Death Notification Service

xylophone

Dad owns a bungalow worth approx £180,000 - also has around £100,000 in savings. I live with my father, aside from some months away, officially I've lived in the same bungalow since I was born, 1975. So, I guess that means it will go to probate?

Yes - it's less the value more that he owns a house in his sole name.

Probate is required in England or Wales when:

Property (houses, buildings or land) is owned solely by the deceased.

badger09

OP sorry to hear you're in this sad position.

Some posters are confusing 2 separate services:

Tell Us Once Service - which basically covers Government Depts and Local Authority
https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once

Death Notification Service - which covers some, but not all, financial institutions
https://www.deathnotificationservice.co.uk/

When my sister died last year I used the Tell Us Once Service and it worked reasonably well.

I didn't use The Death Notification Service as it didn't cover some institutions and I felt more in control, knowing I had notified each one individually.

I found it easiest to speak to each institutions dedicated Bereavement Teams. They are specially trained and were very helpful.

You can find out from them, or online, what their limits for Probate are. They vary widely. E.g. last year HSBC was £5k, Santander £50k, Aldermore needed Probate regardless of amount.

This might give you some pointers as to consolidating accounts over the coming months. As others have said, you will need Probate anyway as your father owns the bungalow, but you should be able to do that yourself. being able to access funds without Probate is useful.

This board was very helpful when I needed it
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

SonOf wrote: »

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If one institution needs probate then all must be supplied with it.

Not so.

Or did you mean 'if one institution needs probate then you must apply for it'?

SonOf

Not so.

Or did you mean 'if one institution needs probate then you must apply for it'?

If you obtain a grant of representation then you are normally required to supply it to all institutions. The small claims exemption does not apply if you have applied/obtained it.

Indeed, I just checked the claims forms of several providers and they all state on the small claims section exactly that.

badger09

SonOf wrote: »

If you obtain a grant of representation then you are normally required to supply it to all institutions. The small claims exemption does not apply if you have applied/obtained it.

Indeed, I just checked the claims forms of several providers and they all state on the small claims section exactly that.

Interesting.

As I said, last year both HSBC and NS&I released funds to me, as did Prudential & Wesleyan (Insurance) before Grant of Probate. In fact, before I'd even applied for it.