Calling fellow cockroach cafe … um graduates? Going through probate- advice and support thread

[thesandwich]

Hello all, wondered if any of the cockroach clan now sadly dealing with the sadmin would welcome a thread for support dealing with probate/ house sales and all other joys?
id welcome any recommendations re executor accounts at banks etc?

Thank you for asking@thesandwich . Things are moving along I guess. DM has her first visit from the hospice at home team today and they have advised us on pain relief. We talked about a peace document, so that will be the next thing to tackle. I have no idea what timescales to expect.

My Mum died last October. We did probate ourselves and it has just come through (submitted in April). Her idea of filing was to throw all paperwork into a kitchen cupboard - bank statements, ISAs, pizza menus, hospital appointments. I just kept finding more and more bank accounts. I went in person to deal with HSBC and Santander and Nat West and did all of the others on the phone. Nat West were most straightforward. HSBC and Santander I discovered were not the small amount of money in the current account/pass book, but also savings accounts with around £100,000 in each. (I went and had breakfast and a Bloody Mary in the Wolseley after discovering this.) I’m now in the process of sending the grant of probate to all of the banks. We’re actually living in her house at the moment, while ours is being renovated. While it was empty and I used to pop in to keep an eye on things it still felt like she was there. Now, not at all.

I was living in Central Europe until recently and took loads of her jumpers, fleeces, coats, tops and jeans to a women’s refuge close to me. They were genuinely delighted with the clothes. The rest of the stuff has gone to Anglo Doorstep Collections, which has been amazing, and we’re having furniture collected by the BHF tomorrow. Most of the soft furnishings don’t have the fire safety label, so they will have to go in the skip when we sell the house. There has just been so much stuff, and we haven’t even looked in the loft or garage yet. I’ve got a large pile of stuff not to throw out just yet, but which will probably go in slower time.

The

How’s everyone doing? Finally, I have managed to extract the trust funds from Aviva. 5 months. I will be complaining.
House on the market, some interest, just waiting on that.

We are emerging through the other side of the admin and confirmation process which is like Scottish probate.

Dealing with the court was a nightmare and we had to involve lawyers to submit the forms even though it was just cash assets like bank accounts involved and no property. The way they want the boxes worded is so technical legalese that there's no way you could do it without any legal training.

Once the form was submitted we did get confirmation back pretty quickly and the banks were quick to release the money, but it was paid to me as executor rather than mum as beneficiary, so it was a trip to the bank to explain why I was depositing three massive cheques and then transferring it out to another person with a different surname as soon as it cleared. (No, I'm not money laundering, or being scammed). Mum has totally checked out of the process of everything financial, she has no interest in anything and just delegates it all to me and sibling.

The last job to do is cash in dad's premium bonds, but that doesn't need to be done until a year after death so I have a few months yet. It's been a time-consuming and frustrating process and our situation has been straightforward and we're all singing from the same song sheet. Can't imagine the stress if there is conflict in the family, or where the money needs to be released quickly.

@GulesMeansRed You must be hugely relieved things have progressed. Must have been a huge amount of effort. It is such a hassle. Fully get your drift about needing to go through solicitor as virtually impossible otherwise. Also in Scotland. My DSis is executor but lives in England so had to nip across the border to engage a Scottish solicitor. Fortunately, only one visit for her so far.

My understanding is 'draft' confirmation should be ready next week. May I ask how long it took you to get to confirmation? Also, can I ask if the solicitor has suggested their fee yet? DM had virtually no cash, a few BT shares but has a tenant living in her home still. ( Rental income went towards care home fees and Council had charge over house.) Solicitor was engaged in May.

Meanwhile, MIL died in England in July and her probate forms are lodged and expected back in February. No house, but so much simpler.

Once it was submitted to the court it was really quick - less than a fortnight. That was in Dumfries and Galloway though, I am not sure if other courts take longer. But our estate was fairly simple in that there was no property and although it was classed as a "large estate" it was well under the limit for inheritance tax. The solicitor advised me to get individual confirmation forms for each institution, I think these were about £6 each. I had to send those off to RBS and whoever else to get them to release the funds.

I really can't remember how much the legal fees were, I think it was about a grand. There was some way it could be paid from the estate but as everything was going to mum as sole beneficiary I didn't see any benefit in doing that and just got her to write a cheque.

English probate seems to be more do-able by a lay person but slower. Scottish is quicker, but with legalese like "Executrix Nominate of the said deceased conform to Will of the said deceased dated 17th January 1997. In said Will the deceased is designed as "JOHN SMITH, residing at Six High Street, Edinburgh" and I am designed as "my daughter, MARY SMITH, residing at Ten Any Street, Edinburgh". Said Will is produced, docquetted and signed as relative hereto."

