to not understand this sort of false economy?

[twoonefive]

Someone I know suffered a family bereavement earlier this year. It was not unexpected but obviously still a very sad time. The dust has settled slightly now, and it's reached the stage of sorting out the will etc.

This person was the next of kin, and the only beneficiary of the will. The family member who died left a house of considerable value (not quite at inheritance tax threshold, but only a few thousand off it), a couple of personal items of modest value (few hundred pounds at most), and a post office account or similar with maybe £50 in.

I asked (as I work in a law-related field and have a few contacts who do probate work, or know people who do) if they had appointed solicitors, and if not, I'd be happy to help them find someone reputable. The response was along the lines of 'why waste money lining a lawyer's pockets I'll do it myself'. Apparently this was prompted by a local firm saying they would charge around £1500 to do the work.

Now I know £1500 is a fair amount of money, but it's only about 0.5% of the value of the inheritance, so in those terms it doesn't seem very much at all. I know for me, I'd rather be sure that all the legal requirements were dealt with properly rather than saving money and causing myself a lot of hard work.

However having spoken to a few other people who know the situation, they take the view that it's too much money to spend, and agree with some sort of DIY approach....so AIBU?

I did it myself, and recently I know someone else who did it all without lining someone elses pockets..

The probate helpline is more than helpful and will happily send out the correct forms. You fill in, sign, send in various documents asked for. Plus the fee. Go into the probate office and swear an oath, not forgetting you id.
Again if unsure, probate helpline will help plus loads of correct info sent with form. And if you really not sure, the government have info online as well, so no need for dodgy advice online.

Once the grant has been authorised you send a copy to the bank, who release the cash. Contact pension organistion if there was one. Pay off any debts. Distribute the estate, and for property again there is another helpline.

Cost less than £200 a totally legit.

Surely 'she doesn't want to' is adequate reason?

You really do not need a probate lawyer. My dad was was one of the named executors for all 3 grandparents and if the estate is straightforward with no-one disputing it, it is not difficult.

In fact I have seen BBC documentary about how banks and lawyers tend to get themselves appointed as executors, and take quite a large sum, and most people don't realise it is not necessary.

You know, this is one of those AIBU where everyone says yes you are and the op says no I am not!

Its a bit like getting divorced, if your both agreeable there is nothing to argue over or no serious assists just do it yourself.

Id look into doing it myself, because the experience with I personally have with solicitors is that they charge you the earth for doing bugger all. Ever bought a house? Spent weeks waiting for them to return a document? Been told the problem is with the other party, then spoken to them and found your solicitor is lying through their teeth? Because I have, several times, with several different solicitors. I grudge paying for that rubbish.

This is a definite case of "mind your own bloody business".

Like everyone else, unless there are several beneficiaries and a complicated set of investments/pensions etc, I see no reason to need to use a law firm.

It's none of your business. My dads estate appeared fairly straightforward ( I was the sole beneficiary) it dragged on for over a year as there were huge problems establishing the title to his flat, due to errors made by a solicitor over twenty years ago. It was a right bloody mess and I wouldn't have had a hope sorting it myself. The solicitor ripped me off too, turned out he didn't have much of a clue either!

We've done it ourselves, twice.

It's very easy, I wouldn't even say it needed much "research". There are lots of books on the subject if you felt you needed help but we just used the Internet and the probate offices advice.

Seriously, it's a bit of paperwork, it's not hard and your friend will probably get round to it in their own time.

YABU
I did my late DMs myself.
It took a bit of concentration but I got it right.
It wasn't that difficult.
Why give away good money?

My BIL and me did my Dad's estate, he has done a couple of other relatives too, really not difficult and some of them were before so much was available online. The rules are really quite simple and there's plenty of help available.
The biggest problem was finding your way to the right department in insurance companies etc and working out what form of evidence they required, some would take a photocopy of the death certificate and others wanted an original. It would really bump the cost up if you let a solicitor who was charging by the hour spend ages on the phone.

