Inheritance tax. How much?

NannaH

The house will not be currently insured as circumstances have changed.
I’ll be surprised if her current insurers agree to change the buildings policy to unoccupied,  my late Fil’s insurers wouldn’t and we had to go to a specialist broker at over £500.  You have to visit at least monthly and either drain the central heating system / turn off the water and Gas, or keep the house heated to 12-14° over winter.

You need to sort this ASAP,  god forbid anything happens. 

Your Mum’s bank should agree to pay for it direct, as her account is frozen,  have you asked if they require probate to release funds? 

Flugelhorn

I got the same company to continue cover - as no-one was living in the house they required that it was checked weekly (neighbour did this for us) - not such a problem if the place is occupied, just explain the circumstances, they may change the name on the policy to your sister if she is living there 

NannaH

The life insurance will only be paid ‘outside’ the estate if it’s written in trust.  If not, IHT will be payable on that too. 

 There will be a Trust document with the insurance policy paperwork if it’s been done.  

I’d be looking for a Solicitor if it turns out the insurance has to be included in the Estate valuation.  

Flugelhorn

NannaH said:

Your Mum’s bank should agree to pay for it direct, as her account is frozen,  have you asked if they require probate to release funds? 

Good point - OP, if the savings are 10K the bank etc may release them without probate, the amounts vary for this and the cash is likely to help you with immediate expenses

NannaH

You were lucky Flugelhorn ; none of the mainstream insurers would do unoccupied insurance for us,  ordinary 3 bed semi that we can see from our house.  

Flugelhorn

NannaH said:

You were lucky Flugelhorn ; none of the mainstream insurers would do unoccupied insurance for us,  ordinary 3 bed semi that we can see from our house.  

crumbs that is tricky - this was a few years back and was saga, they were fine about it 

Keep_pedalling

NannaH said:

The life insurance will only be paid ‘outside’ the estate if it’s written in trust.  If not, IHT will be payable on that too. 

 There will be a Trust document with the insurance policy paperwork if it’s been done.  

I’d be looking for a Solicitor if it turns out the insurance has to be included in the Estate valuation.  

No need to employ a solicitor if the policy is not written in trust, it does not complicate things that much. 

Keep_pedalling

Kitchen_Gardener said:

Sea_Shell said:

No - You need to tell them it's unoccupied and that she has passed.  They may just amend the current policy, or they might cancel and you'll need to get new cover.

They'll be additional clauses that you'll need to comply with.

My sister has been staying there for the last few days. She will probably stay until the will is sorted. What do I tell the insurance company?

That should make things easier as far as the insurance is concerned. Your sister will however become responsible for the council tax.

Kitchen_Gardener

Well I phoned the insurance company and they are phoning me on Monday as their bereavement dept was closed.

I'm getting confused as to what to do first. We don't have an interim death certificate yet. Surely all we can do is start funeral arrangements. Is there any point contacting banks/pensions/council tax etc

NannaH

Not until you have the death certificate(s) , no.
Get at least 4 /5 copies.
The bank may release funds on sending them a copy,  you should be able to do it online via the bank’s bereavement section,  I was able to create an online account with a bereavement reference with my FiL’s banks and simply uploaded whatever docs they wanted. 

If they insist on probate,  they will pay the funeral director direct when you get the funeral bill.