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Elderly parents

Wills, probate etc

27 replies

SockFluffInTheBath · 22/02/2026 16:13

We lost MIL last year and FIL has done nothing, to the point the bank has now found out she’s died and has frozen their joint account so he can’t make any payments. DH managed to get someone who would talk to him at the bank, and they need to see her will. Solicitors won’t release it without written permission from
FIL and BIL (not sure why, no idea how this works). FIL is rather unhelpfully huffing and blowing that they don’t need the will, it’s his money and they should just give it to him. How does probate work- do the solicitors do it automatically now they know she has died? DH has done all the official stuff to date, but it seems never ending. He’s talking about walking away since every form he fills in feels like losing her a bit more, and he’s finding it really hard.

OP posts:
Hilllbillbilly · 22/02/2026 16:22

When my DH died our joint accounts carried on as normal, they just removed him from them. All the bank needed was a copy of the death certificate, they didn’t need the will. Perhaps the bank are questioning what’s going on, as they weren’t immediately informed of your MIL’s death.

If probate solicitors have been appointed, then they will definitely apply for probate. Everything takes a long time to resolve. It must be very difficult for her DH and your DH.

Mumbles12 · 22/02/2026 16:20

We used the Tell Us Once website when FIL died earlier this year. You need the death certificate and the registrar gave us a reference number I think.