Inheritance and probate question about my late dad's house.

[usernamenotaccepted]

Posting here rather than legal for traffic.

My dad died recently and apart from 2 small charity donations I am the sole beneficiary of his estate. I'm also joint executor with his solicitor who will be starting probate. She already has the info she asked for ie bank details and meter readings etc. My dad had no debt and owned his house and lived off his pensions but in the last two or so years his savings were used to pay for carers to go in daily but there is still something in the region of 50,000 in the bank.

Although I am still trying to come to terms with losing him I am also having to get on with things so that the probate can be applied for. I was told to have the house valued which I did.

My dad used to say the house was mine to sell or move in to. But if I want to live in it myself I don't understand how probate works. I have a house of my own that I would have to sell if I were to move into dad's.

This isn't the time to make big decisions I know that but I wondered if anyone knows how it works.
TY.

Not sure why this has ended up in “Films”?

Anyway, it will all depend on the value of the estate and whether there is inheritance tax to pay. If there is and you don’t want to sell the house then you will need to pay the tax bill another way, either with the cash your dad had or from your own money if that is not sufficient.

As far as probate goes, until probate is granted (once all bills, etc are settled) the house will not be yours. Once it is granted the house will transfer to your name and you can do what you like with it.

As per the above poster. Also inheritance tax on property can be paid off over 10 years if you don't sell the property but obviously interest is incurred with this option.

@usernamenotaccepted So sorry for your loss.

I'm in exactly the same situation, even down to the two charity donations and carers. But I'm further down the line.

What you do is get probate granted first. The house remains within the estate of your late father until it's either sold (and proceeds from sale go into your bank account as per probate) or you conveyance it into your name like you were buying it. It's called Assent and your solicitor should have colleagues in the conveyancing dept who can do it.

I ran into a small problem in that Dad's house was never registered with the Land Registry, so we are having to do that before Assent can proceed.

Meanwhile, make sure your council tax is put on hold (in this council area we get 6mo free) and the house is insured correctly (ie unoccupied).

I got a solicitor to do all the probate as I couldn't face it, but the rest I just had to plough through. Lists are your friend here.

Pm me if you want

Don’t forget that you may have transferred inheritance tax allowance from your mum (assuming your parents were married and she is deceased). The vast majority of U.K. estates don’t pay any inheritance tax.

@Cavemum nor am I so I've reported myself!

@usernamenotaccepted I’m sorry for your loss.

It is very early days to be making decisions about your Dad’s house. Practically, You need the value for probate but if you decide to sell the house you can’t do this until probate has been granted. There is therefore time to you to think.

As pp said you do need to know if your Dad’s estate will attract Inheritance Tax and how this will be paid. You also need to be aware of potential Capital Gains Tax if you sell the house for more than its probate value.

Whst you need to do is decide which house you want to live in long term. Then decide if you want to sell or rent out the other house. There is a lot to consider if you decide to rent out one house I.e. tax etc.

Take your time and draw up a list of pros and cons for living in each property. Which works best for you and your family etc. Do the same for selling one house or renting it out. Get legal advice from your solicitors so you are making a fully informed decision.

Good luck

@Heronatemygoldfish thanks for that, it's much clearer now.
I did that 'tell us all at once' thing which notifies all the agencies. Dad didn't pay council tax as he had dementia but perhaps I ought to phone them and check. Also I have changed the insurance and have unoccupied cover for up to a year .
@MultiTulip My parents were married and mum left her estate to dad. I'm not sure if there'll be inheritance tax. They weren't wealthy but saved all their lives. I didn't know that about inheritance tax though thank you I'll check it out

I wish I could do lists. I live my life by lists but since he died I have trouble focusing and making decisions. I've tried but I keep starting them and then wandering off. It makes me very anxious!

You don’t need to rush into any decisions. Probate takes ages. My mum’s estate was straight forward and it took a year to sort everything.

Tell us once is useful for official stuff. But it's amazing how much gets missed! I had to phone an optician only this morning... because he'd gone to several. Dentist and GP are obvious. Any cleaners, gardeners, window cleaners, plumbers may need telling. Mobile hairdressers.

When you start the heartbreaking bit of going through his stuff, look out for certificates, not just birth, marriage etc. but things like cavity wall insulation, double glazing certs, boiler servicing and guarantees for things.

Today I have been gardening so the place looks lived in and arranging boiler service. If you are techy, set up smart lighting and program it so it also looks like the house is occupied. Timer switches otherwise. Smartcams on the entrances. Though these all mean you have to pay for broadband. There are some very cheap deals out there!

Last time I came over there was a snotty letter from tv licencing who threatened that they were starting investigations. Even though I'd told them nobody was home. So be prepared to get stuff like that.

It's horrible, and I hope you manage to find some good memories to get lost in. Buy lots of tissues.

The inheritance tax threshold is £325,000. As your DM left everything to your DF you should get both of their allowances so you will only have to pay tax if the entire estate, house plus savings and anything else he owned, is more than £750,000.
Once the solicitor has all the information about what savings and assets, he owned they can apply for probate from the probate office. The probate office will assess if any tax is payable and should then issue a document stating that the named executors can act on the deceased behalf. At this point savings accounts can be closed, and the funds transferred to you via the solicitor. Arrangements can also be made then to either put the house on the market for sale or apply to the land registry for it to be transferred into your name.
My experience of solicitors is that sometimes they do need a little nudge to get on with things. I found that an occasional email asking how things were proceeding often magically coincided with the next document they had been waiting for arriving in their post that day. Some solicitors are better than others but if at any point you have heard nothing for a few weeks I suggest contacting them for an update.