Probate & IHT - I can do this!

Bapster76

After advice on here, I've instructed the solicitor to renounce.  

I also went ahead with a RICS valuation which has come back £645k, 45k above the estate agents probate valuation.  Not a bad thing but equally, it means I'd need to market it above what the EA have suggested.

Savvy_Sue

Bapster76 said:

I also went ahead with a RICS valuation which has come back £645k, 45k above the estate agents probate valuation.  Not a bad thing but equally, it means I'd need to market it above what the EA have suggested.

I don't think you have to market at that price: remember they are valuations for different purposes. RICS is "what's it worth at date of death?" Estate agent is "what will it sell for now?"

Are you in IHT territory?

Who inherits the house / the money from the sale of the house? Will anyone be breathing down your neck for either a quick sale, or maximum sale price?

Forgive me if any of that is up-thread. The answers would affect what I would do.

CaptainWales

Just jumping on here to say - yes, you absolutely can deal with the estate yourself and save a lot of £'s in the process. 

I've been dealing with a family member's estate since October 2022. My two pieces of advice to you starting out on this journey is (1) that the paperwork is often straightforward to deal with. People and their emotions and grief can cause you stress, so be prepared for that
(2) things always take longer than expected to sort. I'm still dealing with the estate since the deceased died over 2 years ago - accept that often timescales are not within your control. But you will get there! Good luck.

Bapster76

Savvy_Sue said:

Bapster76 said:

I also went ahead with a RICS valuation which has come back £645k, 45k above the estate agents probate valuation.  Not a bad thing but equally, it means I'd need to market it above what the EA have suggested.

I don't think you have to market at that price: remember they are valuations for different purposes. RICS is "what's it worth at date of death?" Estate agent is "what will it sell for now?"

Are you in IHT territory?

Who inherits the house / the money from the sale of the house? Will anyone be breathing down your neck for either a quick sale, or maximum sale price?

Forgive me if any of that is up-thread. The answers would affect what I would do.

Yes, there will be IHT to pay, so thought it better to get a RICS survey.  Estate passes to myself and the grandchildren.  There won't be any pressure sell quickly, so trying to get it right.  

I guess I was just a bit surprised that the surveyor valued it quite a bit more than the EA.  

Bapster76

I 've been prepping the paperwork over the last week and think I'm nearly there, HMRC asks for a copy of LPA, do I just need to send the finance LPA or health too?

Bapster76

I've sent off the IHT forms today, fingers crossed I filled them in right 

RAS

Hoping so too. Let us know the outcome.

Bapster76

Received my IHT statement this week and probate code, so far so good.  Quick question, when applying for Probate it asks for the number of Executors on the Will.  The will states two executors, myself and the solicitor.  The solicitor has now renounced, therefore, do I put one executor on the Probate application?   
Thanks

Bapster76

Quick update.  I applied for probate online just before Christmas and sent the original will off.  January 2nd I received an email saying they had processed the documents and it could be 16 weeks for it to be granted.  Later the same day I received an email saying it had been granted!  I received it in the post today!  I'm genuinely surprised how quickly it came through,  less than two weeks including the Christmas holidays.  

RAS

So glad it worked. The Registry seem to be processing applications for which there are no queries very much quicker these last few months