Husband executor of will versus The planning crowd dealing with it ?

diggle

so so I’ll try to be brief but bear with me .
husbands brother recently deceased . Had a will drawn up by The planning crowd . Husband is first executor his brother ( who is older and does not want to deal with it ) so we contacted TPC because we were unsure if he had arranged funeral arrangements through them too , he hadn’t . 

Whilst on the phone the lady we spoke to who was very nice said that the company could deal with it all ( states in the will if neither my husband or his brother want to do this TPC are third option ) 
  So we breath a sigh of relief initially ok it and hand over £158 unsure why but nonetheless . 

   We asked lady on phone as Husband is left contents of flat can we start clearing it , it’s a rented flat so trying to clear it to save on rent and was told yes no problem .
His brothers children stand to inherit any monetary assets to which this lady on the phone said what was in his full will document ( and we have found relevant paperwork .
also after registering death filled out the Tell us once form , which informs local council services and benefits etc.. 
we got two pdf forms to look at on line from TPC but couldn’t sign them as only have I pad  ( this May turn out to be a good thing ) 
spoke to the appropriate person over the phone who said she’d sent them by mail too .
today they arrived and it turns out ( not seen in the pdf notes ) 
we have to pay a further £300 upfront which we will get back at the end 
 they take 1.99% plus 20% VAT 
is this a good deal or not ?

AnotherJoe

Normally I'd say DIY it but if its a simple estate of low value, 2% may turn out to be quite a low amount - i take it its a small amount he's left if he lived in a rented flat?

OTOH if its simple you can probably do it all yourselves. YOu will have to do the bulk of teh work anyway, working out what assets there are - banks accounts, investments, because TPC wont know, pension (not part of the estate, was he employed, was there benefits due to anyone? How old are the children?)

badmemory

Family will land up doing all the work anyway, so why pay someone else to do it.  Unless you expect the estate to be very complicated or the beneficiaries very difficult to deal with then DIY.  If there are a lot of debts that will not be covered then walk away.  If you DIY it will all be over much quicker & cheaper.

Voyager2002

MSE is full of horror stories from people who appointed a company to be the executor (or had that appointment made by the deceased). Once that step has been taken there is no going back.

However, DIY does not have to mean doing everything yourself: your husband can be the executor but employ a solicitor to handle probate. Get some idea of the size of the estate and the complexity of the job, then ring round and get some alternative quotes.

diggle

Thank you for all advice so far . We were thinking of speaking to a probate solicitor before signing anything . We have found all relevant paperwork that we know of and dependant if it is still current ( and we believe it is ) there is quite a lump sum . No idea of any major debts . Children are adults with families of there own . 

 Yes the horror stories that’s when we began to have doubts having to stump up another £300 we haven’t got too. 

Not signing anything yet ,hoping to get a solicitor appointment .
the brother was retired and on some benefits 

getmore4less

How old are the beneficiaries?
If they are over 18 they can administer using POA for the executor that does not want to do it. 

They then decide how much THEY want to pay to have someone else do it. 

xylophone

hoping to get a solicitor appointment .
the brother was retired and on some benefits 

You do realise that this can be expensive?  That said, costs would fall on the estate.  

This appears to be a simple estate - no  house involved, just money in the bank.

Do you have reason to believe that IHT will be payable?

https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probate

You mention benefits - this could imply that caution is needed before distribution of the estate.

The DWP will be checking for any overpayment and will contact you.

Equally they would contact you about any arrears of benefit due to the estate.

Mojisola

diggle said:

there is quite a lump sum .

the brother was retired and on some benefits

If he was retired, on benefits and didn't own a property and there is a large amount in savings, you might find the DWP want some of it back.

xylophone

If he was retired, on benefits and didn't own a property and there is a large amount in savings, you might find the DWP want some of it back.

It could be that the benefits were not means tested - AA for example, or if means tested (like Pension Credit) that there was an Assessed Income Period - but yes, as I said in post above, caution may be warranted.