Is this normal? Regarding probate and inheritance.

[Cydonia]

I’ll try and keep it brief and to the point....
My father passed away at the end of last year. He didn’t have a will, and my sibling lives abroad so we appointed a solicitor to do the probate. I’m the executor of the estate. There is a property ( owned outright, currently on the market ) and some other money from bank accounts and shares, no debt.
I’m aware these things take time, but probate was granted at the end of March and nothing has happened since. Have barely heard from the solicitors, even considering lockdown they don’t seem to be doing anything? Said they were going to check the shares and they would have to be sold, no further word on this. Said we can’t have the money from the estate until the property has sold.
Does this sound about right? We were told to expect it to take a while as no will, but I think really it should be pretty straightforward. Direct split between sibling and I, no debts to settle, no inheritance tax to pay, nobody with claims to the estate.
I want to move house but would need the money for a deposit. We were only told recently that the property would need to sell before any money was released, if I had known that from the beginning I would’ve put it on the market sooner. As now I think we will owe council tax on it?
Anyone else been through similar, does this sound like the norm for this kind of thing?

Hi OP someone will come along with more experience. But, i can say IME, my god father's will was detailed and highly organised with an amazing solicitor. It took a year from death to final payment from the estate- House, shares, possessions, insurance etc all involved.

Covid will have dragged everything out longer but just call them and get some real deadlines set. And ask them to be real with you about how long it may take.

Not much help really but thought I should pop in a reply:-)

Thanks. I’m going to call them but I just wanted to check I’m not over reacting ( or under reacting! ) first. I can’t understand what takes so long, but then I’m not a solicitor!

My father died without a will and I would say it took well over a year to sort things out. Infact some things still arent settled (3 years later)

My Dad died in April 2019 and we're still waiting for everything to be resolved. I am the sole beneficiary of his will. Council tax becomes due 6 months from the date probate is granted, btw (we're paying it). It's the sale of the property that's taking ages in my case - and yep, no money released until that's complete. I'm hoping to get it all resolved before the end of the year, as it's a constant reminder that Dad's no longer with us, and it's driving me slightly batty - I feel for you, being in a similar situation!

Ours took just over a year. Has the house been valued and added to the value of the estate. Has Provate been granted .

Ugh, thanks everyone, looks like it’s how it all works then. Pissed off about the council tax though, I can’t afford to pay it on top of my own. And for an empty property? Why?!
Howdee - yes, property added to the estate from the start. Probate granted 30/3 but solicitors never told me, first I heard was from the council saying I had 6 months from that date before tax was payable again.
Looks like I’m going to have to forget about moving house!

Inextremis yes it’s horrible isn’t it? The house is depressing me and all the stuff that needs sorting out that all holds memories. We wouldn’t be able to move without this extra money so that was giving me something positive to focus on, but looks like I’m jumping the gun there.

I will say, I did get funds before the house was sold.

Too late now but you might have been better to do the probate yourself. It's not that complex.

I don't see why the house sale prevents you from getting the rest of the money. Unless the house is valuable enough that there is inheritance tax to pay? So the solicitor is waiting for final amount?

presumably you've had a professional surveyor's valuation of the house.
i don't see why it has to be sold first, unless the other beneficiary is demanding this.
has the form re inheritance tax, to Hmrc been done.
if you are quite organised, maybe you could pay the solicitor for work done and complete the process yourselves.

I don't understand either why the house has to be sold before you get any money from the estate. You might have decided to keep the house. Is renting it out a possibility. And that would take care of the council tax problem.

i don't see why it has to be sold first

Who do you think is going to advance the value of the house without knowing the sale price?

As well as council tax I trust arrangements have been made to pay insurance and keep the garden tidy?

We were given the option of waiting until the house had been sold and receiving all inheritance as one lump sum, or, being paid separate smaller amounts straightaway from the savings and bank accounts etc and then a larger amount when the house did sell.

If you are unable to afoord to pay the council tax the solicitor can contact the council, and I've forgotten what it's called but it's basically a legal promise to pay on settlement. So once the estate is distributed the council tax will be paid.

I didn't pay council tax on my mothers empty property. It was exempt.

I was also going to say contact the council about making an arrangement to pay a much smaller amount of the council tax until property is sold, with cash then you can pay the full balance

Sorry for your loss

One thing I don’t understand is how come if your the executor- then why aren’t you sorting all this out?

