out when probate was granted?

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Enter deceaseds surname and year of death here, find their listing and it will state date of death and date of probate. Only for England and Wales, if Scotland or NI, you need to go elsewhere

Brighty

justwondered00

I have looked on this it shows the date if death and a probate number but not date that probate was granted.

konark

Solicitors will wait 8 months from probate to distribute so that no long-lost relatives come out of the woodwork.

justwondered00

But there is a will, surely it would not make any difference if long lost relatives were to appear as they are not named in the will?

troubleinparadise

Not only long lost relatives (who don't have to be named in a will to challenge it, or claim some right to the estate or a portion of it) - unknown creditors can also appear from the woodwork, which is why notices are placed in the Gazette and local papers, to both flush them out and give a timeframe for the estate to be settled, especially by professional executors.

brewerdave

As an "amateur" executor ,I have made interim distributions of ~ 90% of my late mother's estate about 6 months after death and ~ 2 months after probate. I am holding the rest as cash to cover any unexpected bills that might arise. I have set a target date of August to complete the distribution.
My siblings think that I'm being over cautious because my sister held POA for my mother for the last couple of years and paid/set up all the major bills herself.

Newly_retired

If DWP have any claim then it could take much longer.

justwondered00

So how long would you expect it to take?