Surviving spouse struggling to pay bills before probate granted

[BerthaAntoinetteMason]

Hi all

My dad sadly died recently after living with Alzheimer's for a long time. He leaves my mum and me and the will is a bit complicated but essentially leaves everything to my mum. She doesn't have that much free cash and my dad paid all the bills out of his personal account. My mum is worried about covering the bills until probate is granted.

Has anyone been in this situation? Can an 'advance' be made from my dad's estate such that she has enough to live on in the meantime? Can probate be expedited if the legatee is in financial hardship?

Me and my mum are executors of the will if that makes any difference.

All experience and suggestions gratefully received!

ThanksXX

You’re going to lend her money just so she doesn’t have to pay a fee or lose interest or whatever?

Honestly, that’s nuts

It's up to the banks and building societies how quickly they release funds. When my uncle died some paid out to the solicitor/executor very quickly and he distributed some funds early. You need to send the bank the death certificate to kick things off, and then ask them to expedite if possible.

If she tells the institution where her money is the circumstances they may waive the fee, worth asking anyway.

I would recommend the opposite and get your mum to tell the bank asap.
The bereavement team deal with daily and will absolutely be able to give your mum the correct advice and procedures that need to be followed.

Take your mum to an appointment at the bank with the death certificate. Don't pay any of her bills yourself.

Quite often banks will let you have amounts below £20k-£30k, if you sign indemnities. Last July (2024) Barclays let us have £30k and Atom Bank and NS&I let us have smaller amounts saved with them. We also had funds from life insurance policies without any trouble--these were less than £30k.

The money that is locked away may be released as it’s it falls under exceptional circumstances and this is certainly something that they should look into, also as lots have mentioned the Bank may release some funds before Probate, if you can show bank a copy of the Will.

I see what you are saying, but I think the better (correct ?) way would have been to tell the bank, and then contact the bereavement departments of the utility, car finance payment companies etc involved and tell them that the person is deceased.

Assuming that the estate is solvent most will be happy with freezing payments in tese circumstances and wait until probate is obtained, cash is released and any property sold.

Do you actually need probate? If you're parents are married then everything passes to the surviving spouse surely, assuming that's what the will states?

I know my MIL died 2 years before FIL and no need for probate for MIL.

Talk to citizens advice or Age UK

It depends on the amounts and each institutions rules, as well as things like property ownership.

contact all banks and asset holders, if they’ll release the assets without probate then it’s not needed

if o/p’s mum is a executor as well as beneficiary then she obviously can get the information from banks and everything is clear.

in my mil’s case the beneficiary was not the executor, and the executor was able to close all the accounts without probate, which kept the will private, so the beneficiary cannot even prove they’re the beneficiary, cannot access any of the accounts so don’t know the balance owed. They can’t apply to probate court to force the executor to produce the will and accounts, because it’s not been through probate. The executor has kept every penny and there’s fuck all the beneficiary can do because they don’t have the £££££ to take it to civil court.

so if o/p is sole executor I would suggest probate regardless to keep everything above board.

the probate and executor system needs a massive overhaul in this country. Apparently executor fraud is rife because there’s no way to hold them accountable, because they have all the documents.

Probate will also be needed for the spousal transfer of the inheritance tax allowance. No probate on the death of the first spouse makes dealing with the second's estate much harder.

You do have to tell the bank but essential bills like utilities can continue to be paid. A straightforward probate should not take long and it's quicker to do it yourself than pay a solicitor because they drag their feet

How old is your mum? You can't get bereavement support payment if you're over pension age when your partner dies.

My DH died in October. I'm the beneficiary and a joint executor. I delayed a few days before informing his bank as I knew there was a payment of several thousand pounds due in - it was easier to keep that as organised than have to get it sent to me, but I informed his bank as soon as that was in. It took about 6 weeks (because I needed signatures from the joint executor who lives in another country) but the bank simply transferred all the money in DHs accounts into my nominated account. I'd applied for funeral money to be released but actually didn't need that in the end. I did need to speak to someone and cancel that bit of the application, then the money appeared within a day. Paperwork to tell me about was about 4 days later! They were excellent to deal with - I've found all the financial and utility companies have had dedicated bereavement departments and everyone I've spoken to has been patient, kind and so helpful. If it is too much for your mum, she can try phoning while you are there and then giving permission for them to speak to you.
I keep a book with a page for each company - so I can write down when I speak to someone, what they've said, and what I need to do. I update anytime I hear or do anything as it is very easy to get mixed up. There is so much! Hoping to have the last 2 pieces of paper from his life insurance policies this week so I can send of Inheritance Tax paperwork before I can do the probate forms. As far as I know, she would need to apply for probate - but the online government site will take her (or you) through the processes and requirements. It seems overwhelming - but if she can do as much as she can cope with each day, it slowly gets there and it does get easier when you have to keep repeating his date of birth and date of death.

As Executors, you can instruct the bank to make an interim payment from the Estate. The easiest course of action though, is to speak to the bank and get your father's accounts transferred into your mother's name as she is sole beneficiary. His bank will have a bereavement department, they can advise you.

Thanks everyone. My mum did see sense and has cashed in her ISA early - phew! Lots of good advice here though xxxxx

When my wife died we had mirror wills in place leaving everything to each other, and we jointly owned the house. She had several bank accounts each holding less than £50k. I just took the will and marriage certificate to her banks and in each case the transferred money to me very quickly- within a couple of days.

Better then she pays a penalty and accesses her own money.

This! She can pay herself.