DIY Probate

Worried_of_wakefield

Hi, just completed above online, absolute breeze ( I hope), about 60-90mins tops, I must stress it is a straight forward uncomplicated will, my wife being the only benificiary, the estate calculated just under IHT limit.

Question I have are regarding the documents needed to be sent on, the request is for the original will only, nothing regards the property, bank accounts, death cert etc, does this seem right?, I'm confident we completed the tick box's correctly. 

Dave_5150

Worried_of_wakefield said:

Hi, just completed above online, absolute breeze ( I hope), about 60-90mins tops, I must stress it is a straight forward uncomplicated will, my wife being the only benificiary, the estate calculated just under IHT limit.

Question I have are regarding the documents needed to be sent on, the request is for the original will only, nothing regards the property, bank accounts, death cert etc, does this seem right?, I'm confident we completed the tick box's correctly. 

Yes, that sounds right

Slowplod

I did a paper probate application last year and the only documents I had to send were the original will and death certificate. The death certificate was returned once they had taken a copy but they keep the original will. If you had to give the death certificate number during the online application they have probably checked this online so maybe that's why you don't need to send it in with the will.

kipsterno1

Just send what they have asked for. Things are much more joined up and they should already be able to access GRO death records. Probate are not interested in the money that would be HMRC if you had hit IHT.

I did it about 18 months ago and only sent the will.

Worried_of_wakefield

Pretty shocked! anticipated a nightmare and a big bill, £275 to process and no solicitor to deal with. Fingers crossed!

Pennylane

Worried_of_wakefield said:

Pretty shocked! anticipated a nightmare and a big bill, £275 to process and no solicitor to deal with. Fingers crossed!

Well done! Just how I felt when I did mine. Found it very straightforward.  I did photocopy everything before I posted it and sent it recorded. 

p00hsticks

Pennylane said:

Worried_of_wakefield said:

Pretty shocked! anticipated a nightmare and a big bill, £275 to process and no solicitor to deal with. Fingers crossed!

Well done! Just how I felt when I did mine. Found it very straightforward.  I did photocopy everything before I posted it and sent it recorded. 

Good point - if you don't already have a copy of the will, take one before sending the original, but whatever you do don't tamper with any fixings (paperclips, staples etc). Either scan or simply photo each page on your phone (especially the one with the deceased and witness signatures at the end, which won't be in a draft copy).

Postal services seem to be back on track now after the disruption before Christmas. Special Delivery is probably the best option to go for - tracked with guaranteed next day delivery before either 9am or 1pm depending on which option you go for.

Don't expect the probate service to acknowledge receipt as soon as they get it - in my experience the acknowledgement only came through about a minute before the notification that probate has been granted, so I think they'll only acknowledge things when your application actually gets to the head of the queue to be dealt with.

SiliconChip

p00hsticks said:

Pennylane said:

Worried_of_wakefield said:

Pretty shocked! anticipated a nightmare and a big bill, £275 to process and no solicitor to deal with. Fingers crossed!

Well done! Just how I felt when I did mine. Found it very straightforward.  I did photocopy everything before I posted it and sent it recorded. 

Good point - if you don't already have a copy of the will, take one before sending the original, but whatever you do don't tamper with any fixings (paperclips, staples etc). Either scan or simply photo each page on your phone (especially the one with the deceased and witness signatures at the end, which won't be in a draft copy).

I would recommend getting a certified copy rather than just a DIY photocopy. You may not need it but I had one organisation that would only release money after having sight of a certified copy (or the original, but obviously that had gone when probate was requested) and you need to get that while you still have possession of the original Will. For my mum the solicitor that drew up the Will in the first place provided a certified copy free of charge.

Dave_5150

SiliconChip said:

p00hsticks said:

I would recommend getting a certified copy rather than just a DIY photocopy. You may not need it but I had one organisation that would only release money after having sight of a certified copy (or the original, but obviously that had gone when probate was requested) and you need to get that while you still have possession of the original Will. For my mum the solicitor that drew up the Will in the first place provided a certified copy free of charge.

Not everyone makes a will so they'll have some difficulties making that "policy" stick

msb1234

Dave_5150 said:

SiliconChip said:

p00hsticks said:

I would recommend getting a certified copy rather than just a DIY photocopy. You may not need it but I had one organisation that would only release money after having sight of a certified copy (or the original, but obviously that had gone when probate was requested) and you need to get that while you still have possession of the original Will. For my mum the solicitor that drew up the Will in the first place provided a certified copy free of charge.

Not everyone makes a will so they'll have some difficulties making that "policy" stick

In that case they would need a copy of the Letters of Administration.

rancid-a

About to do mine in a few days @Worried_of_wakefield @p00hsticks. just waiting for Mum's bank statements to see where a couple of big gifts were. Your words give me a bit of relief.... I've only briefly seen example forms though, not a fan of gross & net figure questions but I'll give it a go, Mum's will is fairly simple too

I'm ready for a holiday after this!