How to act on a will

Heather2012

Hi,

I'm hoping this will be a simple question but we've not done this before so need some advice please. I will use the format others have used in the forum to describe our situation by referring to people as A and B.

Person A and Person B are married. Person A has created a will stating that on his death he leaves everything to his wife, Person B. The house in which they live has no mortgage and is solely owned by person A.

Person A has now passed away. We have the will. What do we need to do to ensure everything is transferred over to Person B? Including the house and the money in the sole bank accounts?

The will is a DIY will. It has 2 witness signatures but has not gone through any solicitors.

Thanks in advance for your help.

RAS

As a starting point, you need to apply for probate Applying for probate: What is probate - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The amount of time this takes after submission seems to vary from 8 weeks to nearly a year. There may be queries about a DIY will.

p00hsticks

Heather2012 said:

The will is a DIY will. It has 2 witness signatures but has not gone through any solicitors.

Does it name an executor ?

Keep_pedalling

It is highly likely that the house was owned as joint tenants in which case the survivor now owned it outright and their is no need to take any action at this time.

Depending on how much is in the sole bank accounts and which banks you may or may not need to apply for probate to release that money to the beneficiary. If the amounts are under the bank’s limits the bank will release the money to the executor(s) on production of the death certificate, will and proof of ID.

RAS

Heather2012 said:

The house in which they live has no mortgage and is solely owned by person A.

What do we need to do to ensure everything is transferred over to Person B? Including the house and the money in the sole bank accounts?

May be relevant?

TBagpuss

Keep_pedalling said:

It is highly likely that the house was owned as joint tenants in which case the survivor now owned it outright and their is no need to take any action at this time.

Depending on how much is in the sole bank accounts and which banks you may or may not need to apply for probate to release that money to the beneficiary. If the amounts are under the bank’s limits the bank will release the money to the executor(s) on production of the death certificate, will and proof of ID.

OP explicitly says that the house was heldd in the sole name of the husband who has died. 

OP, for bank accounts, banks will usually allow access to bank account up to a certain limit without requiring probate - the executor will be required to sign an indemnity (basically saying if they were lying about being entitled to money they agree to reimburse the bank for any claims made by the actual beneficiries!) the amounts will vary by bank but can be quite high (e.g. £10,000) Short term, banks will also genrerally release money to pay a funeral director directly for the funeral although you would need to check  with the bank what they need and in particuar whether they have any requirements about how the invoice is made out. 

The excutors will need to apply for probate - this can be done online - timings vary depending on how complicated things are. In the mean time, the executor whould make sure that there is appropriate buildings and contensts insurence in place nd the surviving sppouse should be able to get bills transferred to their name .

transferring the property will require an assent (form AS1) -  see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whole-of-registered-title-assent-as1/guidance-how-to-complete-form-as1 (Assuming that the property was registered) 

That said, there is no great rush to get the house transferred and it is not uncommon to find, when the second spouse dies, that it hasn't been done and needs to be sorted as part ofthe administration of their estate, so while it is sensible for you / your friend to sort things out now, there isn't any huge rush, unless B wants to move. (If they do, then it may be quicker and easier for the executors to sell the proeprty, rather than transferring it to B first. 

Heather2012

p00hsticks said:

Does it name an executor ?

Yes it names Person B as the executor and says that everything is left to the executor.

Keep_pedalling said:

It is highly likely that the house was owned as joint tenants in which case the survivor now owned it outright and their is no need to take any action at this time.

How do we check if the house was owned as joint tenants please?

Heather2012

Thanks TBagpuss. That's really helpful 

Keep_pedalling

RAS said:

Heather2012 said:

The house in which they live has no mortgage and is solely owned by person A.

What do we need to do to ensure everything is transferred over to Person B? Including the house and the money in the sole bank accounts?

May be relevant?

Whoops! I missed that bit.

sheramber

Heather2012 said:

p00hsticks said:

Does it name an executor ?

Yes it names Person B as the executor and says that everything is left to the executor.

Keep_pedalling said:

It is highly likely that the house was owned as joint tenants in which case the survivor now owned it outright and their is no need to take any action at this time.

How do we check if the house was owned as joint tenants please?

check on Land Registry

p00hsticks

Heather2012 said:

p00hsticks said:

Does it name an executor ?

Yes it names Person B as the executor and says that everything is left to the executor.

Keep_pedalling said:

It is highly likely that the house was owned as joint tenants in which case the survivor now owned it outright and their is no need to take any action at this time.

How do we check if the house was owned as joint tenants please?

Assuming England (or Wales ?) Pay £3 to get the title of the property on the Land Registry and see who is named as the owner. 
Search for land and property information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If the property has been in the family for a long time (40+ years) then it might not be listed - in which case you'll need to track down the deeds of the property and evidence of the oroginal purchase to see who bought it.