[Closed] Probate - any advice/experience??

I was an executor on my step dad's will/estate - it was v complicated, and I was glad of professional guidance, but each case on it's own challenges of course.

If your father's estate is not complicated it might be worth doing yourself. The solicitors took a fixed percentage to the value of the estate in my last encounter.

Did my Dad's earlier in the year. Its actually very easy if you have a good view of his finances, very hard if you don't. Don't know if you've ever had to fill in a tax return at any time but I'd say its similar. Easy if you have the info, a nightmare if you dont. All the forms can be downloaded from the web with guide docs also

Having also been through the process recently, I'd agree with Smuzzy. It's not too bad if your dad's affairs are straightforward and you're prepared to sit down with the guidance and forms from HMRC (inheritance tax and probate) to work it out.

You'll also have to go to the local probate office for a short interview and oath, but that's a formality.

Tending towards using a professional to do the probate

as explained to me by a solicitor, if the finances are fairly straight forward and you know where everything is there is really no need at all. if you are unsure where the cash may be then its a good idea as a professional will know where to look.

effectively you get a death certificate and enough copies to send to all the banks et al, then contact them (they all have different ways of doing probate) and its pretty much sorted.

there's also a form to fill in, can't recall if its done before the above or after, where you state the value of the estate. so long as its under the inheritance tax threshold you're fine.

it seems a hassle, but its actually quite easy.

The inheritance tax form comes first - the probate application won't be accepted without it. As Gav says, being under/over the IHT threshold is the most significant issue. If your mum is still around then any joint assets (eg. the house, joint bank accounts) revert directly to her by survivorship and will be exempt from the IHT calculations.

You might also need to submit a final income tax return, which again is not a problem if you have the information to hand (pension statements etc).

I'm currently doing it for an aunt.

I engaged a local solicitor to get the grant of probate, and to inform /call in the big stuff like ISAs, mortgage etc. I'm doing all the rest myself.

The solicitor has charged a fixed fee of £250 plus court fee and oath of £49. But as this saves me loads of travelling to other towns for probate interviews and higher fees, and opening a specific bank account it is well worth it.

Everything is going like clockwork.

Doing my dads at the moment. Ours is quite complicated as mum is still here and lives in the house. But to get round taxes, half the house is being put into trust for me and sisters and other half is still mums(????) Solicitors are working on a fixed percentage and are dealing with it all banks, pensions, taxes and such. Have to say that they are worth it as some banks can be proper sh1ts at times.

That said, most of its just filling in forms so its up to you.

Mine hasn't been too bad. The only prob I had was dealing with Abbey who were torturously slow in providing the info I needed - seriously took more than a year. I ended up having to complain formally before they pulled their finger outa their arse...

Only tip would be when dealing with banks is not to post them copies of important docs (probate doc, death certificate etc). The can certify a copy in branch and send it to their bereavement team etc. Another advantage is that they can then use their own internal post so that you're not relying on Royal Mail.

Good luck with it.

But to get round taxes, half the house is being put into trust for me and sisters and other half is still mums(????)

Curious. What is the benefit of this?

Thank you everyone - very helpful and encouraging 🙂

But to get round taxes, half the house is being put into trust for me and sisters and other half is still mums(????)

Curious. What is the benefit of this?

I think it's usually more to do with potential future costs of residential care etc for the surviving spouse, which can easily swallow up the entire value of the house. By changing from joint ownership to "tenants in common" while both are alive, and arranging in the wills for an asset protection trust to be set up when one dies, the half of the house that belonged to the spouse who dies first (without having needed care) passes directly on to the children / beneficiaries and is protected. Meanwhile the surviving spouse retains the right to actually live there.

IANAL, by the way.

Uphilla, just been sorting my Dad's estate with my sister. It was a bit complicated, bank accounts, investments and property. We went for a solution suggested by the solicitor. We collected all of the information needed and then presented it to the solicitor who then did everything else for a fixed fee of £900. This was a very good deal as generally solicitors see probate as a nice little earner and you are very unlikely to get any special offers.

I would suggest a similar solution as the solicitors skill is in presenting the right information in the right way to the relevant parties such as inland revenue. You don't want a problem with them.