YABU. I completed probate for my parents, I found it fairly simple - it didn't even occur to me to use a solicitor.

Why does it matter to you anyway?

BTW, I'm fairly risk averse, always have full surveys done for house purchase, get my boiler checked annually, wouldn't touch electrics or car maintenance. Probate is just forms!

YABU - I did in on behalf of my mum after dad died. Read the instructions online, filled in the forms, she made an appointment to "prove" who she was (...which she combined with a shopping trip), job done.

I would have hated to pay a solicitor £1500 for something that cost less than a hundred pounds and a couple of hours effort. You wonder why people distrust/avoid solicitors?!

Look, you asked if it was a false economy, people said No. You won't have it, despite almost everybody saying they can get it done themselves. Just accept it gracefully!
For what it's worth, we've recently had the tax office sign off on the inheritance tax etc on my stepmother's will. Sister did it with help from family and as you can see, it was over the threshold. It was also complicated due to various trusts etc. But was done without bother.

It's fair enough saying you don't think £1500 is much compared to inheriting £300k and surely they can find it. But what if they don't want to sell the house? They may just want to transfer to their name and keep it. Then they're not going to have £300k to take £1.5k out of, they'd have to fund it from their own pockets.

I wouldn't have £1.5k I hadn't budgeted to fork out for something I could do myself for free

There's a lot of difference between dealing with probate between spouses, and in other situations. This is not the former.

I don't have to have it. I don't have to agree, albeit I accept I am out of step with the majority view, but I can't help find it bizarre people happily fork out £100s a year on car maintenance for ex, on a depreciating asset, but begrudge spending maybe £1000 on protecting their home which is worth much more.

I can see myself being leant on to help and obtain free advice, because person in question is - based on how things have progessed thus far -unlikely to move this along any time soon, or to be willing/able to do the necessary research to deal with it effectively and legally.

A nice cake can easily have more than £2 worth of ingredients.

Just saying.

For a straightforward estate, it's a very straightforward process. Every organisation you have to contact is extremely helpful. It really is a waste of money to pay professional fees for something that an ordinary person can do themselves.

trills SNAP that was EXACTLY what I was thinking...

In fact I will put up a photo of my most recent cake adventure to ram home the point...

Then your issue isnt with her DIYing, its the fact that she will want you to help because she doesnt want to spend the money and that is a totally different issue.

YABU to assume that no one should ever do probate themselves, as has been proved on here it is a simple process that doesnt need solicitors even with more complicated estates.

YANBU to be pissed off at being expected to help someone who doesnt want to do the work themselves but equally doesnt want to pay someone else to do it.

Probate in a simple estate is straightforward and plenty of people do it themselves. Its hardly unusual, and I am surprised at your comments, particularly if you work in a legal field. When I did the probate part of my traineeship, the partner whose wing I was under commented that most people could probably do probate themselves, but some chose not to get involved, or well elderly, or infirm, etc..

You do realise that even if using a solicitor, the beneficiary would still have to provide plenty of information and have time consuming meetings with a third party solicitor? If theres no IHT question, then the value of the estate is irrelevant, and I find your remarks a bit peculiar. Self-probate is very normal. If it hits problems then it can be handed over to a solicitor, but its usually a lot of admin type work which is fiddly but not particularly legalistic, which is why the fee of £1500 would have been quoted - it still takes a certain number of hours.

Just came on to say that as a lawyer, I'm comfortable with people chatting amongst themselves about the pros and cons of leaving solicitors out of dealing with simple estates,

BUT! ADVICE! Do not do your own conveyancing. That's difficult and risky and a total false economy.

I can see myself being leant on to help and obtain free advice

Then don't do it. If you are not a practising solicitor with the benefit of professional indemnity insurance should things go wrong, it would be very unwise of you to offer anything which could be termed "advice" of a professional nature. You already sound far too involved.