I am being hamstrung by the Probate process.

gdw123

My mother died last October. After collecting the relevant paperwork, I placed the task of finally applying for Probate with a solicitor in April expecting the grant to take about 2-3 months. I am the sole beneficiary, joint executor with the solicitor, and no Inheritance tax payments were required. Because delays I am likely to run out of money in the next three months. The only support for my business is currently Universal Credit and have been unable to get another job (I am 66). I have been living in the house my mother left me in her will and had been caring for her for 6 years.

 I was hoping to take out a lifetime mortgage to pay for the fees and one outstanding credit card debt of £4000 my mother had. I have paid all the other debts by closing one of her bank accounts and this has covered funeral expenses, care fees, utilities, and a second credit card.

I later learned the papers were submitted by the solicitors in June. The grant still has not been completed.

I am now it a situation where I need to know how to start the process of obtaining a lifetime mortgage without Probate or trying to get a probate loan. Is it even possible to do this? I have seen online companies offering advances with something like 25% of the loan as a fee based on selling assets. I don’t want to do this as I am living in the property and would like to remain there. Is there some way of setting up what I am looking for? I am assuming, due to the slow response, that Probate will not be completed in time before my savings run out.

Marcon

gdw123 said:

My mother died last October. After collecting the relevant paperwork, I placed the task of finally applying for Probate with a solicitor in April expecting the grant to take about 2-3 months. I am the sole beneficiary, joint executor with the solicitor, and no Inheritance tax payments were required. Because delays I am likely to run out of money in the next three months. The only support for my business is currently Universal Credit and have been unable to get another job (I am 66). I have been living in the house my mother left me in her will and had been caring for her for 6 years.

 I was hoping to take out a lifetime mortgage to pay for the fees and one outstanding credit card debt of £4000 my mother had. I have paid all the other debts by closing one of her bank accounts and this has covered funeral expenses, care fees, utilities, and a second credit card.

One of her bank accounts...that suggests there may be others? Are the banks concerned willing to pay out without probate (the maximum limit varies from bank to bank, so it's a case of checking individually)?

gdw123 said:

I later learned the papers were submitted by the solicitors in June. The grant still has not been completed.

I am now it a situation where I need to know how to start the process of obtaining a lifetime mortgage without Probate or trying to get a probate loan. Is it even possible to do this? I have seen online companies offering advances with something like 25% of the loan as a fee based on selling assets. I don’t want to do this as I am living in the property and would like to remain there. Is there some way of setting up what I am looking for? I am assuming, due to the slow response, that Probate will not be completed in time before my savings run out.

If the solicitor is an executor and had been involved in the process from the time of your mother's death until you tasked them with actually applying for probate in April (i.e. they were familiar with the estate and happy with all the paperwork), I think you need to ask them why actually applying took until June. Point out the difficulties you are now experiencing and make it clear you won't be able to pay their fees until probate has been granted (might even encourage them to put a bit of pressure on to get probate through, although that's a tricky one - but worth a go).

Keep the credit company informed and say probate is still awaited and you will settle the debt once it has been granted.

xylophone

You mention that you are aged 66.

What is the position on your state pension?

james.wardle

You might want to ask your solicitor for confirmation that has submitted the grant of probate.  They can often take  many, many months to do this and can often fob you off with  " oh yes delays at the probate office"  when in fact they are simply working on something higher priority (to them)

I approached my bank with a copy of the IHT400 accounts and explained the probate process and my situation and they were surprisingly happy to offer an unsecured load.  and would have offered me 5 times what I asked for! 

gdw123

Marcon said:

One of her bank accounts...that suggests there may be others? Are the banks concerned willing to pay out without probate (the maximum limit varies from bank to bank, so it's a case of checking individually)?

If the solicitor is an executor and had been involved in the process from the time of your mother's death until you tasked them with actually applying for probate in April (i.e. they were familiar with the estate and happy with all the paperwork), I think you need to ask them why actually applying took until June. Point out the difficulties you are now experiencing and make it clear you won't be able to pay their fees until probate has been granted (might even encourage them to put a bit of pressure on to get probate through, although that's a tricky one - but worth a go).

Keep the credit company informed and say probate is still awaited and you will settle the debt once it has been granted.

Thank you for the advice. All the accounts have been closed and debits paid leaving the one credit card to pay. I will definitely push the solicitors again and contact the credit company.  From what I can gather the solicitors required three partners to sign representing them as the executor. Since none were in the office it took longer than expected.

gdw123

xylophone said:

You mention that you are aged 66.

What is the position on your state pension?

I am expected to reach pension age in April 2023 , I think.

gdw123

james.wardle said:

You might want to ask your solicitor for confirmation that has submitted the grant of probate.  They can often take  many, many months to do this and can often fob you off with  " oh yes delays at the probate office"  when in fact they are simply working on something higher priority (to them)

I approached my bank with a copy of the IHT400 accounts and explained the probate process and my situation and they were surprisingly happy to offer an unsecured load.  and would have offered me 5 times what I asked for! 

I might try contacting my Bank. Though my current income is a lot less than pre Covid (90% down).

FatherTireseus

gdw123 said:

xylophone said:

You mention that you are aged 66.

What is the position on your state pension?

I am expected to reach pension age in April 2023 , I think.

That doesn't sound right....anyone currently 66 should be able to claim their state pension. It starts rising to 67 in 2026.  Check what age you can claim your state pension from using the government's calculator. Better still,  if you have access to your online tax account you can check how much state pension you will get depending on your NI record.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y/age

xylophone

I am expected to reach pension age in April 2023 , I think.

You say that you are aged 66.

Let's suppose it was your birthday  on the day you posted (11 September).

You would have reached SPA on that day.

If your birthday was earlier than this, you have already reached SPA.

Do you have any pension provision from employment before you started caring for your mother?

It is worth checking!