Dad’s Simple Estate…. and Probate.

Placitasgirl

My dear Dad died just before Christmas. His funeral took place on Tuesday. I was PoA for his financial affairs (he had never owned property) and am his sole Executor. He left a will leaving his estate in 5 equal shares to my three siblings and myself, with the final 1/5th shared equally between his three Grandchildren. 

Dad had no loans, credit cards etc and didn’t owe a penny to anyone. I had administered his and Mum’s affairs for years and since Mum died suddenly 11 years ago and Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Their joint current account with Lloyds passed to Dad with me as PoA. 

Dad’s assets total just over 55k and this is all held with Lloyds Bank in a Cash ISA, Current Account and Regular Saver. He had a prepaid funeral plan and there is a balance of £90 for an “optional extra” payable to the Funeral Directors. He had two small life insurance policies which have paid out to my bank account. 

I used the Tell it Once service and am awaiting final adjustments to his State and NHS pension and expect a very small overpayment on both due to the Christmas period and a slight delay in the Medical Examiners findings before I could register Dad’s death. 

Dad had been in hospital for a year until shortly before his death (and in a care home prior to that, with his pensions contributing to the costs, with a small personal allowance for his use). He was discharged 10 days before he died to a Nursing Home and all of his costs for the remainder of his life were to be paid with not contribution from him due to the nature of his illness and nursing care ends. 

I feel so relived that we were able to discuss funeral plans, LPA’s etc before Dad’s Alzheimer’s took it’s grip on him and he lost mental capacity and that his affairs are clear and straightforward to compared to many. 

Can you confirm that I will need to seek Probate in order to distribute the inheritances he left for my siblings, son and Nephews once all pensions etc are resolved, as there is no property, investments, stocks, shares or anything and just cash in his bank accounts to deal with? Is this likely to be a straightforward process that I can deal with myself as I’d like? I am an Executive Assistant and quite used to paperwork and processes and have the time and capacity to do this. If so do you have any idea roughly how long what appears to me be a relative simple application may take to complete? I have not advised Lloyds of Dad’s death yet as their own bereavement service website says that this can cause stress and complications down the line and I will wait until all pensions payments etc are adjusted as needed. 

Thank you in advance for any and all help and advice you can offer. 

WillowLeaf

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Others will be able to give much better replies than me, all I can contribute is that I found the process very straightforward using the government website so would suggest you'd be able to do this yourself.

The other thing is that the DWP advised my dads bank that he had died. We'd also been holding off to allow final ins and outs to happen.

I wonder if it's allowed to move his money out while you can, then administer everything from your account? Someone will know.

elsien

I would suggest doublechecking that all monies owed to the local authority for care costs have been paid.
I have seen other posts on here where the estate has been distributed and then the local authority has suddenly popped up with a bill. 

Placitasgirl

WillowLeaf said:

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Others will be able to give much better replies than me, all I can contribute is that I found the process very straightforward using the government website so would suggest you'd be able to do this yourself.

The other thing is that the DWP advised my dads bank that he had died. We'd also been holding off to allow final ins and outs to happen.

I wonder if it's allowed to move his money out while you can, then administer everything from your account? Someone will know.

Thank you. I do know that PoA ended upon death. I have been advised verbally that no care fees are due but am waiting for confirmation in writing. 

Mrs_Z

I think you might not need a probate IF the bank is willing to release the monies without it - you need to check what their limit is - it's usually around £50k mark.  

Placitasgirl

Mrs_Z said:

I think you might not need a probate IF the bank is willing to release the monies without it - you need to check what their limit is - it's usually around £50k mark.  

I understand that the Lloyds limit for releasing monies without Probate is £50k. I don’t know if there is any flexibility with this figure…. can anyone advise
on this?