Help re sorting Will please

grumpyoldgal

I am sorry, you probably will think I am really stupid, but I need to know what we do in order to sort out my Mum's will. Some background....

Mum died 10th January this year. My brother and I are her only children, she was a widow. We are both named as executors in her will. I was Deputy for Mum with the OPG, but of course that ceased to be effective with her death. I believe that we need to move forward now, (Mum was only laid to rest at the beginning of this week so neither of us wanted to think about it until we had done that), I have invoices outstanding for her care home, and some other bits. We attended the Registrar obviously who advised us to complete the Tell us Once form which we did. So the questions I have are:

1. the Tell us once form has obviously prompted requests for Death Certificates from various sources Am I able to send those off to these respective places without now being an official deputy?

2. The Will has my name spelled incorrectly throughout. An "s" on the end. Will this have any issue on performing our duties?

3. What do we do next? Do we go to a Solicitor? How do we undertake our duties.....I assume we need to get probate for that, but then refer to number 2.....

Any advice at all would be most gratefully received. All this makes me feel dizzy - it just isn't my area of knowledge. Thank you in advance.

Keep_pedalling

1. Yes but under the authority as an executor.

2. Should not really cause an issue, presumable the will also states that you are the testators child.

3. You should not need a solicitor unless her estate is complex. Whether you need probate or not depends on what assets she held. If it was just cash then probably not, but if she owned property or some form of investments then yes you will need to apply for probate. First thing to do is to document all of her assets.

Owain_Moneysaver

First thing to do is inform the house (and car, if applicable) insurers and get the policies amended. Otherwise the house and car will be uninsured.

If there are funds in the bank, funeral bills can be passed to the bank (most have a dedicated bereavement department) for payment. The bank may also be willing to pay the care home fees.

Inform all utilities as final bills will have to be made up to the date of death and continuing accounts put into the executor's name.

Locate any private pension providers and inform them of the death to avoid any pension overpayments and/or claim any death benefits.

Yorkshireman99

I would add, read the "stickies" at the start of this forum.

grumpyoldgal

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

1. Yes but under the authority as an executor.

2. Should not really cause an issue, presumable the will also states that you are the testators child.

3. You should not need a solicitor unless her estate is complex. Whether you need probate or not depends on what assets she held. If it was just cash then probably not, but if she owned property or some form of investments then yes you will need to apply for probate. First thing to do is to document all of her assets.

1. Thank you - will get these sorted

2. Yes, it does refer to me as her Daughter.

3. How do we manage the accounts as they close without a solicitor helping? I know there are several accounts with around 500K between them. Everything shared between the 2 of us with some notes of additional for grandchildren (which we think should be more than it is_. But if we don't use a solicitor how can we prove that everything has been done above board - and who is responsible for ensuring everything is held properly whilst all aspects of will are sorted?

There are no issues with our relationship, no family arguments or fall outs - but I suppose it is about that audit trail??

thank you again

grumpyoldgal

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

First thing to do is inform the house (and car, if applicable) insurers and get the policies amended. Otherwise the house and car will be uninsured.

If there are funds in the bank, funeral bills can be passed to the bank (most have a dedicated bereavement department) for payment. The bank may also be willing to pay the care home fees.

Inform all utilities as final bills will have to be made up to the date of death and continuing accounts put into the executor's name.

Locate any private pension providers and inform them of the death to avoid any pension overpayments and/or claim any death benefits.

Thank you - there is no car or home. I wasn't aware of the bank having a bereavement dept - I will make an appointment - but in the meantime, I had just retired 5 months previously so had funds in my bank account so have been able to pay for the funeral. although the Council are aware of the issues regarding Mums death for care home fees. I will ask the bank about settling these accounts.

I informed 2 x private pensions but will send the death certificates off on Monday - as in my previous reply - thank you - I wasn't aware of what I could or couldn't do without being a Deputy any longer, and didn't want to get into any trouble. Your advise has been most helpful x

grumpyoldgal

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

I would add, read the "stickies" at the start of this forum.

will do , thank you x

Owain_Moneysaver

grumpyoldgal wrote: »

3. How do we manage the accounts as they close without a solicitor helping? I know there are several accounts with around 500K between them.

