Elderly parents or relatives to care for and/or worry about? This is the place for you.
4 lurkers |
140 watchers
Oct 2023
8:28am, 23 Oct 2023
6,712 posts
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Little Miss Happy
I can't believe it's been a year already CK2. Sounds like a good way to mark the occasion.
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Oct 2023
6:58am, 24 Oct 2023
6,714 posts
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Little Miss Happy
A bit of reassurance and info from those of you've who have applied for probate yourselves please. MiL is whittling about and has failed to start the process. It sounds as though her friends are filing her with horror stories 'you've got to be really careful if you value the house or anything incorrectly you have to start the whole process again'; 'I don't want to get into trouble with the law/HMRC'; 'you have to pay £500 for 'the certificates' anyway and that would be included in the solicitors fees' are examples that spring to mind. What is the reality?
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Oct 2023
7:28am, 24 Oct 2023
82,141 posts
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Diogenes
I’d say it is completely the opposite. Also, unless you have some particularly valuable assets and large estate with lots of accounts, property and investments, I’m not sure they’ll investigate things in forensic detail. As long as you don’t leave out anything significant, small discrepancies are no matter. |
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Oct 2023
7:32am, 24 Oct 2023
82,142 posts
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Diogenes
I don’t know where the £500 figure comes from. This is from the Uk Gov website: “Whether you need to pay depends on the value of the estate. If the value of the estate is over £5,000, the application fee is £273. There's no fee if the estate is £5,000 or less. You can order extra copies of the probate document for £1.50 each.” When looking for info only use the UK gov website. A Google search will always return the sharks as the top answers. |
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Oct 2023
7:35am, 24 Oct 2023
82,143 posts
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Diogenes
Final thing: the valuation of the house is only estimate. Get 2 or 3 estate agents to give you an achievable value if you are unsure and want evidence.
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Oct 2023
8:46am, 24 Oct 2023
64,657 posts
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LindsD
I totally agree. Can you tell MiL that you will do it and not to worry? That's what I did, but then I was the executor. We just estimated the house value based on local values, Zoopla, and a valuation from a previous year. |
Oct 2023
8:53am, 24 Oct 2023
2,846 posts
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Mushroom
I'd concur with Dio. I've gone the process twice over the last 10 years and also helped with my FiL recently with his wife's estate. It's not difficult, but it does need a bit of care and organisation. (Ideal opportunity for someone who likes a spreadsheet..) If there are several insurance / investment companies / banks etc involved, I would recommend getting 3 or 4 copies of the probate certificate (only a few quid each - and you can claim them as an expense on the estate). Then, if you have to send a certificate off to one of the financial companies you can keep applying to the others, and not have to wait a few weeks each time for the original to come back to you. Nowadays, the values at which banks and financial companies need to see probate certificates has changed dramatically. It used to be £5k for many, but a lot have increased this to £30k or even £50k - they all have their own requirements. You'll likely need to send off the Death Certificate and await its return, so if you have more than one copy of this it can be useful too. When you phone the companies do ask to speak to the Bereavement department. I've found them to be easy to work with and usually helpful. AgeUK has an easy to read guide / factsheet for dealing with an estate: ageuk.org.uk The Govt website also talks you through the various stages: gov.uk |
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Oct 2023
9:12am, 24 Oct 2023
64,659 posts
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LindsD
And no one will care or check if the estate is slightly out.
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Oct 2023
9:42am, 24 Oct 2023
6,715 posts
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Little Miss Happy
Thank you. I could Linds but I'm not feeling inclined to do so. MiL is perfectly capable. |
Oct 2023
9:58am, 24 Oct 2023
30,227 posts
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Rosehip
Echoing what everyone said Also, If you keep a copy, it will be really helpful when it comes to doing MiL’s down the line |
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