Can't get money out of St James's Place

[crayyola]

DH has inherited quite a bit of money from his DF who sadly died recently.

He is executor and it's proving to be a bit of a nightmare. Specifically, FIL had some investments with St James's Place, sold to him on the basis that they would help reduce the IHT bill.

The trouble is that it's impossible to get the info out of the advisor there. DH doesn't know how to enter the info on the probate forms. He also needs to access some of the funds to pay IHT. But now it emerges that FIL put some of the money in trust, so it is DH's money already, even before he gets probate... but the advisor is just not giving him info or making it possible to access the money that belongs to DH already so he can start paying the IHT bill.

It seems extremely strange. Can anyone advise?

Contact Head Office.

Sorry to hear about this, if your adviser isn’t helping call the Client Liaison team 01285 878201.

Speak to an IFA they will also be able to look at this for you and connect you to an specialist estates practitioner for advice. Getting the money out of trust can we done quite tax efficiently. By the way, all Trusts are under Trust law so you don't need SJP to deal with it.

You need to get in touch with SJP and ask what their deceased client requirements are. They'll likely ask for ID, death certificate, copy of the will etc and will then provide the info about the accounts to allow you complete the probate form. They likely won't pay any money out until you have been granted probate, but its usual in this situation for the IHT bill to be paid directly from the investments to HMRC. I hope this helps.

Is there a separate bereavement team perhaps at SJP.

I believe when funds are left in trust the beneficiary may not be the trustee... have you looked into or know who the trustee is?
The fund may only talk to the trustee not the beneficiary and will prob pay out to the trustee who is then responsible for passing to the beneficiary

Also not true that they won't pay out without probate - the purpose of certain plans / trusts is to be able to distribute outside of probate.

Also banks will give money before probate depending on level of balance - each bank will have a differing limit - they will tell you which documents you need and even when bank balance is above that limit the bank can be requested to transfer funds directly onto your IHT account once you have that open - which also can happen before probate and all tax forms are completed and help not incur the ridiculous amount of interest they charge

Also if it is a trust for you it may not be declarable for IHT - so maybe hey tax advice on that before you list it as part of his estate

@PlateSpinnerJuggler

Also if it is a trust for you it may not be declarable for IHT - so maybe hey tax advice on that before you list it as part of his estate

Get not hey!

@PlateSpinnerJuggler

Also if it is a trust for you it may not be declarable for IHT - so maybe hey tax advice on that before you list it as part of his estate

I think working with the solicitor (qualified estate practitioner -STEP) will help immensely good luck

Yes, they've had all the necessary paperwork months ago. Money is definitely in DH's name -- he is a trustee. We do have a STEP qualified solicitor helping us. And yes, it's outside the estate.

We will definitely follow up with head office if no joy from the advisor. Thanks all.