Talk to me about Probate?

[Katymac]

My dad died with a will leaving everything to my mum

I am an executor along with my mum

Am I right that I:
Fill in the probate form
List all his assets on the inheritance tax form (even tho he won't pay any)
Swear something in front of someone
Send it all off with a chq

??

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

Pretty much from what I remember. I was an executor with my brother for a relative. I signed everything over to my brother as it seemed simpler for one person to do it, otherwise you both have to go to the interview.

Brother got a step by step book to help but I'm sure the info is on the Internet.

I'm sorry about your dad.

[littleblackno]

That's pretty much it - simplified (if you're sure he won't pay iht). It can be time consuming but not complicated really.
I did it for my dad 2 years ago and it really was quite straight forward. There's lot's of information out there. Money saving expert has a forum in probate. Also the private office are really helpful.
Good luck.

[Shakey15000]

Sounds right. I was an executor last year and there are helpful guidelines online (I think it was gov.uk) plus they're really helpful if you get stuck and call them whilst filling in the form.

I rang a few solicitors that would witness/swear and it was a 10 minute appointment if that.

[Katymac]

Thanks

My mum insists as she gets everything no IHT is payable - I will check

Do we need to get a valuation of thier now her house?

[Katymac]

Sorry I forgot to say thanks

I was using the gov.uk site to get this far

[Wolpertinger]

How much do they have in joint names and how much is it worth? I didn't even have to do probate for my dad as 99% of the estate was joint accounts and a property in joint names. The remaining amount of money was small. I therefore did not need probate.

It was a simple matter of ringing up the banks and land registry, letting them know and filling out their forms.

Obviously different if your mum wasn't in joint tenancy/joint accounts with your dad but it saved me a huge amount of work.

[MrsSteptoe]

You could try your local library to see if they've got a copy of Wills, Probate & Inheritance Tax for Dummies or a similar how-to. I found it quite helpful when I was executor for my father's estate two years ago.

[Helenluvsrob]

You probably don't even need probate. Take advice.

[Katymac]

There are 2 pension/insurances & 1 ISA in his name alone plus he owns(ed) a property with his brother so I think we will need probate

The gov.UK seems really good but everyone was saying what a nightmare it was & it seemed fairly straightforward really

[MrsSteptoe]

I don't want to speak out of turn because I'm not an expert on this, but with Dad's life assurance policies, of which there were several, we needed only to send a letter with the death certificate and we got payment immediately. It's the only thing where I think we didn't need to show grant of probate - everything else we did, but the estate was passing from Dad to me and DSis, not from Dad to Mum (already dead) and it was also over the IHT nil rate band.
The ISAs, yes, we needed to show GoP.

[Wolpertinger]

Ah the pensions would prob have been fine but the property not.

Whether you think it is a nightmare seems to boil down to your attitude to form filling.

[Lolimax]

Sorry about your dad. There's a helpline number with all the paperwork and the people are genuinely helpful. The day I filled in mums probate forms I think I rang them about 5 times.
As for Inheritance Tax it's your Dads allowance plus your Mums. Good luck. I found it helpful to keep copies of everything and luckily mum was a stickler for paperwork.

[Katymac]

I'm an ex civil servant plus a nearly ex childminder - I live for paperwork

I think you are right about the pension/insurances (1 at least)

Just not sure if I need a valuation of the family home (I know I will for the other property)

[Wolpertinger]

Was the family home a joint tenancy? If so you can sort that without probate and just using the will.

Do you think the ballpark figure for all of the estate is going to be near inheritance tax figures? I knew my Dad's wasn't so I didn't bother stressing about it. If this is the case for you, and it is a joint tenancy, I wouldn't have the family home valued.

[Katymac]

I'll check - I assume so - my dad normally did everything so it was easy