DIY probate
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This probate company presumably was recommended to the OP by Barclays, which makes me think of previous threads on this forum.
That quote is nothing short of scandalous for a spouse exempt estate!:heartpuls Daughter born January 2012 :heartpuls Son born February 2014 :heartpuls
Slimming World ~ trying to get back on the wagon...0 -
katihannah wrote: »It's Barclays who have insisted on the application for probate, yet the property mortgaged by them is the marital home which was held as joint tenants so automatically passes to me. We had no other accounts with them. It's all so complicated, yet I feel it shouldn't be.
You won't need it for that house as long as the mortgage is also joint death cert should remove the spouse from both the legal title and the mortgage
You will need it for the other one.0 -
4 years ago Barclays would not release £27,000 without probate. They also offered to 'help' by sending one of their specialists to our home. Great, we picked his brains on what needed to be done (& how), then said thanks, but no thanks. No fee & some useful snippets of info I required guidance with & got answers through questioning him. DiY (twice) has been easy though stressful when you are the bereaved. My condolences.
Why pay someone else to complete forms etc, when it's you who has to give them the information anyway. Both probate & tax form come with instructions for each section.
This forum can be just as helpful, only problem is when there are conflicting responses!Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.0 -
SevenOfNine wrote: »4 years ago Barclays would not release £27,000 without probate. They also offered to 'help' by sending one of their specialists to our home. Great, we picked his brains on what needed to be done (& how), then said thanks, but no thanks. No fee & some useful snippets of info I required guidance with & got answers through questioning him. DiY (twice) has been easy though stressful when you are the bereaved. My condolences.
Why pay someone else to complete forms etc, when it's you who has to give them the information anyway. Both probate & tax form come with instructions for each section.
This forum can be just as helpful, only problem is when there are conflicting responses!
It is not smart to rely on a single source anyway, at best what you read here is guidance to help understand what you need to be thinking about or looking for.
Along with other resources you can soon filter out wrong, misleading or just don't apply to your specific circumstances.0 -
Yes, it is fairly sraightforward. These are the things to remember:
The Probate Office are your friends, they will guide & advise you when necessary
There is no rush (you've said you still have the marital home, and I assume you have an income) you can work your way through steadily
A lot of people find this a way of helping them through bereavement, as they settle affairs, and sort out how their life will be
Having said that, keep your paperwork filed carefully - so that you can have an escape route (solicitor you already know, good friend or similar) to take over, should you suddenly find yourself overwhelmed
Having done /helped with probate, my DH & I feel that this is the last thing one of us will do for the other, and unless very ill or incapacitated, expect each other to do it.
I wish you all the best.0 -
Just to add, I've also done probate myself, when my father died. I was the main (but not sole) beneficiary, and a joint executor. There was property involved, but his estate was below the IHT threshold.
The solicitors who held his Will were extremely put out when I told them I was going to do it myself. I didn't see the point of paying them a large sum of money when *I* had to do the work of going through all his paperwork to locate bank accounts, insurance policies etc. I actually found this quite therapeutic.
The other executor was more than happy for me to do all the work, and in fact all he did in the end was countersign a couple of forms.0 -
I was referring to the marital home which was in both our names as joint tenancy. Apparently that isn't included in the estate, only the one that he owned himself. And the point I was making is that there is very little equity in that property so I don't want to hand it over to some probate firm for no reason!Yorkshireman99 wrote: »If he owned a property then it does form part of the estate unless there is some unusual ownership issue. Please could you clarify why you think falls outside the estate.0 -
That's what I thought. It sounds as though it's fairly straightforward tho, so I think I will attempt it myself.getmore4less wrote: »You won't need it for that house as long as the mortgage is also joint death cert should remove the spouse from both the legal title and the mortgage
You will need it for the other one.0 -
I'm inclined to agree. And yes I found this easily enough, the encouragement and support I've received so far tells me I'm in the right place. It really didn't look very difficult, and that was before said probate man came to see me, I think he was just trying to scare me so he could get his fee. It's shocking how these companies seem to think it's ok to take advantage of the newly bereaved.DigForVictory wrote: »Three things come to mind:
The probate company makes a healthy living by preying on the recently bereaved.
No matter how deeply I was mired in grief, anyone insinuating I should hand over a wad & not worry my pretty little head about probate would trigger my urge to knee someone sharply in a tender area.
You've the smarts to find the MSE forum from google alone? You can manage probate. Even with bereavement throwing you about like a cork in a thunderstorm. Noone here makes tuppence on a post, so you'll get all sorts of support and it'll just cost you time.
In short, join the team of MSE DIY, post here as often as you need or want & be welcome!0 -
Thank you all for your replies, I'm reassured that it really isn't as difficult as the nice probate man was hoping I'd believe, so I'm going to attempt to do my own application. I'll be in touch if I run into difficulties..0
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