Probate? Do we need one for Father in Law death?

mmunro2013

My father in law has just passed away, bless... my question is: he has a will that leaves everything to his wife (still alive), he has a couple of joint bank accounts with average savings in them, he has his own ISA with a few thousand in it. Do we need to go down the probate route? If so, can we do it ourselves?

Keep_pedalling

Who is the ISA with? If it is a cash ISA most financial institutions will release the money to the executor without the need for probate, soit is likely you won’t need it. If you do, yes you can do it yourselves it is fairly straight forward, and you will get plenty of help here if you get stuck.

Savvy_Sue

You may not absolutely need it now, but it may be worth establishing the value of his estate at the date of death, because when MiL dies you may find that FiL's estate values (or even probate) are needed. That's perhaps especially important if there is a house involved - and is it registered with the Land Registry? 

J63320

Please remember that his wife will be entitled to an Additional Permitted Subscription to the value of his ISA. His ISA provider ought to tell you about this, but I have a friend whose late husband’s provider (Nationwide) let her withdraw the funds without saying a word.

thegreenone

Is the house in joint names?  If not, you may need Probate to change into MiL's name.  My husband and his sister went through this when FiL died and he was sole on the deeds.

mmunro2013

Great, thanks for advice so far... I understand he has ISA with two b/socs and a joint bank account. I think their house is joint ownership? I will follow up with the financial institutions re: what we need to do to access monies, close accounts

RAS

Do check whether the property is a joint tenancy or tenants in common.

Newly_retired

re ISAs and the APS, see above.
My late husband's bank transferred all his accounts including an ISA into the new account I set up with them for the estate, but in my name. They suggested I open an ISA with them to which they transferred his ISA. There were forms to fill in to carry over the APS. Once it was all sorted I transferred the ISA to one with another institution with a better rate of interest. It now carries on withut any further reference to the APS - just like my other ISAs.
I did not have Probate at this point, just the death certificate and copy of the will ( all scanned and sent by email ).On[y the APS form needed me to go into a branch .
Each financial institution has its own limits. The only one who needed Probate was NS & I.

mmunro2013

Sorry for late reply... thanks all for responding. Another related question; when applying for probate you have to submit the original will. I am concerned we might need the original will going forward? (he has a really simple will - leaving all to his wife). Any advice?

Keep_pedalling

Yes the original will is required if you actually need to apply for probate.

D9 you know where it is?

mmunro2013

Yes, got the will, however reluctant to send the original as we might need it at some point... what do you think?