Estate - questionnaire for personal representative

edgex

Father died last week. Brother & I are the only beneficiaries in the will. A firm of solicitors are the executors, as specified in the will.
He has left a flat to both of us, & the contents etc.

They have today given us a 'Questionnaire for Personal Representative Clients', from the Law Society.
The issue is with Part 4 - The Deceased's Assets
It's asking for estimated values for furniture, clothing etc, & then a listing of bank/building society accounts (+ passbooks)
All of this stuff is in the flat
but
the solicitors have asked for all keys to the property...


So, how do we fill this in if we have no access to the information, because we won't be able to access the flat?


(The solicitors have already told us off for collecting a suit to go to the funeral directors, & the person that deals with wills etc is currently on annual leave )

pip895

My understanding is that for most estates a fairly nominal valuation for contents will suffice - indeed in many cases contents can end up being a liability that you need to pay someone to clear..

If you have no access to documentation they are going to have to send someone to look through the documents themselves aren't they!

edgex

pip895 wrote: »

My understanding is that for most estates a fairly nominal valuation for contents will suffice - indeed in many cases contents can end up being a liability that you need to pay someone to clear..

If you have no access to documentation they are going to have to send someone to look through the documents themselves aren't they!

As the estate is likely to be liable for IHT, we were hoping to take advantage of IHT408 (household & personal goods donated to charity), so we would need to make a listing & valuation of those items.

Suppose all we can do is tell them that, & see what happens.

Savvy_Sue

You will indeed have to ask them how you are supposed to supply the information they need without access to the flat, but it is possible they will want to send someone with you to make sure you are not 'doing the dirty' on anything.

It's a shame, because it's going to get pricey if multiple visits are needed, and even pricier if they insist on doing the work themselves.

edgex

Well, the questionnaire has gone in yesterday, with death certificate copies.

First appointment available is a week on Monday...