What do people do with their savings

jaceyboy

Out of interest how much is the probate limit?

MikeJXE

jaceyboy said:

Out of interest how much is the probate limit?

It varies, I have found most banks it's £20,000 but Coventry building society it's £50,000 

Barkin

jaceyboy said:

Out of interest how much is the probate limit?

It can vary. NS&I for example is £5k

Most banks etc will have something on their website dealing with bereavement processes. Take a look and see. 

amanda1024

I've left my easy access savings in Chip for a while - not always top of the list but until recently they were doing pretty well at increasing their rates to keep ahead. Plus a couple of regular savings accounts for the surplus from my salary each month - a bit of effort to set up but then can automate and forget for a year, and until recently rates were very good (everything else is catching up). But the bulk of my savings are in fixed rate ISAs - avoids the tax hit.

spider42

Barkin said:

jaceyboy said:

Out of interest how much is the probate limit?

It can vary. NS&I for example is £5k

My dad died in April and had £21k in two NS&I accounts. They released it without probate.

Barkin

From https://www.nsandi.com/help/manage-money-for-others/customers-who-have-died

---x---
We will let you know if we need a Grant of Representation (also known as a Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration) once we receive your completed form. We may ask for this if the customer's total NS&I savings are £5,000 or over. The Director of Savings also reserves the right to request a Grant of Representation for savings of any value.
---x---

My dad died last March (2022) with £17k in NS&I savings, and probate was required. 

Growingold

MikeJXE said:

jaceyboy said:

Out of interest how much is the probate limit?

It varies, I have found most banks it's £20,000 but Coventry building society it's £50,000 

Found this https://www.probatespecialistltd.co.uk/probate-bank-thresholds

BooJewels

In my personal experience of being an executor several times recently, published Probate lists aren't as clearcut as you might expect - even when a bank tell you what their threshold is, there seems to be a certain amount of discretion too - because they seem to take other factors into consideration and look at the bigger picture.

I was told by one bank - that paid out almost double the threshold they'd earlier told me, without Probate - that it was because that was almost all the money she had.  Had the deceased held similar amounts with several banks, they would have requested Probate. I think it also helps when everything else is totally in order - in that case, it was a recent will, so all the details were correct - no deceased executors, changed addresses etc.

So I'm not sure it's quite as straightforward as has been suggested - even within a single organisation.  But I've often suggested to people - don't apply for Probate until you actually know you need it.  The only thing I needed it for in the end, was for selling properties - managed to sort everything else without.

badger09

BooJewels said:

In my personal experience of being an executor several times recently, published Probate lists aren't as clearcut as you might expect - even when a bank tell you what their threshold is, there seems to be a certain amount of discretion too - because they seem to take other factors into consideration and look at the bigger picture.

I was told by one bank - that paid out almost double the threshold they'd earlier told me, without Probate - that it was because that was almost all the money she had.  Had the deceased held similar amounts with several banks, they would have requested Probate. I think it also helps when everything else is totally in order - in that case, it was a recent will, so all the details were correct - no deceased executors, changed addresses etc.

So I'm not sure it's quite as straightforward as has been suggested - even within a single organisation.  But I've often suggested to people - don't apply for Probate until you actually know you need it.  The only thing I needed it for in the end, was for selling properties - managed to sort everything else without.

BIB I agree, that was also my experience. 

I’m not questioning what you were told by the bank which paid out almost double their published limit, but how would they know what amount(s) the deceased held with other institutions? 

BooJewels

badger09 said:

BooJewels said:

In my personal experience of being an executor several times recently, published Probate lists aren't as clearcut as you might expect - even when a bank tell you what their threshold is, there seems to be a certain amount of discretion too - because they seem to take other factors into consideration and look at the bigger picture.

I was told by one bank - that paid out almost double the threshold they'd earlier told me, without Probate - that it was because that was almost all the money she had.  Had the deceased held similar amounts with several banks, they would have requested Probate. I think it also helps when everything else is totally in order - in that case, it was a recent will, so all the details were correct - no deceased executors, changed addresses etc.

So I'm not sure it's quite as straightforward as has been suggested - even within a single organisation.  But I've often suggested to people - don't apply for Probate until you actually know you need it.  The only thing I needed it for in the end, was for selling properties - managed to sort everything else without.

BIB I agree, that was also my experience. 

I’m not questioning what you were told by the bank which paid out almost double their published limit, but how would they know what amount(s) the deceased held with other institutions? 

They didn't pay me twice their 'published' limit, as many banks don't actually put the information in the public domain - I think the lists you see, like the one posted above, stab a guess based on experience - hence I don't think such lists can be relied upon.  But I asked the question directly of the bereavement team during the process - I had 3 answers: £20k, "we'll certainly need it for that balance" and "it depends on a number of factors".  They paid almost £40k out.

They knew because they asked me, on the basis of "you don't have to answer, but it might speed things along if this is her only source of funds, as we do consider the wider picture" - which it was apart from a small PB holding, so no reason not to answer if indeed it might assist.  I had the funds in the estate account within a couple of weeks.