Should also add that our fees were lower as I was the one contacting the banks/creditors and dealing with getting statements on day of death etc rather than paying the solicitor to do it.

Yes, we gave up quite quickly and there's a LLB degree in the family.
Am glad that your fees weren't too awful. Ours will also be well under IHT threshold but not keen to give solicitor 3% in fees.

We have finished probate but now the house is about to on the market. So sad, it was our childhood home, mine from birth.

Haven't touched a penny of the probate. We are by no means we'll off either. I just can't do it. I know logically mum wanted me to get her money as there was a will. However it just feels all wrong. She should have spent that money enhancing her quality of life.

@thesandwich my mother had a life assurance policy with Aviva. They want the grant of probate, a notarised copy of the will, a notarised copy of my passport, three months worth of my bank statements “which must show regular transactions”. They also require my mother’s brother to sign the form for the release of funds, despite the fact that he is not a beneficiary of the will. I can’t get through to them on the phone and they never return my calls. I will never, ever have anything to do with Aviva once this is sorted.

@ŁadnaPogoda that is so awful! Have you tried their complaints department? I’m sure there are lots of separate ones, but stating you are raising a complain5 dud seem to add a little bit of responsiveness…. Good luck with it.

My Mum died in May and I had to get Probate which took 9 weeks, so very fortunate there. I sold the house which exchanged 2pm this Tuesday and completed 10am Wednesday. I have cleared the house which not the most pleasant task but strangely once if was completely empty it was just an empty house, albeit the one I was brought up in.

I am an only child and have no children and to say the last 6 months have been bloody tough would be a huge under statement. I actually live in NZ and just cannot wait to get home next month.

Huge sympathy to everyone in the same situation.

@FiveShelties crikey, you’ve had a huge amount to sort out. Congratulations on getting everything sorted. And you will be able to leave behind dark cold wet England. Safe journeys

@thesandwich thank you so much. I have learnt a very valuable lesson which is that only children should always have children. Unfortunately like most lessons in life I learnt it too late as I am 67!!

The one thing which has made life easier is that whenever I have spoken to any government department, utility etc I always ask for the bereavement department. I have always found staff in those departments to be really helpful.

@DyslexicPoster So sad, it was our childhood home, mine from birth. Understand. Still sad that I can’t go and wander round the garden I grew up in. I’ve followed the house on RightMove, helps to know it’s not the same house that I knew. Big extension at the back, and next door knocked down and replaced by a Monstrosity.

I’m praying I get carried off quickly before dementia, so my DC and GC will benefit. Will be extremely annoyed if it all gets frittered away on my care.

A question for all you knowledgeable people out there. My Mum sadly passed away recently and obviously her house is now empty. I reported this to her house insurance company, and they said they couldn't insure the house for more than 60 days and I would have to look elsewhere (purely coincidently, the policy expires in 60 days time).

Is this normal? I'm guessing I'm going to have to look for a specialist (expensive) company. Any recommendations?

@h0rsewithn0name my Mum died in May and I was told by Nationwide that I could retain the cover only until renewal. This was a huge relief as I live in NZ and trying to get cover for an empty house would have been difficult. Fortunately the policy had only been renewed in March so I would have been okay until March next year. The house sold last month.

I am sorry for your loss, it is a tough time dealing with everything.

@FiveShelties thank you. I am sorry for your loss too, this is all so hard.

When DF died his insurance was due for renewal. Took me a while but managed to find cover with Home Protect, for about the same price as his previous annual policy. However, it didn’t cover contents, or theft, despite my having to give a value for the contents!

I also had to visit regularly, but was anyway. Heating wasn’t an issue as the weather was mild, but would expect over winter any empty policy to require you to either keep (minimum) heating on or drain down the system entirely.

@h0rsewithn0name
Yes, this is normal for an empty house and you were lucky to be covered for 60 days as a lot of policies will only do 30 max! It also affects people doing things like house renovations and temporarily living elsewhere.

We found Towergate Insurance really helpful with this although you do have to have someone going to check the house at least weekly.

Really helpful recommendations, thank you. At least I have somewhere to start. Mum's house is local, so popping in isn't a problem at all.

I was moved on to a “landlord” policy, even though the house was empty. I continued my father’s separate contents policy. I needed to either drain the system or heat the house to 15degrees. Now it’s occupied, I have to inspect every 6 months. They’re not fussed that the “tenant” pays no rent and has no contract. https://www.penunderwriting.co.uk/items/landlords-property
Towergate landlord’s insurance

A-Plan (now called something else?) were super helpful and sorted us out with a policy.

Has anyone's parent been a landlord when they died? DM died 51 weeks ago, DM's house was being rented out to pay towards her care fees. Her tenants are still in the house. We are in Scotland and hope to get Confirmation soon, possibly before Xmas. We would like to sell the house. Has anyone else been in this position and what route did they take? Thanks