How long did it take?

Baldytyke88

How long does it take after the person died, to handing out the money?

I am guessing a total of six months would be normal. To sell a £250k house and £50k, maybe there are delays with the council/government?

Marcon

Baldytyke88 said:

How long does it take after the person died, to handing out the money?

I am guessing a total of six months would be normal. To sell a £250k house and £50k, maybe there are delays with the council/government?

Six months would be exceptionally quick. One to two years is more likely, especially if there is a property to sell - and taking into account that probate can be anything from six weeks to well upwards of six months, that property can't be sold until probate has been granted.

DancingBadger

Personal experience (but bear in mind it's a hard property market in most areas of the UK):

Death occurred in February.
IHT to pay, so code requested from HMRC at the end of April.
Also, house placed on the market at the end of April and sale agreed 10 days later.
Probate granted in July.
House sale due to complete at the end of this month.

There is no one size fits all; every estate will be different.

jackieblack

As above, every estate is different 

My experience:
Death occurred in January 
House went on the market in February, sale agreed end of March
Probate applied for third week of March, granted 10 days later
Sale completed mid July
Estate distributions finalised by end of July

However, a close friend’s parent’s estate took just over two years to be finalised

RAS

If the deceased was in receipt of means-tested benefits it can take the DWP 9 months or more to decide whether anything needs to be repaid. 

Emmia

It took me about a year to finalise an estate which was cash / bonds / shares (no property).

The biggest challenge was tracking down and liquidating all the assets, as the deceased had made some interesting decisions and had failed to keep records or document things consistently.

Exodi

Baldytyke88 said:

I am guessing a total of six months would be normal. To sell a £250k house and £50k

I wouldn't hold your breath, there are houses in my area that have been on the market for over 6 months. Then, considering my own property purchase, that took 6 months from offer to completion.

I think better to set expectations that it could be 'years' than praying that everything goes perfectly and it's done and dusted in 6 months.

Runner_Duck

21 months from death to being able to release all funds.  The last 11 months of that was waiting for the HMRC to confirm the small amount of tax that the estate owed.

Baldytyke88

We haven't heard anything from the executor; he is being rather quiet. Family relations are not very good.

We are still waiting for probate; house not up for sale yet.

I know it cannot be sold until probate is granted, but I would have it on the market, at least.

kermchem

The last estate I dealt with - death was mid April 2016, house sold and completed late August, and by then all the bank accounts, building soc, investments bonds, ISAs had also paid out. The last thing to be settled in October was the whole of life insurance policy written in trust and intended to pay the IHT, of which there was narrowly none to pay. 

Plan that something will cause a delay to what might otherwise be quick. 

DavidT67

Baldytyke88 said:

We haven't heard anything from the executor; he is being rather quiet. Family relations are not very good.

We are still waiting for probate; house not up for sale yet.

I know it cannot be sold until probate is granted, but I would have it on the market, at least.

No point marketing a property if seller isn't ready to proceed, most buyers first question will be 'has probate been granted ?', if it's a no, they'll move on to the next property.  

If you are simply a residual beneficary then you've no involvement in the estate administration and the executor doesn't need to keep you informed.  They will distribute the estate as and when they consider it appropriate.  

Grant of probate, selling a property and realising assets are mere milestones towards finalising the estate accounts.  HMRC and DWP could both take over nine months to make a determination on taxes due or benefit repayments owed.