please help has any one dealt with Probate

[Msbluebozooka]

Hi all,

Very fragile at the moment and I have got fog brain.Reason being my mum passed away few weeks ago and I am devastated,I had to organise the funeral and all that goes will it.It has totally thrown me I feel as if I have lost a limb.

Myself and my sibling are executors of the will.And he has taken over the financial side.

My question is do probate deal with the final distribution of the shares in the estate or does the solicitor do this?

You don't have to let the solicitor do anything, you can do probate yourself if you wish and the probate office have the most wonderful help line- they are very very helpful

Or you can pay the solicitor to do everything, parts or just probate

Or you can get probate companies to do the work - not used one myself

but I just collected the signed will from the solicitor and didn't pay them or ask them t do anything

sorry for your loss

As executor(s) it is up to you and your sibling to 'execute' the will once probate has been granted by the probate office, i.e. you will be responsible for distributing the estate as per the instructions in the will.

It isn't a difficult process unless the estate is large and complex, but it is time consuming and probably the last thing you want to sit down and deal with (did probate for both my parents so I feel for you, both for your loss and for being faced with the administrative duties that follow a bereavement). If it is too much to face, your sibling as joint executor could do all of it, if willing.

Really sorry for your loss. I have done this recently for a parent and applied for probate myself. What you/your brother/a solicitor will do is work out the total value of the estate and submit an application for probate. When probate is granted, the probate office will send a grant of probate to you in the post - you can purchase extra copies of this to speed up the process. When you have that, you and your brother as executors will be responsible for distributing the estate. You'll be able to send the grant of probate form to all the banks etc. who will then give you access to the funds in your role as executors. I think this is what you're asking?

Thank you for quick response.The will was slightly changed 4 weeks before she died and my brother added a clause that seems to imply any gift given in the pass will be included in benefices.Mum gifted me some money approx 5 years ago do probate deal with this if so me and mum had a back up plan.At the moment I just don't what to produce it unless he follows through with this.At the time we both think he wouldn't but Im not such now he's a vindictive type.

BarnacleBeasley ·
I see so this back up plan which she signed for will need to be given to his socilitor asap.In the plan mum included that this gift it not included in the final estate. Its horrible talking about money but has to be done.

You have to include the value of any large monetary gifts in the valuation of the estate for inheritance tax and probate purposes. See details here: https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died/estimate-estate-value If she didn't give any other large sums of money, you would include the value of the gift minus her £3k tax-free allowance for that year, and the £3k tax-free allowance carried over from the previous year, so total gift minus £6k.

However, if your mother left her estate equally to you and your brother, I don't think the gift would normally be counted in that, especially if your mother left written instructions to the contrary.

Hi I’m so sorry for your loss. If you are named as Executor in the Will he cannot just “take over” the financial side. He is legally obliged to work with you.

Probate does allow for one Executor to become the lead executor, this is a process called Reserving your rights. If you want to do this, You have to sign a form that says you’re passing practical authority to deal with the Estate to the other Executor(s). You do NOT have to sign this. I recommend do not.

PP is right that any gifts of cash or assets in the past count for Tax purposes but are not normally counted in the Estate unless, for example, the Will stated so - eg The first £50,000 of my liquid assets shall be inherited by DC1, and all remaining assets shared equally between them.

See a solicitor with a copy of the Will and get a legal opinion.

If the estate is large or complex or you and your DB can’t agree how to handle it, I’d strongly advise paying a solicitor a few thousand to sort it all out for you both.

Was the back up plan notorized or witnessed and signed by two independent people who were not beneficiaries? If not then it might be worthless.

Thank you all so much really I appreciate this, you have put my mind at rest in this horrible situation I’m experiencing at the moment

Yes back up plan was witnessed by two people a nurse and a neighbour