Can’t you dis instruct the solicitor and take it over yourself? To be honest it is all very straight forward and there is a wealth of information online and the probate office are extremely helpful.
There is no reason some funds cannot be
Shared between you and your sister at this time. As long as you document everything and hold back an amount you’re comfortable with in case other amounts such as council tax become due. If you’ve realised money from cash accounts and shares then this can be split before a house sale.

We got the money and the house never got sold. That was 3 years ago. It was valued for Probate and that amount was added to the value of the Estate. We received the actual money but not the value of the house. If we sell it we either owe Capital Gains Tax or receive a refund on IHT depending on how much it sells for. Ee didnt pay council tax for 6 months. We pay insurance but its nof much as the house is empty of furniture and we have a gardener in once a month. We were Executors but instructed a solicitor. I would chase them up. Ask why they wont release the cash if all tax has been sorted out.

@Cydonia

Ugh, thanks everyone, looks like it’s how it all works then. Pissed off about the council tax though, I can’t afford to pay it on top of my own. And for an empty property? Why?! Howdee - yes, property added to the estate from the start. Probate granted 30/3 but solicitors never told me, first I heard was from the council saying I had 6 months from that date before tax was payable again. Looks like I’m going to have to forget about moving house!

You're not liable for the council tax - your df's estate is. The bill should be sent to the solicitor who will pay it and deduct the cost when the estate is finally distributed.

@ivykaty44

I was also going to say contact the council about making an arrangement to pay a much smaller amount of the council tax until property is sold, with cash then you can pay the full balance

Sorry for your loss

One thing I don’t understand is how come if your the executor- then why aren’t you sorting all this out?

She is - she has simply delegated the task to a solicitor. Plenty of people do.

The estate will be liable for the Council Tax, lots of Councils have a limited 'free' period without CT now due to their own funding issues.

Might be a good stick to prod the solicitor with - ask them if you can sell the shares now (you'll need to sign the forms if you are the executor) and distribute that money before the house is sold. You can release money in stages, although the solicitor might prefer to do it all together at the end.

Sorry for the late response, been at work. Basically we were advised to instruct the solicitor as getting the actual probate certificate seemed difficult, the estate was reasonably large, there was no will and my sibling lives abroad. I did think about doing it myself but it just seemed too much at the time.

I wonder if it’s all been complicated because of the covid situation. The initial solicitor we saw was furloughed and the case passed onto another in the same firm. We told the first one we wanted to sell the house, and also that I was happy to sort some things out myself. My dad only had the house for less than a year, so the amount he paid for it was used as the value. The forms for HMRC etc have all been done. I had said I would sort the bank accounts, but the new solicitor took it upon herself to do that.

Going off the replies I think I’ll call the solicitors again and see what progress they have made. Mention the council tax, and ask about releasing any of the cash. I suppose I won’t know unless I ask!
Thanks for the help.

She is - she has simply delegated the task to a solicitor. Plenty of people do.

I wouldn't trust the solicitor to sort this task out and I would be contacting the council tax department myself to sort it as often the solicitor doesn't act on this part. I have found this several times through experience. So my advise would def be do it yourself as the tax will be in your name once probate has run out if you are the benefactor - added to which if the other sibling is abroad the council will and can demand the tax from the OP alone. If the tax isn't [aid then there can be lots of extra charges and then bailiff charges - again I have seen this happen with houses after probate...

Sorry about the loss of your father, I hope you’re doing okay with it all. No doubt arranging his affair has added undue stress to you and your siblings.

Firstly, you’re getting letters of administration as opposed to probate. Probate is for people with wills. Letters of administration is for those without. Letters of administration takes longer because there is more work to do.

Secondly, they will not release funds where there are not any and generally they will only send out funds once. So, even though there may be money in bank accounts they will only give that money to beneficiaries once all monies from the estate are ready to be divided. But there is flexibility in this at times but you’ll have to appeal to the solicitors better nature, I doubt saying you need money to move will swing it. The solicitor owes a duty of care to yourselves as beneficiaries but their client remains your late father.

Lastly, your solicitor needs to answer these questions for you in full. They will be receiving a substantial fee for dealing with your late father’s estate, make them earn it. With regard to council tax, they should be writing to the council to make them aware and ask them if they can delay payment so the estate can pay in full once the estate is settled. This is fairly standard and will be something the council tax office have seen before.

Ultimately, contact the solicitors.