Grant of Confirmation in Scotland

whitevandriver

In case anyone stumbles across this whilst researching, I have just received a Grant of Confirmation from Paisley Sheriff Court. 

I did this without solicitors assistance, using advice and examples for the found elsewhere on this site and by carefully reading the Help Notes available on line. 

From the date of handing in the paperwork, return of the documents took about two and a half weeks. 

My solicitor quoted me £600 for the information gathering and £600 for completing the form. With hindsight I'm not 100 % sure I would do it again, but it can be done. 

GhibliFan

I did mine too, with the help of the posts on here.  There's very little information available anywhere else online.  I don't think I could have done it without this forum!  

whitevandriver

Did you feel it was made unnecessarily complicated?. I was very aware that the smallest of errors, which would not have affected the claim, could have caused the Court to reject the application.

It seems to be set up to push people into the hands of solicitors. 

GhibliFan

Yes, I definitely feel like they don't want people doing it themselves. There's certainly no encouragement given or much help on offer (except for small estates with the laughable £36k limit).  The HMRC guidance notes were somewhat helpful but not comprehensive.  The exact and archaic wording needed is, in my opinion, not only unnecessary but a deliberate attempt to discourage DIYers!  

This form should be updated and made more simple, like the English probate forms, imo. I found the whole experience very dispiriting, but don't regret doing it myself one bit. My mum would be proud!

Thank goodness for Buddy9 on here, without him it would have been impossible!

Skiddaw1

I used a solicitor when I was executor for dear, departed friend. I decided the grant of confirmation process was just too complicated to attempt a DIY approach, especially as she was in the far north west of Scotland and I lived in the south of England at the time (albeit I did much of the ground work and the final distribution of the estate).  Mind you, she was a crofter so there were additional complications around common grazing rights, etc.

FionaBG

Thank you for this encouragement. I am currently doing my mum’s confirmation myself and stumbling about how to present the bank balances - it says to split out interest: is this all interest received since the account opened or in the last month? Also in column 4 do you put balance then interest underneath so that the two together add to the balance of the account as at date of death? Thank you so much for any help 

buddy9

some examples here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4965475/grant-of-confirmation/p45

FionaBG

thank you so much, particularly Buddy9, as I have managed to do my mums myself with the notes and help on here. 

Sheriff Court have said everything is in order with the form and the language used however they believe I have missed some assets from the inventory; the bank account balances for the joint accounts my mum and dad had together. 

While I can add these no problem as I have all the information I’m just wondering if anyone else has queried this. Reason being a confirmation becomes a public document (and I’ve already tested that you can look up and see other people’s granted confirmations). This means that my dad’s (who is still with us) bank account balances as of the date of my mums death become public record. Surely this is in breach of some kind of privacy / GDPR law?  My dad is not happy that people could find out his bank balances which I totally understand. 

Could be we just have to suck it up but just wondered if anyone else had an issue? 

Thanks very much 

buddy9

FionaBG said:

While I can add these no problem as I have all the information I’m just wondering if anyone else has queried this. Reason being a confirmation becomes a public document (and I’ve already tested that you can look up and see other people’s granted confirmations). This means that my dad’s (who is still with us) bank account balances as of the date of my mums death become public record. Surely this is in breach of some kind of privacy / GDPR law?  My dad is not happy that people could find out his bank balances which I totally understand. 

Could be we just have to suck it up but just wondered if anyone else had an issue? 

This is a known issue. Scottish Government consultation in 2019 considered ‘non-disclosure of sensitive information’ but I am unaware of any change being made.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-law-succession/pages/5/