Grant of Confirmation for Nationwide

Tireddad66

My Mum has a simple estate, with all her money in a Nationwide FlexAccount. I'm trying to do the C1 form myself,with help from this forum. I'm waiting for the Nationwide to tell me the balance at time of death, for the C1. However, after death she was paid her state pension and a private pension. The DWP tell me they will try to recall the overpayment, but the private firm want me to pay them and then claim out of the estate later. My question is what happens if the Grant form from the sheriff  is different to Mums balance ? Is there a "tolerance" which Nationwide will accept, or will I have to fill in a C4S amendment? The difference is about £650. Thank you.

Dave_5150

Tireddad66 said:

My Mum has a simple estate, with all her money in a Nationwide FlexAccount. I'm trying to do the C1 form myself,with help from this forum. I'm waiting for the Nationwide to tell me the balance at time of death, for the C1. However, after death she was paid her state pension and a private pension. The DWP tell me they will try to recall the overpayment, but the private firm want me to pay them and then claim out of the estate later. My question is what happens if the Grant form from the sheriff  is different to Mums balance ? Is there a "tolerance" which Nationwide will accept, or will I have to fill in a C4S amendment? The difference is about £650. Thank you.

Sorry for your loss. My understanding is that you are under no obligation to pay any bills yourself, and that any debts (inc. overpaymments) are settled from the estate.

I'm not sure my replies fuly covers your question, but I hope it helps.

Tireddad66

Thanks Dave, that is good to know. I'm more concerned about the C1 value being different to her final balance. You would think there should be a bit of "common sense" applied, but I can't find any info on this.

buddy9

(I’m assuming that Nationwide requires a confirmation certificate before releasing funds, and that the total estate value exceeds £36,000 (small estates threshold)).

The C1 form requires the date of death balance, so if you use the date of death balance (capital and interest) supplied by Nationwide, I cannot see an issue.

Tireddad66

Hi Buddy, Thanks for helping. I'm asking if Nationwide will release an amount higher than that stated at time of death/on the C1, when I close Mums account? Unlike probate, where there is no value stated, it seems the grant of confirmation will include the value I put on the C1. There is a C4S form you fill in if there is a difference, but I'm hoping to avoid this.

GSS20

I don’t understand what you mean by private firm (are you using one of those firms that offer to do it for you) but the DWP will only ask for the overpayment once then it’s up to you if you (the estate) wish to pay it back. They have no legal powers to claim an overpayment unless it was a benefit the deceased was not entitled to or were already paying back a misclaimed benefit. Unless there is a huge amount of interest added to the estate that could affect IHT then the court will not be interested in small amounts. The confirmation may not be the same as the net result of the estate due to possible unknown debts etc. The Nationwide accepted the grant of Confirmation when I requested  release of the funds and they were slightly different values. The certificate you send will only have the nationwide part on it as you must inform the court which accounts you require copies confirmation for. Each copy will only show that particular account.

ellie99

Did your Mum have more than £50000 in her account? I only ask as Nationwide will pay out up to that amount without Grant of Confirmation. 
I found that several banks/building societies paid out more than the amount stated at time of death/on the C1, but the extra was always interest due, so not sure if that's helpful.

If the balance is over £50k, I'd be inclined to add the extra amounts on to the figure on the Grant form, but I'm not an expert and haven't needed to test this.

GhibliFan

I don't think Nationwide will be interested in the exact figure on the C1.  That's only of interest to HMRC. All Nationwide will want is confirmation that you have authority to deal with the account.  Nationwide will just close it and transfer the money to you (if that's what you want them to do).

Sorry you lost your Mum.  I had to fill in the C1 for my mum's estate recently. I found it all quite stressful.  Thank goodness for mse and buddy9 in particular!

Tireddad66

Hi GhibliFan, thanks for your help. I'm sorry for your loss too.
Hi Ellie, yes Mum had more than 50k. This was to cover anticipated care fees, but she died unexpectedly.
Hi GSS20, sorry I meant Mum also had a private pension. This was paid after her death, as I informed the provider after their payment run.

Savvy_Sue

Tireddad66 said:

Hi GSS20, sorry I meant Mum also had a private pension. This was paid after her death, as I informed the provider after their payment run.

So they've asked for the money to be returned, but you don't have to do this until you can do so from the estate - so basically you tell them they will have to wait. The only exception to this would be if someone else was now entitled to a pension from this fund, because it's vanishingly unlikely that they will start paying that if they were owed money.