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

Keep_pedalling

mmunro2013 said:

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

You have no choice the original will has to be sent. This is the only thing you need it for, once you have probate it becomes a public document

Mrs_Z

mmunro2013 said:

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

It maybe be worth getting a certified copy of the will for your own records. I did this (in case it got lost in the post when sending to probate) with a local solicitor, they took a photocopy and stamped it as certified original. Some solicitors won’t do it if the will wasn’t done by them, others will charge for a certified copy but by phoning around I found a local one who were kind enough to do it free of charge even if it wasn’t their original. The will was just 2 pages.

bunnygo

I'm sorry for your loss.

the joint accounts are straightforward - contact the bereavement teams of the banks concerned. There will be a dedicated phone number or sometimes an online form. They will need to see the death certificate and possibly a scan of the will. The account then moves to the other holder who gets all the money with no need for probate. 

NB if there is a joint credit card and the lead holder has passed away, both cards are cancelled.

For ISAs, again contact the bereavement teams. You may need probate depending on the amount, each institution is different. Once you have that, the ISA needs to move to an APS (additional permitted subscription) ISA - do NOT remove the money any other way or it will come out of the tax shelter. Your mother-in-law can then transfer it to another ISA paying a better rate, or do whatever she wants with the money.

As another poster mentions, if you do apply for probate you MUST send the original will, no choice - and it won't come back. So get a couple of photocopies and a certified copy will be useful too. You will need the copies at 'second death', especially if you need to apply for any IHT allowances.

you can do all this yourself - as I've just discovered, even when it comes to IHT forms. Using a solicitor costs a lot, takes longer and doesn't save any effort as you still need to gather all the information.

kipsterno1

You have no choice the original will needs to be sent. If you are going to make copies please do not separate any of the pages or damage the binding as that will cause additional complications.

mmunro2013

Thanks all... some great advice! Think we will try and get a certified copy of the will, take a few copies of that and submit a DIY probate

RAS

You cannot get probate without sending the original will.

You can ask a solicitor to certify a copy, as a precaution but there's no way any one will let you access anything that you couldn't access with a death certificate.

It just insurance in case the PR claim they've last the original (rare and it will almost certainly be there but misplaced).

J63320

bunnygo said:

I'm sorry for your loss.

the joint accounts are straightforward - contact the bereavement teams of the banks concerned. There will be a dedicated phone number or sometimes an online form. They will need to see the death certificate and possibly a scan of the will. The account then moves to the other holder who gets all the money with no need for probate. 

NB if there is a joint credit card and the lead holder has passed away, both cards are cancelled.

For ISAs, again contact the bereavement teams. You may need probate depending on the amount, each institution is different. Once you have that, the ISA needs to move to an APS (additional permitted subscription) ISA - do NOT remove the money any other way or it will come out of the tax shelter. Your mother-in-law can then transfer it to another ISA paying a better rate, or do whatever she wants with the money.

As another poster mentions, if you do apply for probate you MUST send the original will, no choice - and it won't come back. So get a couple of photocopies and a certified copy will be useful too. You will need the copies at 'second death', especially if you need to apply for any IHT allowances.

you can do all this yourself - as I've just discovered, even when it comes to IHT forms. Using a solicitor costs a lot, takes longer and doesn't save any effort as you still need to gather all the information.

This won’t affect the OP, but for the benefit of others reading this, what you say about the APS is not correct.
The APS gives the surviving spouse an additional allowance, over and above the usual annual £20,000, equal to the amount that the deceased spouse had in their ISA. The surviving spouse does not even have to inherit the actual ISA in order to use this allowance, so the usual rules about transferring ISAs cannot apply.
 For example, suppose a husband dies, leaving all his assets, including £50,000 in an ISA, to the Cats’ Home. If his widow has £50,000 of her own, she can open an APS ISA and put £50,000 into it. I myself know someone recently widowed who closed her late husband’s ISA and moved the money into an ordinary savings account - the building society neglected to tell her that she could use the APS, but I did, and she was then able to move that money into an APS ISA.