Paying solicitor for probate fees

wilkko73

I will have to pay a solicitor soon to apply for probate for me they are not doing the complete thing just form filling really and submitting for me,at some point I've got to do a verification thing to prove who I am with an app and I believe show a statement of funds in my account. I've had to borrow money from my son and may have to borrow a bit more possibly.I'm going to have to live off the small amount of money that was released from my mum's account when I closed it as the bank released it as it was below their limit.
I'm wondering would I get in to trouble if I ever have to use any of that money to pay the solicitor,it's in a savings account at present.
Our situation is different from when solicitors handle the whole thing and take their fee at the end when they are in control of the accounts and money,as I said they are form filling only and I have to pay fees upfront and then as we go along so I'm wondering if they find out about the estate money being used will they be unhappy.
The money being transferred from the savings account that I named under mum's estate will appear later down the road on my statements.
I hope this is all straight forward and probate goes through simply with them but if it all ends a mess I hope I can pull out after paying for all of fees owed and get rid of the solicitor if costs spiral as I'm not even employed at the moment and have little savings,so I hope I haven't signed my life away.
I imagine people withdraw all of the time when they get above their necks with solicitors when it comes to being able to afford them.
I'm sorry if I sound dramatic or repetitive in my posts but I'm not feeling terribly well and it's a new world for me being involved with solicitors and I'm an anxious person at the best of times.

Keep_pedalling

No you are doing nothing wrong and no one is going to be checking up on you so please don’t worry.

wilkko73

Keep_pedalling said:

No you are doing nothing wrong and no one is going to be checking up on you so please don’t worry.

Thank you..

NittyGritty

you could save loads on probate by doing it yourself online, i did it and saved hundreds than going to a solictor, i think from memory they wanted over £1k just for probate , i did it myself online and paid just £300, (that was back in june last year tho) not sure if prices have changed now or not just double check online if price as changed,

wilkko73

NittyGritty said:

you could save loads on probate by doing it yourself online, i did it and saved hundreds than going to a solictor, i think from memory they wanted over £1k just for probate , i did it myself online and paid just £300, (that was back in june last year tho) not sure if prices have changed now or not just double check online if price as changed,

I'm beginning to wish I hadn't asked them to be honest

poppystar

The money from your mother’s account should be what is used to pay the solicitor as it is her estate that pays. So no worries. But again, no one will check up anyway. 

Don’t be hard on yourself about using the solicitor. Dealing with an estate is a steep learning curve, something you may never have had to do before or and may not do again - all at a time when things are still a bit raw. You do your best and move forward. 

wilkko73

poppystar said:

The money from your mother’s account should be what is used to pay the solicitor as it is her estate that pays. So no worries. But again, no one will check up anyway. 

Don’t be hard on yourself about using the solicitor. Dealing with an estate is a steep learning curve, something you may never have had to do before or and may not do again - all at a time when things are still a bit raw. You do your best and move forward. 

Thank you..

Heliocentric

You don't need a solicitor but since you have one already, it should put you at ease. I only used an ID Verification service but that was for land registry.

Heliocentric

wilkko73 said:

Hi @Heliocentric that's one of the things I'm worried about there is an app that I have to install called Thirdfort to verify identity and I think it probably looks at your bank statements or bank account too.I have heard those apps are used to check source of funds when people are buying homes to see if anything dodgy is going on,.I'm really worried that being solicitors they will want to be squeaky clean and not want to be paid from an estate before probate as that's what would be happening really,if they see payments entering my account from the savings account that has the money in from my mum's estate.
If that is the case I don't know what I'm going to as I can't afford to pay them out of my own account,I could be pushed in to debt with daily interest charges 

Yes I had to do something similar. I don't know if that was the app. I only needed it to take pics of a bank statement, a bill and to upload a photo as well I think. 

Don't stress. You should be able to use the money from the estate for the fees. The remaining estate is what the beneficiaries will get. Do not quote me on that, though. Does it not say that in the will? It did in my mum's although I didn't have many fees as such.

I don't know how far you are in the process. Downloading an app to take pics was the last thing I did.

wilkko73

I think as they get to the stage of needing a payment they send me a link and then they can check source of funds.I'm paying the fees upfront as it's form filling only for probate rather than paying at the back end after probate has been obtained that most solicitors do when they've handled the complete estate.

wilkko73

Hi @Keep_pedalling   I have just got all of my paperwork sorted and ready to take to the solicitor in the morning.one thing that makes me wonder though is mum died on the 21st of Jan and looking at the home valuation letter dated the 11th of Feb he just thanks me for the privilege to carry out the market appraisal,it is headed saying it's for the estate of my mother's name  but it doesn't mention the valuation is for mum's date of death as such? He didn't even confirm the date of the valuation so the only date is of his letter on the 11th of Feb.The visit was on the 6th of Feb.
I'm wondering if this is going to cause problems as if it does it will mean more expense by solicitors contacting me?

I don't know if I should just hand it in anyway all of his contact details are on it,so perhaps the probate office would contact him,does it make much difference anyway not mentioning the exact date