Probate question

baffled_of_brighton

Could someone advise me on probate as all my searches seem to come up with different answers.

My father passed away a couple of weeks ago. He left a will and everything passes to my mother. Most things are in joint names including the house and bank account - I have been told no probate is necessary here - is this correct? He also had premium bonds and shares but unfortunately these are in his name only - I am being told here that probate will be needed - if my mother is still the only beneficiary is this still the case?

If I go down the probate road, do I have to do probate on everything or just the investments in his name? Would this be an easy process or would you recommend a solicitor? Would inheritance tax / capital gains be applicable here if it goes through probate but everything still goes to my mother as his sole beneficiary??

Please help as I'm totally baffled.

HHarry

Don't be baffled, Baffled.

Whether or not you need Probate depends on the institution. For instance the Nationwide will release funds of £5k or under without needing Probate.
So you'll need to check with N,S&I and whoever holds the shares, but I think they will ask for Probate.

Inheritance Tax won't be applicable if it all goes to your Mum, Capital Gains might be.

Completing Probate isn't too difficult. I've just done it for the first time, and it was pretty painless. There's a couple of forms to fill in (PA1 and IHt205 I think) and send off. You can download them online and see if you think you could fill them in.
A friend recently couldn't face doing it and was quoted £1000-1200 for similar circumstances.

Yorkshireman99

baffled_of_brighton wrote: »

Could someone advise me on probate as all my searches seem to come up with different answers.

My father passed away a couple of weeks ago. He left a will and everything passes to my mother. Most things are in joint names including the house and bank account - I have been told no probate is necessary here - is this correct? He also had premium bonds and shares but unfortunately these are in his name only - I am being told here that probate will be needed - if my mother is still the only beneficiary is this still the case?

If I go down the probate road, do I have to do probate on everything or just the investments in his name? Would this be an easy process or would you recommend a solicitor? Would inheritance tax / capital gains be applicable here if it goes through probate but everything still goes to my mother as his sole beneficiary??

Please help as I'm totally baffled.

You will only need probate if any of the items in your late father's name require it. Most likely the shares will. You need to include ALL items in probate even though some do not need it. Easy to do yourself if you are systematic and take your time.

getmore4less

HHarry wrote: »

Inheritance Tax won't be applicable if it all goes to your Mum, Capital Gains might be.

No CGT on assets at death.

baffled_of_brighton

Thank you for your reply. Would that mean probate on the whole estate or just the shares and bonds? I will do as you suggest download and look at the forms to see what they are asking for before going down the very expensive solicitor route.

Where do I find out if capital gains applies - talk about taxing already taxed money.

Thanks again.
Baffled

Yorkshireman99

baffled_of_brighton wrote: »

Thank you for your reply. Would that mean probate on the whole estate or just the shares and bonds? I will do as you suggest download and look at the forms to see what they are asking for before going down the very expensive solicitor route.

Where do I find out if capital gains applies - talk about taxing already taxed money.

Thanks again.
Baffled

You have to include ALL estate assets bin the probate application. There is no CGT to worry about.

baffled_of_brighton

Thank you. When do capital gains taxes kick in?

Yorkshireman99

baffled_of_brighton wrote: »

Thank you. When do capital gains taxes kick in?

Capital gains tax is payable on certain gains in the value of certain assets when they are disposed of. Just forget it. You can google for some more information but it really is not going to affect this estate. Since the estate goes to the spouse there is no Inheritance Tax to pay.

Crabapple

There are separate sections in the probate forms where you declare joint assets and sole assets. They are included on the paperwork but do not require the probate to transfer them and pass to the joint owner outside the Will.

There is an automatic uplift on death for CGT purposes, so if your mother takes shares etc now she takes them at the date of death value. CGT might then be payable if she sold them at an increased value in a few years, but it would usually be simple to organise disposals to make sure her personal allowance wasn't exceeded in any one year.