Cannot find Will.

keithmac

Hello all.

I`m in the unfortunate position of having to deal with my Fathers estate after his recent death.

My uncle says he had made a Will, but having looked I cannot find it (and in all honesty I don`t think he would have made one).

I`m sole beneficiary and looking into doing the Probate at home hopefully as it should be reasonably straight forward.

Just wondering how much time should I spend looking for something that may not exist and if I do go down the intestacy route will this add an excessive amount of time onto my Probate application?.

Also if I have started the application and it does turn up can this be taken into account or do I have to start again?.

Also if anyone can recommend any good resources for filling out the Probate application that would be much appreciated, I intend a lot of his estate to be passed onto my children as a house deposit when the time is right so if I can do the work myself it will leave more for them.

Thanks, Keith.

Keep_pedalling

If a will turns up during the application for letters of administration, yes the process will need to start again. Even if LoA have been granted it can be revoked and the named executors will have to apply for a grant of probate to replace it. 

Do you know if you also need to complete an IHT application? You will need to do so if his estate exceeds £325k if he was single, £650k if he was widowed. 

We can help with any questions you have on process of obtaining probate / letters of administration and IHT returns.

What makes your uncle think there is a will? Have you quizzed him to see if he has any idea of a solicitor or will writing company may have been used? If he can be of no assistance and you have done a major search through all your father’s paperwork, then I would simple get started on applying for letters of administration. 

keithmac

Hello and thanks for the quick reply. 

I have spoken to my uncle again (about funeral arrangements) and he did say my dad had mentioned making a will using the solicitors at work so that is an avenue I will have to look down.

As far as the estate is concerned it will be below £250,000.

Just looking into how it all works, do I need to have the house valued properly before applying for Probate or will an estimate do if it is well below 325k?. 

All seems a bit sad and clinical really. 

Keep_pedalling

keithmac said:

Hello and thanks for the quick reply. 

I have spoken to my uncle again (about funeral arrangements) and he did say my dad had mentioned making a will using the solicitors at work so that is an avenue I will have to look down.

As far as the estate is concerned it will be below £250,000.

Just looking into how it all works, do I need to have the house valued properly before applying for Probate or will an estimate do if it is well below 325k?. 

All seems a bit sad and clinical really. 

Was your father in a union? They often provided a free wills service. 

You won’t need to do a IHT return with that value of estate. You could get 3 valuations from estate agents and use the highest one for probate. Using the highest lowers the chance of ending up with a capital gains liability when it is sold. 

JamesRobinson48

keithmac said:

Hello all.

I`m in the unfortunate position of having to deal with my Fathers estate after his recent death.

My uncle says he had made a Will, but having looked I cannot find it (and in all honesty I don`t think he would have made one).

I`m sole beneficiary and looking into doing the Probate at home hopefully as it should be reasonably straight forward.

Just wondering how much time should I spend looking for something that may not exist and if I do go down the intestacy route will this add an excessive amount of time onto my Probate application?.

Also if I have started the application and it does turn up can this be taken into account or do I have to start again?.

Also if anyone can recommend any good resources for filling out the Probate application that would be much appreciated, I intend a lot of his estate to be passed onto my children as a house deposit when the time is right so if I can do the work myself it will leave more for them.

Thanks, Keith.

I'm sorry for your loss.

If you cannot find the will that you've been told exists, what makes you so sure that you are sole beneficiary?

Just for example, might the will leave something to your uncle or to friends, charities, etc.

p00hsticks

JamesRobinson48 said:

keithmac said:

Hello all.

I`m in the unfortunate position of having to deal with my Fathers estate after his recent death.

My uncle says he had made a Will, but having looked I cannot find it (and in all honesty I don`t think he would have made one).

I`m sole beneficiary and looking into doing the Probate at home hopefully as it should be reasonably straight forward.

Just wondering how much time should I spend looking for something that may not exist and if I do go down the intestacy route will this add an excessive amount of time onto my Probate application?.

Also if I have started the application and it does turn up can this be taken into account or do I have to start again?.

Also if anyone can recommend any good resources for filling out the Probate application that would be much appreciated, I intend a lot of his estate to be passed onto my children as a house deposit when the time is right so if I can do the work myself it will leave more for them.

Thanks, Keith.

I'm sorry for your loss.

If you cannot find the will that you've been told exists, what makes you so sure that you are sole beneficiary?

Just for example, might the will leave something to your uncle or to friends, charities, etc.

Also, that you are named as executor of the missing will ?

keithmac

@Keep_pedalling , yes he was in a Union I believe so that could be a good shout, tried the work route and it was not something they offered apparently. Interesting with the Capital Gains Tax, if I were to modernise it and sell it that sounds like I`d be shooting myself in the foot?. Will have to look into that thanks for mentioning it.

@JamesRobinson48 because that was what it was for, he`s mentioned it to me in the past but more recently my uncle as well.

Shylock_249

Hypothetical I hope, but what might happen if the opening post applied for and received the letters of administration with himself as sole beneficiary, obtained all the assets (the estate?), gave most of it to his children for house purchase only to discover sometime later that there was indeed a will which named the uncle as the sole beneficiary?  And let's say at the time of discovering the will  the OP didn't have the whole funds equal to the estate to hand over to the uncle?