Probate valuation, no IHT

dryjoy

Sadly my dad passed away earlier this week, and my mum and I are starting to
deal with everything we have to sort out. 

We’d like to deal with probate ourselves and hopefully it shouldn’t be too complicated. In fact, I’m not absolutely 100% sure probate will be required, although it probably will. 

My dad has a will in which he has left everything to my mum. I think this means there should be no inheritance tax payable. 

If that is indeed the case, and assuming we do have to apply for probate, how exacting do we need to be with the estate valuation? If no IHT is payable because my mum is inheriting everything, can we get away with a ‘light touch’ approach to valuation? 

maisie_cat

When I did MIL's probate last year, similar circumstances, I used the zoopla valuation for the joint property.
The only other online valuation I could find was the move market and it was the same anyway.

Keep_pedalling

You might not have to actually have apply for probate. Not required for their home provided he was not the sole owner, and not required for any joint accounts. If he doesn’t have a large amount of savings in his own name then the institution holding them may release them without a grant of probate.  

If it is required, you are correct it is an exempt estate and you don’t need to go over the top with valuations, a ballpark valuation will be fine.

dryjoy

Keep_pedalling said:

You might not have to actually have apply for probate. Not required for their home provided he was not the sole owner, and not required for any joint accounts. If he doesn’t have a large amount of savings in his own name then the institution holding them may release them without a grant of probate.  

If it is required, you are correct it is an exempt estate and you don’t need to go over the top with valuations, a ballpark valuation will be fine.

Thanks. I’m not 100% sure we will need probate, as we don’t have a clear picture of the savings situation yet, but I suspect we will need to for at least some premium bonds and maybe some other savings. 

Re: the property, my wife and I jointly own the house we live at with my mum and dad. We are four tenants in common each with an equal share of the house. My mum will inherit my dad’s 25% share of the house as per his will. I’m not sure yet how we action that, although it isn’t a complex or controversial situation on paper. 

bunnygo

I'm sorry for your loss. There is actually no hurry for the estate admin; I would say that the priorities are to look after yourselves, speak to house and car insurers and arrange the funeral. It is also worth using the 'tell us once' service as the code they give you is time-limited to 30 days; a few minutes online and everything government and council will be sorted, including any state pension inheritance for your mother.

Regarding a 'ballpark valuation, yes you can use that - and that is exactly what a chap on the probate helpline said to me. (his actual words were 'we'll take more interest next time' which bizarrely I actually found funny...)

assuming your parents were married to each other there is no IHT to pay. If you do need probate, you'll still need to do some calculations as you'll need the gross, net and payable IHT figures; in that case the last will be zero.

money in joint accounts becomes the property of the surviving account holder once you notify the death to the institution concerned; much of this can be done online now. If you do need to speak to anyone, ask for the bereavement department - most banks etc have one and they will be very helpful. There are high limits with some banks for releasing money without a probate grant.

if you do need to apply for probate, do it online and do not use a solicitor. Involving a professional doesn't save effort, slows the process down even more and costs a lot of money.

dryjoy

bunnygo said:

I'm sorry for your loss. There is actually no hurry for the estate admin; I would say that the priorities are to look after yourselves, speak to house and car insurers and arrange the funeral. It is also worth using the 'tell us once' service as the code they give you is time-limited to 30 days; a few minutes online and everything government and council will be sorted, including any state pension inheritance for your mother.

Regarding a 'ballpark valuation, yes you can use that - and that is exactly what a chap on the probate helpline said to me. (his actual words were 'we'll take more interest next time' which bizarrely I actually found funny...)

assuming your parents were married to each other there is no IHT to pay. If you do need probate, you'll still need to do some calculations as you'll need the gross, net and payable IHT figures; in that case the last will be zero.

money in joint accounts becomes the property of the surviving account holder once you notify the death to the institution concerned; much of this can be done online now. If you do need to speak to anyone, ask for the bereavement department - most banks etc have one and they will be very helpful. There are high limits with some banks for releasing money without a probate grant.

if you do need to apply for probate, do it online and do not use a solicitor. Involving a professional doesn't save effort, slows the process down even more and costs a lot of money.

Thanks so much for the advice. 

We do feel a bit of pressure to move forward with the estate admin, as my mum really needs access to the money as soon as we can sort it.
My dad was very controlling of their finances, didn’t include her much and didn’t leave us with any organised information about exactly what there is and where. Plus, I have time off work last and this week so I can really dig in and get things moving forward for her. 

We almost certainly will need probate, but based on your advice I don’t think we need to be too precise with our valuation of the estate, because everything has been left to my mum, and they were married so no tax will be payable. 

We registered the death today. The registry office did the ‘tell us once’ thing for us. Do you think they will automatically calculate any additional pension for her? I was thinking I’d prompt her to call the pensions helpline. 

RAS

If you've got the death certificate, any joint accounts or savings can be transferred to your mum. Does she have her own accounts? And does she have photo ID?

Go through any paperwork belonging to dad, ring the bereavement department of any bank where he had an account, ask what the limit is for them (can be as high as £50k) and arrange for mum to go in her ID, the will and death certificate. They should transfer the money quickly.

If she doesn't have photo ID, ask what they need as proof.

Newly_retired

Tell us once, will inform the Council, HMRC and DWP, also DVLA.
When my husband died DWP were really quick to recalculate my state pension and the new payment started within days. 
Only one joint account  was transferrd to me in a phone call. ( + Lots of single ones which took longer ). 

Alphatauri

@dryjoy It’s early days for DWP to sort out your Mum’s state pension. However, a phone call prompting them is a good idea.  I was surprised that my Mum hadn’t heard anything after several months so I made a quick call and within 2 or 3 weeks her pension was recalculated. 

Note: I told them I knew they couldn’t tell me anything but here were the details could they look into it.