Is Probate necessary

moedeeb

My father died after a short illness last week. I am the executor and have already registered the death and I am now moving on to all the other legal processes. My father’s will passes everything to my mum. There is the jointly owned home and around  20k in joint accounts. No debts and no non cash investments e.g shares bonds etc.  

After a bit of research I think that there will be no need for Probate but this is the first time I have been involved in anything similar. 

Any observations or advice please?

Flugelhorn

Highly unlikely that you would need a probate - the joint accounts and jointly owned property mean that all assets are immediately accessible to your mother. I dealt with a similar estate 20 + years ago and no probate was needed

BooJewels

Sorry for your recent loss.  I'd agree with @Flugelhorn - I've executed 4 estates and only required Probate for 2 of them - the ones that didn't were both spousal inheritances - the other 2 were only in order to sell houses.   As already said, joint assets just revert to the remaining owner.  You'll probably need to send a death certificate to the bank to get names changed etc.

My advice is always - if you don't think you'll need Probate, don't waste any time on it until someone won't progress without it.  As a generalisation - it tends to be needed for bank balances and savings accounts etc above the organisations Probate threshold, stocks and shares, NS&I balances above £5k and to sell properties.

moedeeb

Thanks all it’s early days but looks like we won’t need probate.

XzavierWalnut

My parents were almost in exactly the same situation, when my father died about 2 years ago my sister and myself were the executors We did not apply for probate, as everything went to our mother.
When my mother died October last year the only reason we had to apply for probate was to transfer ownership of my parents house to my sister. We did not have to do it to close bank accounts.

Magnolia

My husband died over a year ago.  I was executrix and as our savings were in my name with us having a joint bank account probate was not needed.  Husband did have premium bonds of £27k. When I applied for them to be left for a year all they asked me for was death certificate and original will.

We were joint tenants in our house so no problems there.

I need probate for nothing.

poppystar

Magnolia said:

My husband died over a year ago.  I was executrix and as our savings were in my name with us having a joint bank account probate was not needed.  Husband did have premium bonds of £27k. When I applied for them to be left for a year all they asked me for was death certificate and original will.

We were joint tenants in our house so no problems there.

I need probate for nothing.

As the premium bonds year is probably up by now, have you managed to get them to release the £27k (plus prizes hopefully!) without Probate. If so it would be valuable for others to know that. 

Magnolia

poppystar said:

As the premium bonds year is probably up by now, have you managed to get them to release the £27k (plus prizes hopefully!) without Probate. If so it would be valuable for others to know that. 

Hi Poppystar.  The £27k arrived in my account shortly after the November draw.  Very efficient.  I had nothing more to do.

kipsterno1

It doesn't seem that you will need probate. Some things to consider once you and your mother are ready;

Review your mother's will, presuming there is one, to ensure it is still relevant.

Are there POA in place for your mother? Without these I would have struggled for the years I was helping my father.

Keep good records of anything that may assist in the future, for example it took me an age to find my mother's NI number 13 years after she had passed and needed it, IIRC, to complete the RNRB form.

poppystar

Magnolia said:

poppystar said:

As the premium bonds year is probably up by now, have you managed to get them to release the £27k (plus prizes hopefully!) without Probate. If so it would be valuable for others to know that. 

Hi Poppystar.  The £27k arrived in my account shortly after the November draw.  Very efficient.  I had nothing more to do.

That’s really good to know because we often hear of people who can’t get NS&I to release funds over £5k without probate. 

BooJewels

I'd concur @poppystar - it seems like a perpetual battle getting funds out of them, so I think @Magnolia was especially lucky. 

My Dad tried to get Mum's balance, but gave up after yet another form arrived and they'd lost her DC.  Then when he passed, I decided to sort them both out together.  I sent off many forms they kept sending me, plus both DCs - more than once - without even knowing what the balances were - they really made me jump through hoops.  In the end, I got £2 from Mum, £4 from Dad and 20p from a savings account Dad had had since the 1930 with 4 shillings in - they don't pay interest on amounts under a pound!  I got three separate credits one morning when I logged in to the bank.  I didn't know whether to cry with disappointment or guffaw at the preposterousness of it all.

My sister and I were the only beneficiaries, so we bought an ice cream each on a day out and I instructed her to eat it very slowly as it took a lot of work to get it!