my dad recently died and left me as executor. It’s a very small and simple estate (all goes to my mum) so I thought I’d do it myself (not knowing any better), but just had a meeting with ITC (recommended by Barclays bank) who said peopel rarely do it themselves as it is pretty complicated and time consuming (as they would), and quoted £3,000.

Anyone done it, have any advice or know of any books on how to do it (other than HMCE stuff)?

thanks.

p.s. I work for myself and can allocate some time to it as required.

Firstly, Sorry to hear about your loss.

Secondly, don’t touch ITC with a bargepole they are VERY expensive and their initial quote is very rarely what you end up paying.

Thirdly, I will declare an interest – I am a Will Writer and Probate Practitioner.

So, for a small estate it is perfectly possible to do things for yourself. If the estate is under £5,000 you will not need to apply for probate, if the estate is between £5,000 and £20,000 you (as executor) can normally sign a disclaimer with the banks and they will transfer assets into your mum’s name.

Remember that any assets that were held in joint names between mum and dad will normally pass automatically to mum by what is known as survivorship. This will normally include the family home if it was owned jointly.

Bottom line is that every case is different but for a married couple on first death with everything passing to the survivor £3K is ridiculous, we recently did a similar case for £200 plus VAT (admittedly very simple). I would stick my neck out and say most people in your circumstances can manage it yourself.

Check my website http://www.myinheritance.co.uk for my phone number and give me a call for an informal chat.

Regards
Nick.

I administered my brothers estate myself – it was a pretty simple affair and I found the process fairly straight forward. I had assumed we would need a solicitor and approached his solicitor who confirmed that the house was set up with survivorship as Nick describes, and he suggested we could diy it (he didn’t do estate stuff!).

You will find some of the banks etc are better to deal with than others. Abbey (now Santander) were particularly hard work, Marks & Spencer credit also didn’t seem too switched on to the process – whereas Egg were brilliant! Most of these guys have a specific department to deal with which once you get to them should help.

Thanks Nick, I’ll do that.

I used a local solicitor to do the actual probate (because it’s cheaper when you factor in your time having to turn up at courts etc and do the swearing) but I administered the rest of the estate myself. Just write to everybody saying you are the executor and ask them to send you the money (or the bills). I didn’t even need to set up a new bank account.

Yes – I agree with the post above. Abbey didn’t have a clue when I tried to close the account there. I had to tell them what it said on their own paperwork.

singletracksurfer I’m sorry to say i have been in your shoes . i am a solicitor but not probate . i was able to do it all for my mum without any difficulty my only professional perk was getting a load of statutory declarations and certified copies of the death cert done cheaply, normally £5 a swear.

Most institutions will transfer all to your mum without any hassle . The staff in the probate registry are really helpful. all you need to know is on the net or in the forms.

NJA seems spot on in opinion and fees in my opinion. ITC seem to be a little keen to turn your grief into their profit.

I am sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss, sounds like good advice above and just to add to that, I did my dad’s 2 years ago. It was not hard and I could now do it again with half the effort. A lot depends on how good his financial records/acconts were. the application for probate is easy, the tax form requires quite a bit of detail around his income/investments etc. If someone offered to take it off my hands for £100 i’d say yes, any more than that i’d say DIY

HTH

Sorry for your loss. My father and auntie recently administered my late grandmothers estate. A sizeable lump of money plus a house to sell etc. They found the best way was to wait until all the money was in one place, ie after the house was sold. And then split the money between the benefactors.
All benefactors were required to sign twice for what they were given. A copy for the benefactor and a copy for my dads paperwork.
Everything went without a hitch and it didn’t cost a penny.

Thanks everyone, thats what I needed to hear.

Like I say, I had planned to do it and save my mum some money, but was scared off by the guy at ITC saying it was VERY difficult time consuming and I would need to involve accountants and solicitors, etc.

I will call them off, call Nick (above) and maybe even give it (or parts of it ) a go myself.

Cheers.

Mate, if I can do it anyone can! I think it’s more the ‘voyage into the unknown’ and people who can make money from it making out that it’s harder than it actually is. So, in conclusion – it’ll be reet.