Any advice for practicalities of dealing with parent's house left to children in will?

itm2

My sister and I are the main beneficiaries of my recently-deceased mother's estate. The estate includes a 3 bedroom house which has had a couple of modifications for elderly inhabitants - i.e. a stair lift and a wet room/shower area instead of a bathtub/shower. It's in need of a little refurbishment (paper peeling off the walls in the lounge and a large stain on the landing carpet upstairs), but is otherwise in saleable condition.

I was wondering if anyone had any useful hints regarding the practicalities of how we dispose of the house and realise its value? In particular:
- do we need to transfer the property to our own names before we sell it?
- what would be the best thing to do with the gas/electricity supply contract between now and completion of the sale? (it's currently with Outfox The Market - Mum had a credit balance of about £300 with them). We need to go and clear out the chest freezer and separate fridge/freezer before the power supply is cut, so I wasn't planning on cancelling the contract until that and any other practical considerations had been taken care of
- are there any charities or other organisations who do house clearances (including loft) for a reasonable charge?
- from the perspective of valuing the contents for IHT purposes, apart from the odd appliance/TV which we might be able to sell, everything else would be taken by the house clearance agency, if we can find one. My mother (she was 96) had no jewellery of any real value, or anything else that could reasonably be sold - it's mainly very old furniture, ornaments, clothing, etc. Would it be considered reasonable to give a notional value of £500 for her possessions? This will be significant, as the total estate is likely to be just above the IHT threshold.
- ....?

Any hints, tips or guidance would be very much appreciated.

RAS

What do you think the IHT threshold is?

Was mum ever married and widowed?

JGB1955

Sorry to hear of your loss.

On a practical level you need to contact the Bereavement departments of the various utility companies - phone, Council Tax, Electricity, Gas, Water etc etc.  They will probably be happy to wait until probate is granted and the house sold before requiring payment of final bills.

A priority is to ensure that the house is insured - it's quite possible that the current insurance company will no longer cover the property.  It is also likely that any new insurer will impose conditions such as keeping the heating on at a minimum temperature, turning the water supply off, carrying out a fortnightly security/maintenance check.

It is probably best if the house is sold by the 'estate', rather than you and your sister as beneficiaries.  If you don't already own a house you would lose your FTB status if the house were transferred into your name.  There may also be issues with Capital Gains Tax if the value of the house shoots up between the date of transfer and eventual sale.

Some charities may offer a furniture/white goods collection service.  The British Heart Foundation comes to mind. Total house clearance cost me £700.

We had the stair lift removed professionally.  

A nominal value of £500 for the house contents is fine.

Good luck!

itm2

My Mum was widowed 3 years ago. I've calculated the IHT threshold to be £1m (£325k NRB x2, plus £175k RNRB  x2).

Re. contacting the utility companies - would they typically allow the service to be maintained (e.g. the electricity supply) in the interim period, even after notification of the death of the account holder?

Re. house insurance - my Mum's existing insurance will presumably become void as a consequence of her death. Does that mean I/we would need to take out a new home insurance policy in our own name(s)? (even though we are not owners of the property). Other than loss of cover for any insurable events, are there any other negative implications of not having home insurance before selling the house?

JGB1955

The utilities will be maintained... although they will want your details, as executor.  You need to speak to the existing insurance company.  If you need to take out a new policy it will be as 'Executor of XXX'.  The negative of not having insurance is that you might end up with a pile of smouldering rubble - difficult to sell one of those!

kipsterno1

itm2 said:

Re. house insurance - my Mum's existing insurance will presumably become void as a consequence of her death. Does that mean I/we would need to take out a new home insurance policy in our own name(s)? (even though we are not owners of the property). Other than loss of cover for any insurable events, are there any other negative implications of not having home insurance before selling the house?

Sorry for your loss.

Don't leave the property uninsured.

When my father passed I contacted his insurers (Lloyds) and they just changed the name on the policy to the executor of xxxxx aand added a few conditions such as removing all high value items, maintainng the heating and regular visits. When it expired they offered a renewal at a reasonable price but I found cover elsewhere. 

shiraz99

As above, when I recently informed my dad's insurance they simply updated the existing policy with my details and let it run as normal, it was already paid in full upfront anyway.