administrator- but not next of kin

charb56

my brother recently died and did not have a wife or children, he died intestate, no will.
the estate is probably going to be around £500,000 . my very elderly parents are next of kin but don't want to be administrators-as the only other family member can I do this as his sister? I've already been with copies of death certificate to his bank and now I wonder if I should have done this. we will appoint a solicitor but just wondered how this works?

Yorkshireman99

charb56 wrote: »

my brother recently died and did not have a wife or children, he died intestate, no will.
the estate is probably going to be around £500,000 . my very elderly parents are next of kin but don't want to be administrators-as the only other family member can I do this as his sister? I've already been with copies of death certificate to his bank and now I wonder if I should have done this. we will appoint a solicitor but just wondered how this works?

Another relative can apply for letters of administration. You could get a solicitor to do it but it will cost. How complicated are your late brother's financial affairs? If you do appoint a solcitor make sure the fees are for work actually done rather than a percentage of the estate value.

GDB2222

So sorry about your loss.

Don't appoint a solicitor to take care of the estate. Or, at least, not without shopping around for costings very carefully.

It's more sensible to appoint a firm of solicitors to advise you on specific aspects. It should work out far cheaper.

Umm, do your parents need the money? If they would simply give most of it to you, that could easily involve a second charge to inheritance tax. Perhaps they could renounce part or all of their entitlement in favour of you - if that's what they want, of course.

charb56

thanks, I really want to do right by my brother, he did write me a note when he was in hospital last year saying he wanted my parents, me and my 2 children all to get equal amounts-but got better and never actually made a will, . so this might be a "letter of wishes"? and might need a deed of variation-my parents don't want anything. he had several bank accounts, pensions and savings but apart from that, I don't think anything will be very complicated, nothing overseas, a very small mortgage left only, and definitely no other debts

Yorkshireman99

charb56 wrote: »

thanks, I really want to do right by my brother, he did write me a note when he was in hospital last year saying he wanted my parents, me and my 2 children all to get equal amounts-but got better and never actually made a will, . so this might be a "letter of wishes"? and might need a deed of variation-my parents don't want anything. he had several bank accounts, pensions and savings but apart from that, I don't think anything will be very complicated, nothing overseas, a very small mortgage left only, and definitely no other debts

You should be able to do it yourself. You will need a professional valuation of the house by a RICS qualified surveyor. Estate agent's values will not satisfy HMR&C. Finacially it would be best that a DOV is done so that your parent's estate do not attract extra IHT. Your children can't inherit until they are 18. So will need to get advice on how to deal with the amount you are going to inherit.

Torry_Quine

If your parents have any means tested benefits they can't refuse any inheritance, it would be deprivation of assets.

GDB2222

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

You should be able to do it yourself. You will need a professional valuation of the house by a RICS qualified surveyor. Estate agent's values will not satisfy HMR&C. Finacially it would be best that a DOV is done so that your parent's estate do not attract extra IHT. Your children can't inherit until they are 18. So will need to get advice on how to deal with the amount you are going to inherit.

HMRC were satisfied with an estate agent's valuation when MIL died, but yes and RICS is better.

I'm not sure a deed of variation is the right procedure if there's an intestacy, but no doubt the solicitor will advise.

Children under 18 can inherit, provided you (or someone else) are prepared to act as trustee. In my view the bigger issue is not letting them get their hands on the money until they are a bit older than 18.

getmore4less

Even if you hand it over to solicitors you will end up doing quite a bit of the work and some of it is simple stuff so you don't relay need to be paying £200 an hour to deal with some of it.

It may be that you are just too busy to take on the learning curve and the day to day of dealing with an estate but it may be worth becoming the administrator and using solicitor for some of the specific like collecting assets dealing with the IHT but keep control over things like dealing with the property.

A DOV is likely to be needed and it makes sense to have a good think about how best to use the assets especially as there is a property.

You have a couple of years to sort that bit out so no rush and once the property is secured you could take your time dealing with everything.

Solicitors are good at using up the "executors year" so even if busy you could do the work quicker with a bit of help with the IHT forms.

getmore4less

GDB2222 wrote: »

I'm not sure a deed of variation is the right procedure if there's an intestacy, but no doubt the solicitor will advise.

DOV can be use on intestate estates.

DOV are tax tool, the effect is the real beneficiary makes a gift that has special tax status as if the recipient was the beneficiary.

if the sister takes it all then there may be other options that avoid the cost of the DOV and still have the tax benefits for the parents.

GDB2222

getmore4less wrote: »

DOV can be use on intestate estates.

DOV are tax tool, the effect is the real beneficiary makes a gift that has special tax status as if the recipient was the beneficiary.

if the sister takes it all then there may be other options that avoid the cost of the DOV and still have the tax benefits for the parents.

Thanks. I didn't know a DOV is appropriate for an intestacy.

If it all goes to the parents, there's potential for an extra IHT bill of £200k. So, I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of the DOV!

On the other hand it would annoy me to be paying the solicitors perhaps £10k+ to administer a simple estate, when all you need is £2k worth of advice on particular aspects.

Yorkshireman99

GDB2222 wrote: »

HMRC were satisfied with an estate agent's valuation when MIL died, but yes and RICS is better.

I'm not sure a deed of variation is the right procedure if there's an intestacy, but no doubt the solicitor will advise.

Children under 18 can inherit, provided you (or someone else) are prepared to act as trustee. In my view the bigger issue is not letting them get their hands on the money until they are a bit older than 18.

Was the estate big enough to pay IHT? If the value is less than around £300,000 the HMR&C will not be bothered. Otherwise a valuation by RICS surveyor is invaluable. The surveyor will, if need be, negotiate with the District Valuer that is not something you can DIY. A DOV is AOK under intestacy. Children cannot inherit directly so the funds have to be held in trust until they are 18. They cannot be prevented from inheriting when they are 18.