Solicitor dragging heels over probate application

[Rockschooldropout]

My father sadly died six weeks ago and I’m his only child and sole executor, only other relatives apart from my children are his elderly brother and sister (both in their eighties )
mum and dad divorced 44 years ago

In my grief stricken state my DM suggested I use a solicitor to look after the estate and apply for probate so I appointed one a week after dads death and got back to them within a week with the value dads estate (approx 400000) His house and remaining estate after beneficiaries are paid goes to me so no IHT is payable
it’s straightforward , a bank account and savings account (already released to me and in an executor account ) Premium bonds , quite sizeable and released already but in the same account until probate is granted , plus the house and a building society account which requires probate .
I passed these figures over weeks ago , yet when I rang today with a query the solicitor said he was waiting for my information gathering to apply for probate , I reminded him I’d done this and he was quite short with me and said he’d need to prepare the paperwork and get me in to sign it .. I can’t believe this hadn’t been done already !
Im wishing I’d just put the application in online now as I realise I could have done this easily , Can I tell them I’m applying myself ?

Wow that’s incredibly quick , I’m sorry for the loss of your DM x

Tell them in writing that as theyve not sent off the application you will make an appointment to go in and collect the will from them. Yes they will charge you for the time they have spent but it sounds like you'd have more control if you completed the online probate yourself. You should add any solicitors cost charge to the probate application.

Solicitor has just called me and asked if I can collect the original will from their other practice as she’s preparing the paperwork for me to sign on Friday .. tempted to collect will and then tell them to jog on and just bill me🤣

Do it!

I’m bloody tempted !
Im sat here fuming now - I engaged this solicitors firm 5 weeks ago and the only thing they’ve done is send a letter , answer two phone calls with queries from me and request my dads will .
I spoke to the solicitor on the phone two weeks ago and asked if there was anything else needed for probate and he said no and Woukd get the application prepared
fast forward today I called to let them know that NS and I had released my dads premium bonds and to ask for advice re this , I was passed to the solicitor who sounded flustered and said he didn’t have my file in front of him .. I then said shall I put it in a seperate account until private and he says yes to that . I then asked about the application and he was snappy with me and said .. he’d bed to go through paperwork and Woukd be in touch in a “shortwhile “
At this stage when handed back to the secretary I said .. “so has anything been done re this probate application, Ud like an appoint to fill paperwork “ and she became a fronted and snapped that I wasn’t their only client !
she then said she’d speak to the solicitor and call me back that afternoon
That’s when I received a call from a solicitor in their sister practice saying she was now taking over my case !
The fact she was a bit abrupt to start with .. telling me she needed to “manage my expectations “ re probate implies the other solicitor couldn’t be arsed and has washed his hands of me for asking him to actually “do some work “ 🙄

I applied for probate for my sister's estate the last weekend in September and it was granted on 1 December last year. It was quicker than I thought, the website said minimum wait of 16 weeks when I applied.

My sister's estate was very simple though. She died too young and didn't have enough assets to attract inheritance tax etc

I’m so sorry 😔

There won’t be IHT on dads estate as he’s left his house to me which increases the threshold

I think I need to sack these solicitors

It sounds like you've done the difficult bit - I found tracking accounts down etc by far the hardest. Filing in the online probate form was a doddle by comparison.

I'm not sure you have a lot to lose by doing it yourself. Good luck with it

@AshleyMadison yep I’ve done all the information gathering , there wasn’t much to find as DF had detailed it all in a letter written to me nine months before hand . He was nearly eighty so any life insurances had been cashed in years ago , same re some shares he had .. it was all very straightforward

If your dad’s estate is £400,000 and he he has no transferable nil rate band (which I expect is the case as he is divorced) then you will need to complete an IHT400 account for HMRC whether or not the estate is taxable, because you have to claim the residence nil rate band allowance. It is not applied automatically like the general nil rate band allowance. The IHT400 is a serious amount of work as you will probably see when you go on Friday. I’d have a look at it and see if you are happy to do it yourself before sacking your solicitor.

No it’s not required as Dad left his house to me which take the IHT threshold to £500000

@Annie098 I’ve actually checked this on the IHT checker attached to the probate application online- the checker informs me I can proceed with an application as there is no IHT to pay

Please cancel Solicitors and do form online yourself. I did my late father in laws and I wasn’t sure of the correct forms so I rang the Probate Office helpline and they went through everything, house value, money in bank and anything in value left. I was then told which forms to fill in, one for Probate and one for no IHT. I asked what would happen if I filled them in incorrectly as I wasn’t absolutely sure I could do them, was told not to worry if they thought anything was wrong they would contact me. I was told Probate would take around 8/12 weeks and I could chase it. I’m so glad I did it, I think it cost £350.

Please don’t pay for a solicitor who’s curt and unpleasant! There are lots of us out there who are kind and helpful (and fast).

I’m certainly not wanting to part with hard earned cash for a grumpy solicitor !

You still have to claim the residence nil rate band using the iht400

Annoyingly it seems so .. I’ve just been researching the form online and it’s no issue for me as I do my own tax returns and dads estate isn’t complicated so I can fill these out quite easily ..it does look like it’s going to hold private up by many more months though 😩

How long did yours take with the IHT form ?
from what I can see you have to send IHT400 before probate now

I have done IHT 400 (no tax to pay but claiming residence nil rate banks and transfer from deceased spouse) - submitted end of Feb and still waiting for grant.

@Rockschooldropout yes, I completed IHT400 and the Probate Form online, as I say I wasn’t sure, but Probate helpline went through a couple of things I needed advice on before I sent it off. It took about 9 weeks, was straightforward just a house, savings and current account. This was a while ago, but still way quicker than using a Solicitor when there’s nothing complicated, which your DF Estate looks. I’m sure if you do your own Tax Returns then you will be fine. I did a dummy one first, printed it off and double checked it before finally doing it and sending it off.

@Mindymomo and @ShanghaiDiva
dud you both have to submit the IHT400 form first ?
you now have to submit it first and wait for a code before applying for probate

Yes, code took about two/three weeks to come from HMRC. I had to fill out quite a few schedules as my dm had my dad’s allowance, house going to a direct descendant, bank accounts, premium bonds etc. sounds like you have all the information so it should be relatively straightforward to complete the form. I also had to do a self assessment for my dm as she made tax prepayments every year - just finished that and post grant need to pay tax on income earned by the estate in the administration period - fun times!
it’s a very frustrating process with deadlines for me to complete my DM’s self assessment with financial penalties for a late submission, yet HMCTS are in no rush to issue the grant. The service is appalling.

@ShanghaiDiva
Thank you that’s really helpful — did you submit them all online or print and post ? Did you have to send all the shedules with IHT400 ?

A solicitor will still expect you to provide all the information. Unlike you the case is not important or a priority to them. I agree tell them you no longer require their services.
It's not difficult and there's lots of advice online. I have done three probates for family members. I had all the paperwork ready and applied within a month for my ĺate mother. Probate came through in a couple of weeks (this was 2020). The only thing that took time was the conveyancing on selling her house.

@Rockschooldropout I posted as I needed to send the grant from when my dad died and a copy of his will.
I completed the relevant schedules and sent with IHT 400.