Probate on line

marjrie_2

I’m trying to help my mum to do grant of probate for my father. Everything is in joint name apart from his one ISA , mum thought that she could inherit the isa and it would be straightforward, but Lloyds have said that as its value is over £50,000, they need to see Grant of probate?
Can they demand this?
all bank accounts can be made into mums name, and the house is in joint names. There are no outstanding debts.

She has had some quotes to get probate done and the best was £2,000, this seems excessive.

Is there anyway we can be guided through this to do it ourselves, what will I need, I have an iPad and a wireless printer.

Is it really as complicated as I’ve heard, I wish Lloyds would just let her transfer the isa into her own one.

Thank you for reading.

RAS

Is the total value of dad's estate less than £650k? If so, there's no need to claim the residential allowance or do an IHT allowance.

Did dad leave a will?

marjrie_2

yes it’s under £650k and his will leaves everything to mum. The only thing asking for grant of probate is the ISA, we thought it could be transferred into mums isa, all within Lloyds bank.

MayDogsandCoffee

It is very straight forward to complete yourself, we went the DIY route and was amazed at how simple and quick (after being quoted £6,000.).

marjrie_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82020567#Comment_82020567

did you do it online? Was there a guide you followed?

p00hsticks

It should be quite straightforward - I was in a similar situation doing my dads a couple of years ago - as in your case, everything was in joint names or left to mum, but I had to complete probate because he had over £20k in ISAs and other savings with a particular building society, and this was over the limit for whcih they needed probate.

I did it online - just get the relevant figures together (e,g, value of house if owned, savings etc) and ask on here if you have any problems.I think the standard fee is £300. The only thing I think you have to print is a cover sheet at the end which you need to send off with the will (and send this special delivery)

Keep_pedalling

This is an exempt estate so regardless of value no IHT return is required.

Yes Lloyds can demand a GoP is obtained before they release those funds.

Have a look at the paper version of the probate application form before you apply on line as this will tell you everything you need. It is really not that complicated, and you will find plenty of help here if you get stuck.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67b6f6ab78dd6cacb71c6a3e/PA1P_0124_citizen.pdf

poseidon1

Your starting point for an online grant of probate for an 'excepted estate' commences with the explanatory link below-

https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died/check-type-of-estate

However, some people do get confused on how to navigate from that guidance in order to arrive at the portal for the online probate application. The thread below relating to another OP who had inadvertently found himself completing unnecessary IHT forms, might assist with your DIY efforts -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6669007/iht-allowance-iht402-and-iht400

Claude_and_Eustace

I found completing the online inheritance tax checker tool (from Poseidon’s first link) and printing out the form really helped to make the probate application even easier, as it compiled all of the figures you need. I don’t think it even took half an hour in the end and was through in less than a week. The hardest part was getting to the post office to send the will! Don’t be scared to do it yourself, it was so easy online and absolutely not worth paying a solicitor if it is a simple estate.

lohr500

As others have already mentioned, doing the Probate application yourself is pretty straightforward, particularly for an excepted estate.

I did this last year after my dad passed away, leaving all his estate to my mum.
I also used the online inheritance tax checker tool (from Poseidon’s first link) to check that the estate was excepted and to compute the values needed for the Probate application.
I printed off the results of the tax calculator and probate application for future reference in case of any queries.

Once you have Probate, Lloyds should then be able to help you with the options for transferring dad's ISA to your mum. The process is handled through the ISA APS (Additional Permitted Subscription) rules.

I'm not sure how Lloyds handle the APS process, but for my dad's Skipton Cash ISA, we 1st had to open a Legacy Cash ISA with Skipton in my mum's name. Skipton could not do a one step direct transfer to mum's Cash ISA.

After filling out a Skipton APS form, they transferred the funds from dad's ISA into the new Legacy ISA.
(Although not applicable in your case, my dad also had a cash ISA with Virgin and we completed another Skipton APS request form to instruct them to request the transfer into the new Skipton Legacy ISA from Virgin.)

The Legacy ISA had a very low interest rate, but as soon as the funds had been transferred into it, mum could then initiate a standard ISA switch into her existing Skipton Cash ISA.

Aa an aside, after reviewing the interest rate on her Skipton Cash ISA I suggested she moved the whole amount into a new ISA which paid a full 1% more interest than Skipton with the same access terms.
If you haven't done so already, it might be worth reviewing the interest rate your mum is getting from Lloyds and considering a move to another provider.

marjrie_2

thank you for all the help here, does anyone know about passing on dads £325k allowance please, or is that not able to be done?