Anybody know about setting up Probate?

[maviczap]

My Mum's asked me to sort out the Probate on her estate.

I know nowt about it, apart from it saves a lot of legal hassle after she passes on.

So couple of questions

1. Do I have to use the solicitor she has made her will through?
2. How much will the solicitors charge?
3. I need to be the named executor of the estate, not the solicitor, is that correct.

Any other pitfalls or Solicitors gimmicks I should avoid?

Ta

[Teejayexc]

As far as I'm aware you can't 'sort' probate until a person dies. I think you mean setting up as executor for someone, this means in this case, your mum naming you as executor to sort her affairs. You don't 'need' to use a solicitor.

https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview

[maviczap]

Yep, thats what I mean

[jonpe69]

I have done probate twice now (mother in law and brother in law). From what I can remember it is best to be named as an executor but with my brother in law he died without a will and my wife and I were seen as his next of kin so were able to apply for probate to settle his estate. You do not need to go through a solicitor you can download the forms from hm revenue and customs web site and complete yourself send off all the relevant details etc and then wait for an interview at court where if successful you will be granted probate.
If you go through a solicitor they charge a couple of hundred pounds to complete the forms and they take a percentage of the total estates worth (we were quoted 5%).
It isn't to difficult if you take your time and read the notes that are available from the same site. remember to take copies of everything for your records and follow a set process. This was my experience and by no means am I an expert so before you start research and check that things haven't changed since 2011.

[maviczap]

Ok, so I need to check that my mother has named me as the executor in the will?

I'm pretty sure my Brother in Law was named in his Aunts will as the exec, as she had no husband or partner to name.

We did have a Probate Office nearby, unless its been closed

[timwilky]

anyone can do the probate. In some ways best not to be an executor, in that way there is a disconnect from sorting the will distributions and sorting the probate declaration. Stops awkward family allegations.

[maviczap]

Yes, I know Tim, but its too late for that, as I know my mum has changed her will, since my father died.

My brother will be ok, I'm not so sure about one or both of my sisters being a PITA

[embee]

Not an expert, but when sorting out my will some years ago a few things came up.

Rule 1 - everyone should have a will. They can be pretty cheap, £100 ish for a single simple job. Do it properly, avoid DIY wills, it can cause more trouble than it solves if it isn't prepared in the right way, ambiguity is a nightmare. Try solicitors who specialise in wills, get quotes. Keep it as simple as you can.

Generally speaking, don't use a solicitor as an executor. They would be paid to execute the will, so why would they want keep costs to a minimum? Think about it.

There isn't (AFAIK) a required number of executors. It's common to have 2 so that if something happened to one there would still be another to act. Having more might just make things complicated, too many cooks etc. I chose not to name family members as executors, it can sometimes cause wrangles, depends on the individuals.

Get clear on what the various terms mean, probate, grant of representation etc. so you know what the steps are.

Don't believe that you necessarily "have" to use any particular person (solicitor etc), you can decide who does what or do it yourself to a large extent.

Try to get the person to have a list of what money is where, if you don't know what savings or investments there might be you have little hope of finding stuff. Know what's in the will beforehand. If someone isn't prepared to show you the will how can they expect you to be an executor? I gave my executors a "letter of intent", which isn't a legally binding document but expresses my wishes, it saves having detail in the will which just adds complexity and cost, and gives them all the detail they need to know in advance of getting the actual will (I preferred to keep the detail division of my estate private until I'm gone, but the essentials are there).

Have a quick read up on reliable impartial sources, like the Government site etc, https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview

[jonpe69]

We had issues with the brother in law when we were sorting the mother in laws estate due to him being a psychotic skitzo but because we kept full and accurate records we could prove to anyone that the estate was handled correctly (his own mother didn't want him near her money until everything had been sorted for fear of him doing something he shouldn't). Remember that the probate office can ask to see how you have completed the estate (payment of debts, sale of house and disbursement of money etc) so by keeping records no one is in any mind that you have completed it correctly

[jonpe69]

As embee said know what is where with savings, shares and the deeds to the house etc. You can also set up a bank account at the bank where your mother banks so that all monies when released or collected can go and then be dispersed adding a better paper trail as it were to the estate. I would also suggest that you keep the number of executors to 2 so it doesnt over complicate the system as everyone will have an opinion on how things should be done.

