DIY Probate or Specialist company

cambb

Hi,

My mother passed away recently and both me and my elder brother are executors of her will.

My father died 6 years ago and everything passed to my mother therefore probate wasnt gained for that. Was that the right thing to do?

Her estate is very straight forward I think.

House valued at £400,000

Bank account £20,000

ISA £8,000 (Do i just close this down and transfer the money to her bank)?

Annunity £33,000 (Same as above do i just close this down)?

I've got all the paperwork from the above and quite willing to start consolidating everything into one account.

Ive had a quick look online at the process and it seems OK or do i use a local probate specialist to complete the paperwork. Does that look quite straight forward?

Thanks

Keep_pedalling

cambb said:

Hi,

My mother passed away recently and both me and my elder brother are executors of her will.

My father died 6 years ago and everything passed to my mother therefore probate wasnt gained for that. Was that the right thing to do?

Her estate is very straight forward I think.

House valued at £400,000

Bank account £20,000

ISA £8,000 (Do i just close this down and transfer the money to her bank)?

No, you need to inform the bank that she has died which will result in her accounts being frozen. You need to set up a dedicated account to deal with estate assets. 

Annunity £33,000 (Same as above do i just close this down)?

Annuities usually end on the death of the holder unless there is a surviving spouse so you just need to inform the provider of her death to stop any further payments. There should be no pay out to the estate from the annuity. 

I've got all the paperwork from the above and quite willing to start consolidating everything into one account.

As above open a joint account with the other executor to handle estate funds.

Ive had a quick look online at the process and it seems OK or do i use a local probate specialist to complete the paperwork. Does that look quite straight forward?

Thanks

This should be fairly straight forward and you should not need professional help. You no t need to do an IHT return, and if you get stuck you will find plenty of help on here.

RAS

DIY will probably be quicker, particularly if you submit on-line. That'll make it easier for you to put the house on the market when probate is applied for.

Dave_5150

That should be easy enough to DIY if you have the time and both executers are in agreement about what should happen. It is worth noting you will still have to do a lot of the 'leg work' if you use a specialist.

cambb

Keep_pedalling said:

cambb said:

Hi,

My mother passed away recently and both me and my elder brother are executors of her will.

My father died 6 years ago and everything passed to my mother therefore probate wasnt gained for that. Was that the right thing to do?

Her estate is very straight forward I think.

House valued at £400,000

Bank account £20,000

ISA £8,000 (Do i just close this down and transfer the money to her bank)?

No, you need to inform the bank that she has died which will result in her accounts being frozen. You need to set up a dedicated account to deal with estate assets. 

Annunity £33,000 (Same as above do i just close this down)?

Annuities usually end on the death of the holder unless there is a surviving spouse so you just need to inform the provider of her death to stop any further payments. There should be no pay out to the estate from the annuity. 

I've got all the paperwork from the above and quite willing to start consolidating everything into one account.

As above open a joint account with the other executor to handle estate funds.

Ive had a quick look online at the process and it seems OK or do i use a local probate specialist to complete the paperwork. Does that look quite straight forward?

Thanks

This should be fairly straight forward and you should not need professional help. You no t need to do an IHT return, and if you get stuck you will find plenty of help on here.

Sorry do i need to submit a IHT return or not?

I've just dug out the "annunity" paperwork and its a LV Pension plan. It states upon death we will pay to spouse or someone else. I think its just a drawdown fund. 

MBenn80

Depends on who is left what. If it's quite simple and doesn't involve anything complex, I would do it myself.

I've just applied for probate and it took 7 weeks. The administration has an element that is more difficult than I expected (trusts for under 18s with a contingency clause) but even if I do have to involve a solicitor, I've saved a few thousand pounds.

Keep_pedalling

cambb said:

Keep_pedalling said:

cambb said:

Hi,

My mother passed away recently and both me and my elder brother are executors of her will.

My father died 6 years ago and everything passed to my mother therefore probate wasnt gained for that. Was that the right thing to do?

Her estate is very straight forward I think.

House valued at £400,000

Bank account £20,000

ISA £8,000 (Do i just close this down and transfer the money to her bank)?

No, you need to inform the bank that she has died which will result in her accounts being frozen. You need to set up a dedicated account to deal with estate assets. 

Annunity £33,000 (Same as above do i just close this down)?

Annuities usually end on the death of the holder unless there is a surviving spouse so you just need to inform the provider of her death to stop any further payments. There should be no pay out to the estate from the annuity. 

I've got all the paperwork from the above and quite willing to start consolidating everything into one account.

As above open a joint account with the other executor to handle estate funds.

Ive had a quick look online at the process and it seems OK or do i use a local probate specialist to complete the paperwork. Does that look quite straight forward?

Thanks

This should be fairly straight forward and you should not need professional help. You no t need to do an IHT return, and if you get stuck you will find plenty of help on here.

Sorry do i need to submit a IHT return or not?

It is an exempt estate so no IHT return needed.

I've just dug out the "annunity" paperwork and it’s a LV Pension plan. It states upon death we will pay to spouse or someone else. I think it’s just a drawdown fund. 

That does not sound like an annuity. With an annuity you hand over a sum of money in return for an income for a fixed period or life. Anything left from a drawn down type pension can be inherited. That sum should fall outside her estate.

Gigmillkate

Sorry for your loss.
I have just completed IHT paper work and probate for my mum’s estate. It takes time and diligence, but was fairly straightforward. I found lots of useful advice on this forum and I think I’ve saved thousands by doing it myself. I won’t know for sure if I got it all right until the HMRC deadline for the IHT check has passed, they’ve given me a date for June for this, keeping my fingers crossed. When totally up the estate don’t forget to consider any gifts given within the last 7 years, over £250 and £3000 within a tax year.

OldMusicGuy

Just one point to be aware of, you do NOT have to open a new account to transfer your mother's money into. It's good practice to do so, but there is no requirement to do this. We are currently processing my FiLs estate and the executors have agreed this is not necessary. 

cambb

Thanks for the responces.

So i dont need to complete any paperwork before applying online for probate?

Is there a list of documents I need to have when I apply ie death and birth certs?

Thanks

poppystar

You might want to check whose name the house is in. If it was in your father’s sole name you might have to revisit the paperwork for his death before you sell the property.  Otherwise just collate all the figures for your mother and apply for Probate. You will need the original of the Will but other than that there is unlikely to be anything else to send to HMRC.