Probate - oh and setting up trusts for Grandchildren

[NormaStanleyFletcher]

OK. Mum died. There is a will. My dad is executor

Dad is not as on the ball as he once was - their paperwork is all in a mess (so investments all over the place, and having to dig through piles of stuff to find what is current etc). He will need help.

People from the co-op came out but quoted £££ for doing it (about 5k). Not sure that even included setting up this trust thing for the GC

So.

First step is probate - I have the forms. He will fill them in this weekend.

How many extra Grants of Representation should I ask for?

Any advice on this in general?

Is there a way of tracking down anything we may not know about or have found paperwork for?

How the fuck do you set up the trust thing.

TIA

PS - will make a complete pain of myself over next few weeks

And I have googled - hence probate forms, but you lovely people could make this a little bit easier?

Norma, I did all the probate paperwork when MIL died last year. You can do it yourself but it takes time and care. Unless your Mum's affairs are very complicated, £5K is a total ripoff. Please don't go there.

You will need to identify all of your Mum's assets before you can do the paperwork. With MIL, it was easy as she had simplified all of her affairs after her husband's death.

I know zilch, nada and nothing about trusts. Hopefully one of the lawyers who does will be along soon to give you some proper advice.

The only other thing I will say is not to try to rush the process. Take your time, get proper advice (from a solicitor - NOT the Co-op) and do it properly. It's really not that difficult.

Identifying her assets may be the hard bit - and I know we have to do that for HMRC, but I thought that came after the grant of probate [clueless]

And we can't get people (financial institutions) to deal with us dad until probate is granted?

oh - and my father is rather against paying anything to my learned friends (lawyers) if it can be avoided at all

The institutions have to give you information prior to grant of probate - otherwise you simply could not apply for it. Whatthey won't do is release any cash before then, unless it is to meet funeral cost. if all assets are jointly owned it is unlikely you would need a grant of probate.

What is this trust thing you talk of? What does the will say?

No, you have to identify all the assets before probate can be granted. If you look closely at the list of "probate" forms, at least one of them is an HMRC form that has to be completed and submitted with the application for the grant of probate.

A copy of the death certificate and a copy of the will should be sufficient for the financial institutions to give you details of the assets they hold and their value as of the date of your Mum's death. They can't release those assets without the grant of probate, but they must supply you with relevant information to complete the probate forms.

I'm with your father (and my late DH was a lawyer!), that's why I did all the groundwork for MIL's estate instead of letting the firm who held her will do anything. But... I do have an accounting and quasi-legal background so it was relatively easy for me (with some damned good advice from mumblechum1 here and there along the way).