To ask about Probate

[Figuringitout]

Please would someone more knowledgeable than me explain what (if anything) can be done in this situation.
Person A took out several life insurance policies and left detailed instructions about payment amounts. When Person A died all accounts were in order and had been accurately worked out. Person B was married to A and the will names them as sole beneficiary. The estate is not worth more than £350,000. All monies from insurance polices have been paid to B once death certificate/ will have been produced. However, one Insurer requires Probate before the money can be released (it’s a significant amount, but less than some of the other payouts).
Person B has a lot of admin to deal with, and has not been required to get Probate for any other reason. They are aware that the process is lengthy, complicated and could be costly if a solicitor is needed.
The policy documents and terms and conditions make no mention of the word ‘Probate’ and B is of the opinion A (who has been meticulous with financial provision) would not have taken the policy out (and left them with additional admin) had they known Probate would be required.
The insurer is refusing to budge. Ombudsman would require probate in order to investigate.
Is there anything else that could be done other than applying for Probate? If the policy was missold - could this be proved seeing as the person who took it out is now dead?
Sorry if this is confusing.
Thank you for reading.

OP you log on, create an account and fill in an inheritance tax form, even if you're under the threshold. That takes a few min. Then you get a reference number. You then use that reference number. You add up the value of the estate and just answer the questions I think most are yes no type questions. Then you pay the fee. Then they send you the grant of probate. That's it.
Please don't pay a solicitor. It's a little bit like doing a tax return, you answer the questions that apply and say N/A if they don't.

@Newkitchen123

OP you log on, create an account and fill in an inheritance tax form, even if you're under the threshold. That takes a few min. Then you get a reference number. You then use that reference number. You add up the value of the estate and just answer the questions I think most are yes no type questions. Then you pay the fee. Then they send you the grant of probate. That's it. Please don't pay a solicitor. It's a little bit like doing a tax return, you answer the questions that apply and say N/A if they don't.

@Newkitchen123 explains it well, this is exactly what I did.

It costs £215.00 for estates valued over £5k

@Newkitchen123

OP you log on, create an account and fill in an inheritance tax form, even if you're under the threshold. That takes a few min. Then you get a reference number. You then use that reference number. You add up the value of the estate and just answer the questions I think most are yes no type questions. Then you pay the fee. Then they send you the grant of probate. That's it. Please don't pay a solicitor. It's a little bit like doing a tax return, you answer the questions that apply and say N/A if they don't.

Thank you - this is really helpful. I am going to tackle it tomorrow.

I did probate myself. Took about 3 hours once you have all the info to hand and cert came through in a few weeks

Good luck OP! Just get prepped beforehand

We had this with my mum's estate - different accounts/policies had different thresholds for requiring probate. Online probate application is straight forward of you have all your information together. It is slower at the moment but ours came through in about 3 months.

I did my mums in 2019
I sent it on 23rd Dec 2019 had it back 30 jan 2020
Her estate was very simple and she had a will which makes it easier
It cost about £200and I think 10 for each probate certificate
I did mine by printing out the forms and did the iHT bit on line then filled out the forms
Took about 30 mins
I spent hours putting it off thinking it would take forever 😂
This was pre Covid though
I know when I had to get a solicitor to do the deeds and trust for the house that took close to 6 months

If no inheritance tax is payable (which is the case if the whole estate goes to a spouse) then you just need to do IHT205 which you can do online, or the short version of IHT400 in some circumstances. You don’t need an inheritance tax reference number.

The probate helpline are VERY good (when you can get through to them). The biggest part of applying is doing the legwork beforehand in terms of getting the value of assets, tracing bank or savings accounts etc. That’s what takes the time, in some cases a lengthy amount of time. The actual filling in the form, submitting to HMRC and then applying for probate isn’t too bad at all if it’s uncomplicated. Receiving certificates back is taking longer than usual at the moment but is still not particularly long.

I got my DM’s in 8 weeks recently. And that was doing a paper application (reasons irrelevant to your situation).

If it’s a simple estate with no house involved it seems pretty quick.

I put my probate application in the week before Christmas and it came back at the end of January. I was surprised at how quick it was as I was expecting a few months.

@Newkitchen123

If you pay a solicitor, I think you pay a percentage of the estate rather than a fixed fee but I'm not fully sure. To the person who hasn't had theirs back from June is it a complex case? Mine was in the summer and I was amazed how quick it was.

That's me. It's my Mum, everything left to me. A mortgage free house. Being dealt with by the solicitor.

I've helped 3 people apply for probate. All were straightforward, and the forms were easy.

It's great that it can be done online now.

I applied for my FILs probate last March. He had a house and some money, but was under the inheritance tax threshold which was much easier. I chased it up and it came through in about 12 weeks. We obviously needed probate to sell house, but the bank also wanted probate before releasing his money in his accounts.

@StepOutOfLine
That's a ridiculously long time. Similar circumstances. Similar date. Back in two weeks!
What reason did they give when you chased it up?

It seems that it is a roll of the dice as to how long it takes, but you do need to do it if the insurer is insisting on it.

DH's great aunt passed away in mid 2019 and it wasn't until the middle of last year that they cleared probate and the estate could be distributed. HMRC just dragged their heels over investigating great aunt's benefit claims (there was no issue and she had not been overpaid) and there was nothing MIL (as executor) or the solicitor could do to speed it up.

I should add it was a small estate, just a bungalow and a small amount of cash in the bank.