Move an estate into an ISA but which one?

Mattquantrill101

Hi guys,

To cut a very long story short, my dad was killed whilst he was out in Uganda in 2015. I'm sure he was murdered as part of an inheritance scam as a "wife" has come out of the woodwork from Uganda. I've been in Ambassadors offices, Police stations, registry offices and all sorts trying to sort it out but it's got to the point now where I just need to claim probate. Due to the "wife", suspicious death and all the dramas this brings, I have been working with a Barrister who is hopefully going to help us gain probate.

I have had a letter from Nationwide who hold a few of my dad's accounts as they want to close them and send me the cash. They said they are happy to send it directly to me as it is under £100K.

The moral compass kicked in and i decided to tell the barrister rather than just claim it who told me to hold it in an account of mine. I asked if I could put it in an ISA and claim the interest but she told me the interest would need to be accrued as part of the estate but it was a good idea to use a higher interest paying ISA.

I have just read all the ISA guides on this website but am even more confused than I was before so am posting in the hope that somebody would be kind enough to put it in laymen's terms for me.

Basically i have over £35K to put into an account. This is over the tax limit (But it seems only for a cash ISA?) and i have none of my own savings but as the cash is not mine, I'd rather not be paying tax on it at all if possible. Does this mean my best option is to use an ISA as these seem different from cash ISA's?

The whole saga has been going on since 2015 and none of it has been a quick process so I understand if I put the money in a fixed rate non cash out ISA I can get a better rate but I'm unsure if and when the whole probate thing will be finished. In a dream world, the barrister can get the whole thing sorted in a few months and I can apply for probate and get it squared away within a year but if i move the money to a fixed rate ISA and need to get it out before the term is up where do I stand?

Is it worth ringing Nationwide and setting up and ISA with them for them to move the money directly to as they know the story?

Thanks in advance for the help

eskbanker

I think the ISA question is essentially peripheral - the key issue is who is formally acting as executor of the will?

If it's you then you should open an executor account to keep this money separate from your own. ISAs are inherently associated with an individual so wouldn't be a suitable vehicle for this even if they did pay better interest than equivalent taxable accounts (they generally don't).

If you're not the executor then any decision about where money should go in the interim is up to whoever holds this responsibility.

No idea why there's a barrister involved but a probate solicitor would seem a more obvious point of contact for matters relating to administering this estate, or you might wish to post on the cheerily-titled deaths, funerals and probate board at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

Albermarle

There are different types of ISA but you can not put more than £20K in any type of ISA in the same tax year .
However you may not need a cash ISA and a normal 'non isa' savings account could be OK .
You can earn quite a lot interest tax free even outside an ISA nowadays, and 'non'ISA' savings accounts tend to pay more interest.

steampowered

Are you already receiving more in savings interest than your personal allowance?

If not, there is no benefit to using an ISA over a bog standard savings account.

If you are, then you probably have far too much in cash savings anyway so should consider moving your cash savings into investments.

Using an ISA for this sounds unnecessarily complicated. You couldn't put the whole thing in a single ISA in one go anyway - though you could put some in now and some in the next tax year.

Mattquantrill101

Thank you all so much for your help and guidance! The thought of a normal savings account completely slipped my mind to be fair. That does seem the sensible way to do things.

I will start looming into non-ISA savings accounrs. Thank you all again!

LHW99

I found Nationwide was very helpful when we had to open an executor's account. It is a bit more long-winded than a normal savings / current account, but useful, because we had achequebook, so could pay expenses that the estate owed directly from the account.

colsten

Aside from the annual ISA limit being £20k, it isn't possible to open an ISA for a deceased person.

Thrugelmir

Mattquantrill101 wrote: »

I have had a letter from Nationwide who hold a few of my dad's accounts as they want to close them and send me the cash. They said they are happy to send it directly to me as it is under £100K.

Without probate being granted that is somewhat unlikely.

You'll struggle to find an executors account that pays interest.

noh

Nationwides limit on release of funds before probate is required is £50k.

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/about/media-centre-and-specialist-areas/information-for-lawyers/deceased-customers#xtab:tab2