After grant of probate received and paying debts

wilkko73

After you receive the grant of probate and are then able to pay estate debts what is the process after that to show those debts have been settled and what forms do you have to send off to do that?What is the best way to do this,I assume after being paid the person that is owed money sends a letter showing that the debt has been settled and also a high lighted bank statement would show payment made.Is this part of the process quite straight forward?
Do you need to bother showing any paperwork for say a pension that got stopped in time on the payment cycle after reporting death so you didn't have to pay any money back anyway.

I'm the executor and only beneficiary

Savvy_Sue

Once you have probate, no-one actually checks that you pay any debts, apart from those who are owed money.

And they might or might not send a letter confirming they've been paid, or a final statement showing a £0 balance, especially the utility companies.

And no, if no pension overpayment was made, nothing will happen, you won't have to prove anything to anyone.

But I suspect you're overthinking this. The estate is all yours. IF you had to share it, your fellow beneficiaries might want to see proof of this, that or the other, but it's all yours.

IF someone you've paid pops up and says "you didn't pay", yes, you'll have the bank statement to prove them wrong. And you could ask for a receipt, but HMRC won't check anything because you don't owe IHT, and the probate service won't check because it's your job to distribute the estate not theirs.

wilkko73

Thank you,that makes me feel a lot better