Being an executor - any experiences

[Notverygrownup]

My mum died recently and I am her only executor. Does anyone have experience of applying for the grant of probate? It seems fairly straightforward but her bank are sending someone to give me a quote of how much they charge to deal with it. I am tempted to cancel them and plough on, but am I taking on a small or large job? It seems a very straightforward will, some savings to go to Dad, plus her half of their home, with some conditions, which needs a session with a solicitor, but I have a good one locally . . . .

Anybody experiences of probate applications?

Yes I was an executor for my Mum. There is a fair bit to do. It would be worth ringing round a few solicitors to guide you through the process. You dont have to use the one who holds the will, although you might. I think the bank might be expensive

I just instructed the solicitor who had drawn up the will to do it. Probably cost more in the long run, but I wasn't in any fit state emotionally to be able to do it myself.

I was executor for my dad 18 months ago. He had a fairly simple estate - one house, bank account, a few savings accounts, pension etc - and it was all going to my mum. Had to go through probate because the house was in his name only. I did all the paperwork, which was two forms. It took me a little while, but if you take it slowly and fill them in carefully, it's perfectly doable if it's not a complicated estate. I remember I made one call to HMRC to clarify something, and they were really helpful. Google was my friend too! It kept the cost way down too, because if a solicitor or bank does it, they'll charge a percentage. I did worry after submitting the forms that I may have calculated something wrong, but grant of probate came through relatively quickly, so all was ok. If you feel up to it, definitely consider doing it yourself.

I have recently completed the probate application for my mother. I was told that a solicitor would charge 1-3% of the value of the estate so it can be a lot to pay. The process was not hard just time consuming. Due to the fee changes for probate I completed it in 3 weeks but that was tight. I had the advantage that I had previously held power of attorney so I had knowledge of the various accounts she held. I find it shocking that solicitors can charge such a lot for what I found was simply an administrative process of getting valuations of all my mother's assets. I did have help from an accountant as there were a couple of technical issues that I needed help with. But I would definitely do it again but perhaps not in such a rush. Although I do think keeping me busy through the grieving process had been good. I personally hand delivered the application to the nearest probate registry and they were helpful and checked that I had submitted all the correct paperwork.

That's really helpful, thank you all.

It's pretty straight forward I found. Just like all government forms you need to read carefully and include everything they request but it's not beyond the ability of any reasonably literate and numerate adult, it's was easier than claiming benefits!

I was for my mum. I paid for a solicitor to get probate then did everything else myself

May I ask fikel whether the solicitor's fee was around 1%-3% of the whole estate?

I’m just doing this. I think I read that banks charge more than solicitors.

I also read that solicitors charge a % but that this is often capped, for example if the whole estate is worth £1 million, the fees would be around £1,500.

Fees of 1500 on a 1 million estate would be very very low....

DAunt named her solicitor as executor. The fees will be approx £8,900 plus VAT and, whilst sizeable, the estate is not in excess of a mill. But that is for doing absolutely everything.
There is much I could have done, had DAunt talked to me about it. I choose to think she preferred not to bother me too much, that was her way...

I did my mothers. It is not difficult, just takes some time because obviously it is all new to you. And sometimes it is emotional to do things so you put them off, but if there's no one to rush or pressure you it should be fine. And yours sounds very straightforward.
Before you do the probate form you need to do an inheritance tax statement. Both are on-line on Gov.uk along with lots of info on how to do it all. Write a standard notification letter and get that sent to all the financial interests with a death certificate initially. Then when you get the grant of probate you can send it/go in and they will transfer the monies to a nominated account i.e. your dad.
I don't think you need property valued if it goes to spouse, I believe you can use estimated market value (from Zoopla etc) for the inheritance tax value.

I’ve got a solicitor, I rang round and got a few quotes and went one who are probate specialists and were also reasonably priced. Both mine and my Mum’s bank put me in touch with people who gave me quotes but they were both the most expensive out of everyone I spoke to.

I did look into doing it myself but I don’t really have the time or the inclincation, I’m an only child so already overwhelmed trying to deal with everything myself, it’s worth it to me just to hand it all over to someone else and take the pressure off.

My solicitor told me that the cost of probate was meant to be going up on 1st April which has been postponed now as parliament didn’t have time to deal with it due to Brexit, I’m not sure when or if there is a new proposed date yet, but it’s led to a backlog as people were expecting it to increase and rushing to get it done before 1st April.

The probate application fee is £215 if doing it yourself. You charge this and any other disbursements (can't think of any, I certainly didn't charge for stamps and you can't charge for your own time) to the estate.

Can I just ask - those of you who have dealt with probate, how long it took please?

I found it really easy once i realised I could do most of it online.

Hot pink depends in which court you go through ours was Birmingham but sent to Newcastle due to a backlog. I think it was about 3 weeks.

I paid about £4K on a £250k estate but as it was being shared between 6 including my grabby DB who did nothing to help with anything, I also figured that the £4K cost was divided between 6 also as it comes out of the estate. Probate took about 3 months.

Might be low, @Pamplem00se but that’s what they are for me.
I was also wanting to demonstrate that the percentages quoted are movable as the value goes up.

I am meant to be my dm executor

Can I just say to a solicitor at the time I can’t do any of it and they will do it all? If any fees need to be paid can they be paid out of her money as I don’t have enough for upfront fees

Yes nowheree that’s exactly what I’ve done, mine has taken the whole thing over completely, I’m doing zip apart from forwarding various documents on to them and they will take their fees from the estate once it’s settled. I’d ring round quite a few and get some quotes first though as I found the prices really varied, and it helps if you know approximately what the estate is worth as a lot of them charge a percentage rather than a fixed fee.

I've done probate on my late DH's estate in the UK and Australia. We had mirror Wills so not complicated.

Most of it is online. HMRC are endlessly helpful. Make sure you keep copies of everything, scan and store. Keep a record of all phone calls. None of the language used is too complex, so I would imagine anyone with decent literacy can do this. As said upthread, there's a ton of adding up to do when declaring the value of assets, but all doable. I see I'm making it sound massive, but very step is very simple. It's just that are quite a few of them.

Banks will do the job for a % and I didn't want them or any solicitor to get their hands a on a penny. Some solicitors do a flat rate. What I found from some friends' experiences was how long solicitors/banks took to do a relatively simple job.

In the end it depends how up for it you feel. I threw myself into it, didn't regret it for moment and felt, in the hideous nomenclature, empowered by the whole thing.

Good luck.

Sorry for your loss, Notverygrownup

I did probate for both my mum and my sister. The will and instructions for my mums estate were straightforward, so I downloaded the forms and sent them off. My sister died intestate, but as I was the only one left, that was straightforward too. If its not a complicated will, I would do it myself. Sorry for your loss 🌹

I completed my late dh estate to probate and found it straightforward. I knew all my dhs financial affairs as I organised them so was easy to know who to contact.
Everything came to me so estate exempt from IHT so did not have to be specific with valuations.
You have to complete IHT return first to value assets but at the end the whole lot was deducted due to being exempt so total estate for IHT purposes was nil!!
After completing IHT return you are given a reference number which you have to input into probate application to be able to complete the online form.
Mine was slowed down due to dcs being joint executors and they did not want to move quickly but still got probate in just over 3 months. If it had been just me I would have had it completed in under 2 months!

Thank you lovely ladies. I will have a go at doing it, thanks to all of your advice.