Which is Best

carlbhoy

Hi, with my mum recently passing, I’ve been reading up on probate, could anyone advise, which is best 1, probate specialist, 2 probate solicitor, or 3 bank, I have been reading about this company https://www.probatespecialistltd.co.uk/, can anyone tell me are they as good as they appear, or has anyone got any other ideas, thanks

SevenOfNine

Experience on 4 occasions over 7 years or so, (the most recent being my mum who died in Nov), & I'd say none of the above.  Each time it was DiY. Cheapest, possibly faster, & above all you're going to give them all the info to complete the paperwork anyway, I can fill in forms myself!

I had 2 with Wills & 2 without, 3 also had property to be sold, all were below IHT limit.

Depends if you feel you have the time, not everyone does. Some estates are complicated, maybe IHT is due. There's lots of help available if you do decide to DiY..

badmemory

I agree with SevenOfNine unless it is complicated then DIY.  Why pay someone else to do it when you will have to do most of the work yourself anyway.  It isn't really that time consuming either.  It does help if you can be methodical & keep records of what you send & where & then whether you got them back.  As far as I know one of the hardest parts can be if the deceased has debts & it is hard to sort out what they actuallly are.

Flugelhorn

I agree with the above - if not complex then have a go yourself, all the others do is get you to chase round finding info for them. 

JGB1955

I'm another one voting for the DIY solution.  

RAS

And if you find something difficult, ask here.

If it's beyond the forum's expertise, you can get legal advice on the specific issue for a few hundred rather than paying £xxx for them to fill a form in.

carlbhoy

Many thanks, but where do I start?, I’m more than able to fill in forms, but will it get bogged down, and are there many things to do, basically mum’s owns her house, it will be divided amongst us three children, along with us, she has named five beneficiaries of small amounts, and she has a couple of bank accounts with 5 &8 thousand in and a prudential investment worth 50k, no debts, and that is basically it, so in your minds, does this sound relatively easy (nothing is easy) to sort out

Keep_pedalling

As others have said unless it is complex DIY, it will save you and any other beneficiaries a lot of money, and you will be able to wind up the estate much faster than paying someone else to do it, as they will be handling multiple estates.

if you do end up paying some to do this, whatever you do do not appoint a bank to do it, the fees will be sky high.

p00hsticks

carlbhoy said:

Many thanks, but where do I start?, I’m more than able to fill in forms, but will it get bogged down, and are there many things to do, basically mum’s owns her house, it will be divided amongst us three children, along with us, she has named five beneficiaries of small amounts, and she has a couple of bank accounts with 5 &8 thousand in and a prudential investment worth 50k, no debts, and that is basically it, so in your minds, does this sound relatively easy (nothing is easy) to sort out

Sorry for your loss.

Yes, the estate sounds relatively easy, and this forum is a great help if you get bogged down at any point, so I'll add my vote to the DIY route.  

I assume the will names you as executor ?

You already appear to know pretty much what the estate consists of. You'll need to get a valuation of the house (is it going to be sold ?) and then it's simply a case of plugging the numbers into the form, and arranging to pay any IHT if it's due (from what you say, unless the house is worth a lot it's probable that none will be due)  

I found the admin / probate the easier bit - it's sorting through all the personal possessions and getting the house cleared that's the difficult bit, and a solicitor isn't going to help you with that.

Have a look through the forms here to get an idea of the info you need to pull together (although when you come to actually apply for probate, the online application is said to be quickest if you can use it)

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/probate-forms

Misslayed

Another vote for DIY, my sister and I did it for my Mum's estate, a house, some shares, savings and premium bonds left between three of us. We realised that we would have had to supply the answers to all the questions so why not just write it on the form yourself? Solicitor friend told me his firm would have charged us £7000-£8000 to do it! We found the helpline very useful, and user friendly (although this was 12 years ago). 

Flugelhorn

carlbhoy said:

Many thanks, but where do I start?, I’m more than able to fill in forms, but will it get bogged down, and are there many things to do, basically mum’s owns her house, it will be divided amongst us three children, along with us, she has named five beneficiaries of small amounts, and she has a couple of bank accounts with 5 &8 thousand in and a prudential investment worth 50k, no debts, and that is basically it, so in your minds, does this sound relatively easy (nothing is easy) to sort out

Basically it is a case of

1) adding up all the assets so house value, account balances, investment - take away debts / funeral costs etc and that is the value of the estate - 

1a) look after the house!

2)fill in the forms and apply for probate 

3)advertise the fact that you have probate in the gazette 

4) collect in the assets ie sell the house (if that is what you are planning), get the money from the accounts, cash in the investment - the probate allows you to do this - the bills for selling will come from the funds of the sale 

5) when all sorted and done and you are confident there are no debts then the next stage is distribution - pay the beneficiaries and divide up what remains between the three of you

6) keep a simple account as you go along - money in - where from / how much / when and the same for money out