DIY probate

[thesandwich]

Hello all, I wondered if you had experience of doing probate yourselves and how complex is it? Fil was in a care home so has no property but bank accounts and some shares. any thoughts welcome!

Dh has just started. Mil was in a care home, had £23k and a will.
I looks really simple for us as it's only 2 forms to fill in

Similar to my Stepfather. When I contacted probate sold they said there was no need as it called be dealt with under small estates. They refunded the cheque we had sent.

We did x2. Not hard just need to get all figures together if all under the threshold etc

Sorry for your loss.

Not difficult at all if you have a valid will. Round up the paperwork, get all the information you need, then fill in and submit the forms.

Thank you all for your replies

Sorry for your loss. Although some time ago, I found the forms quite straight forward. I did need to go to court, which was a daunting thought, but actually was just to confirm in person that the details were correct and was very quick. The whole process didn't take very long.

I have done probate for several family members and helped (and been helped by) friends, too.

It really is very straightforward, a statement of what has been left behind, to establish what if any tax is due, then pay debts and distribute anything left to the beneficiaries as set out in the will.

Only in one case was there no will, we used a people tracing service incase there were other cousins we knew nothing about. The service took a small percentage (off everyone except those who commissioned them, ie us).

@finallyhere what if you cant get all details together ie - information of shares - banks etc all scattered around?

Pensions etc...how does one trace all that down?

Hmmmm, tricky. I would imagine that mostly, if there is no statement of assets from which to work, people would start by looking through the personal effects, looking for any clues. Possibly contact local solicitors incase a will and any information is held.

It is a reminder for us all, to leave our things in order and make it easy for whoever is preparing the estate.

Update- we got probate through having done it ourselves and despite only finding a copy of the will.
Dh swore the oath at a local solicitors which cost£10 and took 5 mins- much easier than going to the courts.
I adore- I'm sure I saw online ads for pension tracking services? Also if the information is incomplete you can adjust later. Good luck.

Thanks for the update thesandwich

Good to hear another probate done fairly painlessly and without just leaving everything to a solicitor.

When you draw money out of deceased bank, and your benficiary where do you put the money?

Do you put it into your own bank?
what if its shares to sell to raise money for funeral?
I am worried about being in a position where I have paid funeral costs of several thousand then siblings challenge will - draw it out for years and dh and I have lost out ££

The funeral costs come out of the assets first before the estate is shared out so should not be included is my understanding- and is stated on the probate forms. Sorry you have got do many complications.

Each time, I set up an executors account, at my own bank but entirely separate so that any money coming in was completely separate from my own funds. It was easy enough to do, with a copy of the death certificate and the will, with the account called executors of the late . Using my own bank meant that they had already cleared me for money laundering purposes so that no further formalities were required.

I found that the undertakers were in no serious hurry to be paid and will expect to have to wait til the estate is cleared. In fact, they submitted their invoice at the end of the month, that is a few weeks after the funeral, with payment in 30 days. They did delicately open the conversation whether we needed more time to pay. All very straightforward.

As PP mentioned, these costs are covered before anything is distributed to the beneficiaries.