Probate granted but I'm a bit confused!

cavyslave

Hi. I am the sole executrix and joint beneficiary (along with my son) of my late BIL's estate. I handed probate over to a firm of solicitors for a fixed fee and they wrote to me last week to say probate has been granted. They sent me a copy of the grant of probate and said they had forwarded originals to the relevant financial institutions asking them to release funds into the executors account which I hold. The letter said as soon as sufficient monies are gathered in they will make an interim payment into the account.

What happens with his bills, do I have to pay them first before sharing out the remaining money between me and my son? There is also a property to sell but we are both in agreement to hang on to it for the time being as it needs some work doing.

To be honest I'm broke at the moment. His house was broken into and vandalised a few months ago and it has cost me a lot of money to secure the property and to dispose of the ruined carpets, furniture etc. I have had to increase my overdraft with the bank to pay for this and now I'm getting to the limit on that overdraft too!

I have asked the solicitor if she knows roughly how long it will take before any funds are available to me, but she's away on holiday for a fortnight now so I have yet to receive a reply.

Keep_pedalling

The solicitor is likely to take their fee from the estate before distributing it so you should not need to worry about that.

getmore4less

Have you got an interim inventory and account so you know what cashflow there will be.

As long as you know the estate is solvent and are reasonably prompt with paying the bills once cash comes in not that big a problem recovering the costs of securing the property.

It can make sense to consider what you do with house costs as keeping them in the estate keeps those accounts open longer. Also you have to consider council tax will kick in again at some point now you have the grant.

cavyslave

Yes I do know what cashflow there will be, but at the moment there is only £800 in the executors account which was from a cheque I banked some while back. I think the only thing I can do is ask my bank for a loan on the evidence of the grant of probate.