NS&I insisting on probate

Yellowvest23

IanManc said:

didgemaster said:

Hi MSE forums

My mother-in-law passed away last year and my father-in-law is sorting out her savings and investments. NS&I are refusing to give him the savings until probate has been carried out. It does say that they can insist upon this but it seems a little harsh that he has to spend £1500 on solicitors in order to get to his deceased wife's savings. Surely there is something he can do?

Thanks in advance

It would be harsh if someone had to spend £1500 on solicitors to get probate, but fortunately it isn't true.

As JGB1955 has pointed out, it only costs £215 and your father-in-law can do it himself. Until recently the process was paper based and you had to visit a local Probate registry, but now it is even simpler - though somewhat slower - and you can do it all online without the need to visit anywhere.

For a simple estate where probate is being applied for by a spouse then the forms really are very easy to complete. Your father-in-law will find it quite straightforward, and if he's not internet savvy then you can help him while he's filling in the forms online.

Would the same "simple" process apply to a son who is the executor or only a spouse?
TIA

colsten

I can only repeat that I am very pleased that NS&I request legal proof of eligibility before they transfer the funds from one spouse to another. I'd love to hear from anyone who has any objections to this, and what those objections are.

badger09

xylophone said:

Very strange, when my father passed away none of financial institutions asked for probate.

This depends on the rules applied by the particular financial institution.

Some banks will permit  access to quite substantial sums without probate.

NS and I mentions only £5000 - it says may but as far as can be judged from other posts on the forum, they tend to stick to this as a limit.

https://www.nsandi.com/help/manage-money-for-others/customers-who-have-died

If the deceased is the sole owner of a property/properties, probate will be required.

If the deceased owns shares, institutions have their own rules for what they regard as "small estates" for which a Grant will not be required to access the assets.

No they don't  - at least, they didn't in 2018 when the website & Bereavement Team said the same thing. They released well over double that amount to me as Executor.

OP roughly how much is involved?