I assume you'll be going through the Probate procedure. The accounts will be frozen at the date of notification of death by the banks so you don't need to (and can't) do anything with them in the meantime. Nothing happens in a hurry. Once you have grant of probate, the banks will close the accounts and send the proceeds on your instructions.

Your first task is to prepare the probate account, which shows the deceased's affairs at the date of death, with any liabilities owing or accrued (such as utilities or council tax paid in advance or arrears).

As there are beneficiaries other than you, you may wish to open an Executor's Account with a bank, which can be used to receive and pay funds on behalf of the estate. You will keep a record of funds in and out (backed up with the paperwork from the corresponding banks etc, and receipts for expenses) which will form the estate accounts which show the distribution of the estate to the beneficiaries.

1. At £500k you are in potential Inheritance Tax territory if there is no exemption to be carried forward from a previous spouse. A certain amount of IHT may have to be paid 'on account' before grant of probate or within 6 months of death, and this can normally be paid direct by banks holding funds.

2. If the grandchildren are beneficiaries in the Will and they are under 18 then a Trust may be needed.

In both the above cases you may need to obtain professional advice. That does not mean retaining a solicitor to carry out the whole procedure, it means taking appopriate advice on those particular matters so you can act correctly in obtaining grant of probate and executing the estate.

grumpyoldgal

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

I assume you'll be going through the Probate procedure. The accounts will be frozen at the date of notification of death by the banks so you don't need to (and can't) do anything with them in the meantime. Nothing happens in a hurry. Once you have grant of probate, the banks will close the accounts and send the proceeds on your instructions.

Your first task is to prepare the probate account, which shows the deceased's affairs at the date of death, with any liabilities owing or accrued (such as utilities or council tax paid in advance or arrears).

As there are beneficiaries other than you, you may wish to open an Executor's Account with a bank, which can be used to receive and pay funds on behalf of the estate. You will keep a record of funds in and out (backed up with the paperwork from the corresponding banks etc, and receipts for expenses) which will form the estate accounts which show the distribution of the estate to the beneficiaries.

1. At £500k you are in potential Inheritance Tax territory if there is no exemption to be carried forward from a previous spouse. A certain amount of IHT may have to be paid 'on account' before grant of probate or within 6 months of death, and this can normally be paid direct by banks holding funds.

2. If the grandchildren are beneficiaries in the Will and they are under 18 then a Trust may be needed.

In both the above cases you may need to obtain professional advice. That does not mean retaining a solicitor to carry out the whole procedure, it means taking appopriate advice on those particular matters so you can act correctly in obtaining grant of probate and executing the estate.

Thank you.

BIB.....my Father's estate and assets were left entirely to my Mum, including the house which was sold when she went into care 4 yrs ago. So her total estate includes probably around 350k left by my Dad to my Mum which she put into Premium bonds / NSI investment bonds etc.

I am going to get alot of this done tomorrow and posted on Monday. I agree we need to sit with a solicitor and take some advice. Thank you so much for your explanation x

Margot123

I'm sorry for your loss.

On a slightly different subject, was your Mum ever assessed for Continuing Health Care? As you say you were her Deputy under the OPG, this has made me wonder.

If your Mum was never offered an assessment, then you may be able to claim retrospectively. It's worth looking into as regards the care fees. CHC funding is not means tested.

troubleinparadise

Margot123 wrote: »

I'm sorry for your loss.

On a slightly different subject, was your Mum ever assessed for Continuing Health Care? As you say you were her Deputy under the OPG, this has made me wonder.

If your Mum was never offered an assessment, then you may be able to claim retrospectively. It's worth looking into as regards the care fees. CHC funding is not means tested.

I’m not sure that a retrospective assessment would be very easy to achieve - do you know of successful applications? From what I have learnt, achieving CHC funding is both somewhat demanding and more often unsuccessful (specifically concerning dementia)

Speaking for myself, I don’t know that I’d want to set that ball rolling on top of estate administration and bereavement.