Hope that helps.

elliptic - but even if the ownership of the house is seperated into joint tennants surely the surviving spouse still living there is subject having a benefit in kind - unless they pay rent to the trust and the benificiary of the trust is not the surviving spouse.

Yes, the surviving spouse is the beneficiary of the trust but (as I said) I gather the point is generally not tax advantages per se, but to protect half of the house from being taken by the local authority to pay for care.

I don't know if something similar can be set up to finesse inheritance tax, maybe that's also possible.

Again, IANAL (or an accountant).

Hoodoo - your solution and cost seems good. I have most of the information already as I held Power of attorney - it is the Tax Office that always worries me. Would be glad to pay £900, first quote I had was more than 3 times that 🙁

I'm doing it at the moment too as my mum died recently. Fortunately i have record of all her accounts, so its basically just form filling and letter writing. I'm not paying a solicitor unless i absolutely have to.

[i]Mine hasn't been too bad. The only prob I had was dealing with Abbey who were torturously slow in providing the info I neede[/i]

Funnily enough Abbey have been most helpful to me, even though mum had about 5 different accounts and shares with them and it was all very complicated.

Don't get me started on the NHS pension administrators though... 👿

Putting half the house into "a trust" helped us get below the inheritance tax band. With the cash and investments that my dad had, we would of been over the limit and hit for inheritance tax. It was all left to her (afterall, she needs to looked after) and doing it this way keeps it below the level and also protects her in the future.

My understanding of the NRB discretionary trust (if this is what you have) is this cannot exceed the IHT threshold. Additionally, things like the marital home could not placed into it due to it falling foul of it being a benefit in kind if the surviving spouse lived there. With the new IHT laws that allowed partner to pass on their IHT threshold to their surviving partner - it negated the need for this kind of tax structuring.

Anyway, I'm no professional at this but this is just from my own experience.

A good place to hunt for hints and tips is the taxationweb website. Although it's frequented by expensive lawyer types who don't like to give the full game away.

If your dad's affairs are straightforward, my strong advice is to get a book on it and do it yourself!

My father's estate was simple, but we chose the family solicitor. He actually turned out to be a legal executive, but working for a reputable firm of solicitors. This firm took three and a half years to close this one out! The legal exec was off sick with a bad back for a period of six months, but nobody delegated the task to someone else. Sitting in a chair is so demanding on your back isn't it! Nobody notified us of his absence and this information did not come to light until much later on. He actually attempted to blame us for the delays (without any justification whatsoever). Arrogant xxxx!

After three years and after the case had been passed to a senior partner in the law firm, but we still faced a long wait. I invoked the Law Society's ombudsman who, after several months, ruled against the firm and we were compensated. It was a piric victory as the compensation barely covered the loss of interest on the money sat in the solicitor's account.

The other annoying thing was that the ombudsman pressured me into accepting an offer before the case had been closed. I put them off once, but they persisted. My mother was stressed out and wanted the matter closed, so I caved in. I concluded that the ombudsman were not on my side, but just there to make justice appear to be seen to be done!

I spent at least a full week collating the case details for the ombudsman alone, let alone the hours spent drafting letter to the solicitor and consoling my mum on the phone. It was very stressful, but still cost us £££'s. In the meantime, some of the investments tumbled in value when the recession stuck.

In all, we shelled out and got a nightmare in return!

Conversely, my mate's mum died in February and by the end of June he had concluded the whole process, by himself!

It's never a good time dealing with such matters when a loved one has just died. What shocked me was that, even after your parent has died, we were still liable to file a tax return on their behalf until the estate was wound up. This went on for three years. Taxing the dead is immoral in my book!

Good luck and please accept my condolances!

Thank you Spongebob, much appreciated

Hiya, I am sorry to hear about your loss. It is a very long process and I agree with you Snowslave. I have been in a similar situation too but I ended up contacting ITC Legal Services for help and they make the process easier especially as it is a difficult time already and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder. I think it is a good idea to get some professional guidance as it will help you and your right as you do need to be careful when handling this as it is tricky. I hope this adivce helps!

Well worth the wait. Or your broadband is slow.

Welcome to the forum, Danny.