I Need Help Please With Urgent Probate Question

Rharni

A month ago my mother died, leaving a will. It was a home made will but correctly done and I was made sole executor.

I went through Probate, had the Will accepted and went to the place and swore an oath.

My dad is still living. My mother made cash bequests to myself and her two grandsons, the rest to my father.

The bulk of their money is in Halifax, in a joint savings account. However, the Halifax are saying to me that all they will do is to put their current and savings account into my father's name and he can sort out giving the money out.

I said that this, then, would constitute gifts surely??? I understood I was to take charge of the money and give the bequests. I am really not happy with them....can anyone tell me what is right please??? I have never done this before and I am a bit lost.

Since day 1 of their marriage my mother has sorted everything and my dad hasn't a clue. He wants me to sort everything out for him in his day to day banking and his saavings, which I am trying to do....the last thing my mother said to me was 'you'll sort out the banking won't you'!!

We are actually wanting to close the Halifax accounts anyway and he is going to be banking in the same bank as I am as it will be easier for me. Halifax seem to not want to let go of the money!!!

What is my next step????

lifeisgood

Any money in the joint savings account belongs to both your parents, and I would imagine that it would automatically belong to the survivor now, your father, and not form part of your mother's estate.

Any bequests should be paid from other monies available. As the Halifax account is now in your father's name, he has to sort out closing the account himself.

If there is not enough elsewhere to cover the other bequests, then it is up to your father whether he wants to honour your mother's wishes by gifting them out of HIS money.

floss2

I would understand the OP's post to say the opposite:

I always understood that any specific bequests came out first, THEN what was left - if anything - went to the beneficiary.

Why not close the Halifax accounts, asking for cheques to be made out for the bequests & one for the balance to your dad. Then your dad can open a new account & you can help sort that out for him.

Hope it goes smoothly!

Rharni

Thanks..that's fine....no one has actually said it that way.Certainly my mother never saw it like that, as she thought that as she had half of the money she could give her money as she pleased to the people she wanted to.

So really...there is not point in making a will anyway and giving bequests? My dad would be happy to give out the sums involved, but that then makes then taxable gifts.....

What a nightmare

lifeisgood

The way I read the OP, was that his/her parents had a joint current a/c and a joint savings a/c. This would automatically be transferred into her father's name after the bank had seen proof, I think from memory, when I last did this, that the death certificate was enough.

This money would then not be part of the estate.

I agree that bequests would be paid from the estate, and then the balance would go to the OP's father.

Rharni

So...two people should never have a joint savings account. You see, my mother thought that she 'owned' half of their savings...which she did whilst she was alive. So, she made bequests out of that half of her money, money to family then the rest to dad.
But, once she dies, the money ceases to be hers to do with as she wants.....
So, no one should really ever have a joint account where they want to leave money to others.....

Mutton_Geoff

Joint accounts are like joint mortgages, both people own/owe all of the money, it's not split 50/50.

If one of the joint account holders dies, the account is then for the benefit/liability of the remaining person.

zzzLazyDaisy

A will only covers money or assets owned in the deceased person's own name. So if OP's mother had a small savings account of her own, or owned a car in her own name, those things would be covered by the will.

Any assets owned jointly, such as joint house or joint bank accounts automatically pass to the survivor. They do not form part of the deceased person's estate, and so do not pass under the will.

But if your father now complies with your mother's wishes by making gifts out of the joint account, it doesn't necessarily mean that those gifts will be taxable.

Your father can make small gifts of £250 to each person each year, which are tax exempt. On top of that he can gift up to £3000 each year, in total, but that can't be added to the £250, so those gifts would have to go to other people.

In addition, your father can make any gifts he likes and as long as he lives for 7 years after making the gift, those gifts will also be tax exempt.

See here for more info

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/InheritanceTaxEstatesAndTrusts/DG_10010612

Rharni

thanks everyone...I have had my eyes opened with this....

zzzLazyDaisy

Rharni wrote: »

So...two people should never have a joint savings account. You see, my mother thought that she 'owned' half of their savings...which she did whilst she was alive. So, she made bequests out of that half of her money, money to family then the rest to dad.
But, once she dies, the money ceases to be hers to do with as she wants.....
So, no one should really ever have a joint account where they want to leave money to others.....

That's the point - your mother did not own half the money in the joint account. Both your mother and your father owned the money jointly. In other words they both had equal rights to all of it. So when one dies the other is the only person left with any rights, so that person gets all of it. Clear as mud probably, but that is the situation.

As someone else has said, only your father can close the account, and even when another account has been opened, only he will be able to manage it - unless he puts it all in your name, or gives you a power of attorney over his finances. But that is something completely different.

ka7e

As someone else has said, only your father can close the account, and even when another account has been opened, only he will be able to manage it - unless he puts it all in your name, or gives you a power of attorney over his finances. But that is something completely different.

Or you could open a joint account with your father. The perceived main advantage to a joint a/c is that the surviving named a/c holder has immediate access to funds on production of a death certificate. There is usually no need to wait for probate.

I'm not sure what the tax implications would be on a large sum in a savings account, but if you want to manage your father's day-to-day expenses, a joint account would be ideal.