How difficult is probate?

[Hoardasaurusterf]

I am named as executor in my parents wills. These are mirror wills and they have a small house currently worth approx £110,000 and around £20,000 in savings. No behests of jewellery or other items in the will. Assets to be shared between 4 siblings.
They have now bought a prepaid probate plan costing £4000 & have paid £500 deposit yesterday. I need to work out if this is worth it or if I should advise them to cancel. with in the 14 days. I know for such a small straightforward estate a solicitor is not legally required but it can be a difficult, lengthy process so we may end up using a solicitor rather than diy.
Any experience/ advice re expense & stress? Parents are mid 70s, independent & fit for their age. TIA!

Cancel it. I have just paid a solicitor to do probate for a much more complex estate with potential inheritance tax implications and my bill was £1700.

It's not that complex to do it yourself either, especially if there are no IT issues which there won't be in your case.

Also all their assets may be swallowed up in care costs so there may be virtually nothing left to go through probate

If you are organised, you can do it yourself online and it's very straightforward. I did for my parents similar size/complexity estate and got it back in 7 weeks and just paid the fee (around £300 if I remember right)

The hardest part is assembling all the information and you will need to do that yourselves anyway to supply to the probate firm. As long as you have all the info it's just an online form to complete

My sister and I did Mum’s probate ourselves and it was really easy - one evening concentrating on the paperwork then a bit of faffing around with sending stuff off. £4000 seems excessive for such a small estate. If they want to get organised then POA and funeral costs seem a better ‘investment’.

Cancel. £4k is ridiculous. Even if you use a solicitor for everything it will be about half that (possibly less). Probate on a simple estate is relatively easy to do yourself if you’re organised.

Probate is an easy way for solicitors to make money doing very little. The family still have to gather most of the documents anyway (which is the annoying part). Some unfortunately charge a percentage of the estate value which is ludicrous. I have also heard of solicitors taking ages to complete things and leaving the family hanging.

There is plenty of advice on how to do probate yourself on the government website. I would advise your parents to cancel.

And a big yes to sorting POA for both. Tgst is a better use of the money.

Most definitely cancel. Your parents are being exploited.

I was an executor for my MIL and had to apply for probate last year. No property as that had been sold as she was in care (we had POA and we're able to do this)

It was very straightforward and a relatively quick process

I was an executor for my aunt's estate, including the sale of her home, which I sorted in my own. It's a fairly straightforward process that just requires being organized, jumping through the right hoops and being patient. There's no great skill required and perfectly doable without professional help.

I did my late Dad’s and FIL’s probate, the Probate Office were very helpful in telling me what forms I needed to do. In your case there will be no inheritance tax to pay, so the forms needing doing are very simple. Definitely don’t pay a Solicitor to do it, it’s also quicker to do it yourself.

We have a lawyer doing my mums. She had many investments, business and property abroad. It’s costing £2k ish maybe more.

Just seemed too much hassle to do ourselves. We probably would be able to do uk accounts and property, but seemed complicated for the business and abroad things. I started but stopped.

for me it was just easier. She had lots of fingers in things.

That is ridiculous, it is a very small and uncomplicated estate, which will presumably be even smaller and less complicated by the time that both your parents have died ( I hope that is far off).

what is good is that they are not doing the ostrich dance and refusing to plan for the future. You can build on that attitude to make probate and the administration of any estate a formality within the family.

Cancel! My mum and I did my dad's, my sister and I my mums. House plus a range of shares and UK investments. Probate was straightforward both times as all the financial information required was readily available/organised and both had wills. The online process had just started when my mum passed away and found this really easy to navigate.

It sounds very similar to my situation, executor for my widowed mother. Cancel it, it’s very straightforward to do it yourself if the estate is small and uncomplicated.
Just make you know where all savings accounts/bank statements/pensions etc are.
There’s plenty of good advice online e.g.
www.dfalaw.co.uk/someone-dies/

Ummmmm unless you have total control over their finances you can't cancel, they will have to, I think?

Oh, I have re-read the OP, sorry, do advise them to cancel asap.

I’m doing my Mum but it’s pretty straightforward. I have paid around £300 to the Probate office and that’s all

Agree - cancel - but kudos to your folks for being so considerate 👍 and not wanting to land you with a load of work

I did it myself. It wasn't very difficult. I remember all the admin after my father's death being a pain, but I don't think having probate done by a solicitor would have taken much away from that. It sounds like it should all the straightforward in your case. I would only pay a solicitor if you think there could be disputes.

Cancel it. I did probate for both my parents and it wasn't hard at all, just needed to be organised and the most fiddly bits were things like contacting all the companies and finding paperwork which you'd need to do anywhere

Agree. I did both my parents' probate - similar size estate to you so no tax to pay. Filling out the form is a bind, but the helpline people are lovely and very knowledgeable

I would advise them to cancel.My Dad and I did Mums when she died and I did my Dads without any input from anyone else. Estate was larger but because my Dad always kept everything organised it was do able. So would advise parents keeping an up to date record of all bank accounts/shares/Isas/pensions as well as birth certificates and when one sadly dies keep registration of death certificates and probate forms from that person. Also land registry details if appropriate. Governmet site very informative re Probate and Inheritace Tax forms with guidance on how to complete

I did my Mums myself (couldn't afford solicitor). Once you sit down and read it thoroughly it's very straight forward, especially if you know about all the assets. The probate form itself is very simple, it's the inheritance tax form that's more complex, but as long as you know the basic worth of everything they own its fine, just a bit time-consuming. Also there's a number you can call for help if needed, I called them once and they are very helpful.

It's kind of them to want to spare you the bother but it won't be £4k of bother. I'd advise them to cancel. As it stands the estate at today's valuation is so far below the tax threshold that probate is unlikely to be difficult or lengthy.