[maviczap]

thanks for the advice, I understand it a bit more now, so I can ask my mum a few questions now and I don't need to see a solicitor neccessarily.

A trip to the probate office might be useful.

[BigBoy12]

Don't believe that you necessarily "have" to use any particular person (solicitor etc), you can decide who does what or do it yourself to a large extent.[/URL]

Hey, realise it's been a long time since this last post but was just looking for a little more info on who can be executors. Is there anyone who can't be an executor? I read this probate guide (https://mylegaladviser.co.uk/advice/probate-guide) but it doesn't say anywhere.

Any ideas?

[Bibio]

holy thread resurrection...

it took 2 years to sort out my mums estate and my bill was only around £3.5k but most of that was the percentage fee of the whole funds. if there are no funds raised then they cant charge you a percentage of it. the biggest bill was the fekin estate agents fees.

i think your seeing the "total" theoretical rather than the actual total. yes solicitors charge a whopping fee but they only charge the "time spent". by rights an executor can charge a fee for their services. i would have put your bill around £1k if that unless your father had a lot of money in bank accounts, shares etc.etc which will al be sitting in the solicitors "temp" bank account. another thing to consider is who paid for the funeral etc.etc

[maviczap]

I'm going through this now since my Dad passed in August. The solicitors were named as executors because I was out of the country when the Will was written. The solicitors can voluntarily surrender their role as executor to a relative.

I decided to let the solicitors handle it which, with hindsight, was not the best plan, but you're not thinking at your best when a parent dies. They are going to be charging me somewhere between £5k and £8k plus the cost of house deeds transfer which is another £800 ish (I think).

As far as I can tell probate is mainly contacting the asset holders and explaining you're the executor, calculate the estate's value for inheritance tax (if applicable), advertise the death to check for creditors to the estate. I don't know long it should take but my solicitors have been working at this for 4 months so far. You can apply for probate yourself with a PA1P form if there's a Will. (from gov.uk)

Yes, never a good idea to have a solicitor be an executor, but that's easy to say in hindsight, I did my mum's, and it was straightforward as it was only cash, no property.

Hey, realise it's been a long time since this last post but was just looking for a little more info on who can be executors. Is there anyone who can't be an executor? I read this probate guide (https://mylegaladviser.co.uk/advice/probate-guide) but it doesn't say anywhere.

Any ideas?

As far as I know, anyone can be an executor, but it'd have to be someone who's trusted. My mum for some reason didn't want my sister as executor, I never knew why.

So it was me, with my brother as back up, just in case something happened to me, but not joint executors, that'd have complicated everything as we'd have had to go to every meeting together.

[BigBoy12]

As far as I know, anyone can be an executor, but it'd have to be someone who's trusted. My mum for some reason didn't want my sister as executor, I never knew why.

So it was me, with my brother as back up, just in case something happened to me, but not joint executors, that'd have complicated everything as we'd have had to go to every meeting together.

That's really helpful, thanks mav!

[maviczap]

No problem, it might seem like a load of gobbledegook but so long as there's no property or overseas stuff, I think it's reasonably straight forward. All the solicitors I dealt with were fine and didn't try and hassle me into letting them do the probate.

Helped that my brother in law had done it, although I did it without any of his input

[timwilky]

A few years since this thread first appeared.


Lessons learned over the years. MAKE A WILL.



Tell your executors you have named them in your will. And where to find the will. helpful to also draw up a list of your accounts/assets. Numbers, addresses etc. Not just banks, but pensions, insurance, properties, any significant loans that may be due to the estate etc.


For me the difficult part was my BIL owned 3 houses that nobody knew about. And step mother who had given her nephew a 15 grand loan.

[johnnyrod]

Definitely. Thankfully my dad's affairs weren't too complex. I'm now clearing out his filing cabinet though, I know I don't need Spanish phone bills from 2009 but am wondering just how much back info I should keep for pensions etc.