Post probate and inheritance tax etc

FashionFashiongGuy

Newbie here,

My story is a long one so ill try be short and give clear context, so please bare with me.

I lost my father suddenly in 2021, he left a will in which myself and 2 younger brothers as executors and my mother a beneficiary. My mother took over as the one in charge of absolutely everything from start to finish, dealing with lawyers, accountants, probate etc. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago I get a letter from my a company stating that I have agreed to change my fathers ISA shares and to my mothers name, this is something I was not aware of. After lots of digging and speaking to the company I found out that my mother had been in discussions with them and told the  company that myself and my brothers agreed to this change and they where just applying the process which required myself and my brothers to sign a document as we are executors with me having full discretion as to what happens to my fathers ISA.

The twist is in the mist of my digging, I found out from the lawyer my mother used, she made us 3 sign a deed of variation without us knowing what we where signing. She provided us with a sheet of paper that only showed the last page 'sign here' inside a nice clean brown folder that she opened and handed us a pen to sign like we where signing professional football contracts while she over looked. I asked where the rest of the paperwork was and she just brushed it off, like a loving and trusting son that understands his mothers grief and how she is dealing with everything for US, i didn't question so i signed and just forgot about it.

As you read this, please be aware this whole time since my father passed i have not seem his will, my mother made excuses for not showing us the will and kept making excuses saying the will has lots of mistakes and needs changing etc. However I have since had access to my fathers Will and probate certs via my own means which my mother is aware of and can clearly see that my fathers wishes to give us a third each from part of his estate have not been granted.

Moving forward, I do not wish to sign this document as I don't agree with this decision to move my fathers ISA to her, I absolutely do not know what to do. If i am able to split it with my brothers will there be inheritance tax to pay. On the probate document it shows a gross and a net amount of his estate, what does that mean?

If i may add there are other  companies she managed to persuade to change everything over to her.

Can anyone provide any advice, please. Thank you in advance

Keep_pedalling

You indicated in your opening sentence that your mother was the sole beneficiary, if that is the case why are you worrying about things being transferred to her. On the other hand if she was the sole beneficiary why the DoV?

If you want to see a copy of the will and you live in England or Wales just pay £3 for the probate records.

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

FashionFashiongGuy

Sorry, I didn't add myself and my brothers are executors as well as beneficiaries. I now have a copy of the Will thanks

RAS

Starting point.

How has mum been able to obtain probate if you and your brothers are executors? If in England or Wales, you all had to renounce your executorships.  That would allow her to apply for probate at which point all the companies would work with her.

And she may then get you all to sign Deeds of Variation to divert any inheritance you were due to her, although having the grant of probate she might have just winged it anyway.

frayedknot

You need to find out what you blindly signed up for on that document. Maybe you were renouncing your executorship or consenting to a deed of variation that gives your bequest to your mother. You could have been selling your soul to the devil or, even worse, signing up to play for Crystal Palace.

mattojgb

It's not clear whether your mum has persuaded probate registry, banks etc that she is executor, or you have been signing documents for her when asked? Has she relied on intestacy rules?

Inheritance tax would normally have to be paid before probate is granted. There would be no inheritance tax if everything was left to your mum or if the value of the estate was below the allowance/threshold.

Gross estate is the amount before liabilities (e.g. funeral costs). Net is after liabilities.