For those who have applied for probate themselves

[Literallynoonecares]

My Father died last week and we need to apply for probate. We have been told we can do this ourselves and its a really straightforward estate. I just wondered what information we need to gather for us to do this ourselves? There is a will which only has myself and my Brother as joint beneficiaries. My Dad was quite well organised and has all his paperwork and information pretty much to hand so I don't think we will need to go searching for stuff too much, but what do they ask for?

I have seen people mention needing a code or something to show the estate is not liable for inheritance tax? The estate will definitely come under the threshold for that but do we need to prove we have checked first?

We have just had the house valued so we know what that is worth and he has a cheap car. He has minimal savings and money in his current account. No loans/mortgage/debts or credit cards to pay off.

We just want to make sure we have everything we need ready for when we sit and do it and don't get caught out with something we were not prepared for.

Any advice would be very welcomed. I have never done this before and it seems pretty daunting but I don't want to pay thousands to a Solicitor for a straightforward probate application that we can do ourselves.

Thanks

It is quite common in Scotland to come across the assumption that a co-owned house automatically passes to the surviving owner. This is only the case when the title has a special destination (survivorship clause) in the title. Just in case……..

I'd be surprised if this was a problem. I wrote to the solicitor who handled my parents' house purchase and drew up their wills to ask them to transfer the title to my Mum's sole name after my Dad died, and they didn't indicate there would be any problem with this.

I had a professional valuation for the house as there was no other like it in the area. I had mum's jewellery valued (that cost about £30) and I valued the car. I looked on ebay for the second hand value of the Ercol furniture she had. After getting all the savings figures together it was clear that the estate would be nowhere near the IHT limit so it didn't really matter what I estimated the house contents at.

Probate is definately managable for simpler estates. Not sure if anyone mentioned, or if its relevant, the benefit of a statutory notice? My relative wasnt the best with money so I recall paying to have a statutory notice published to cover off any liability of the estate for undiscovered debts. In terms of valuing the contents, I made an inventory along several categories, and took photos to evidence condition & support the value attributed. I was never asked to provide it and the initial estimate was just accepted, but I was happier to have the information available if needed.

£500 for house contents is perfectly acceptable for an ordinary house. The disposal costs of emptying the house were more than the value.
The only thing of value my FiL owned, other than his house was a classic Jaguar, along with a bank/savings account. His annuity died with him so it was a simple Estate. I did Probate , no IHT was due so it was very easy.

Thank you everyone for your replies and help. I no longer feel quite so daunted by doing this.

Just wondered if there was a fee to pay to apply for probate or just a form to complete?

Thanks

I think it’s £300. It was £275 when I did it a couple of years ago.

Thank you, I did assume there must be a fee involved. 🙄There always is with everything these days.

Sorry for your loss OP. Like PPs I found it fairly straightforward dealing with my mother’s estate. Citizens Advice have helpful guidance on their website…(this link is if you’re in England)

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/dealing-with-the-financial-affairs-of-someone-who-has-died/

The best tip I was given was to keep a ‘daybook’ - just a shorthand notebook or similar - and every day make a brief note of who I’d spoken to about what, and any expenses or receipts. It was very useful to be able to check back later if things got complicated.

Hi Anjo2011. Who did you use to apply for probate. I am currently in the process of starting to apply for it after my lovely dad passed away 6weeks ago. I am so confused & overwhelmed by it, think I am reading to much about it & getting more confused. I do have an appointment next week with a solicitor to discuss it at an approx cost of £2000 but if I can do it myself much cheaper then I will.
Dads home is worth approx £130k, he had no savings, no debts, nothing of value. I am the named exector on his will & have no siblings, so I am hoping my apllication will be straight forward. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you x

@Raycie22 https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probate
Sorry for your loss. This is where I found all of the info I needed, we paid the £300ish direct and it was straightforward. The estate will be easy for you to deal with as it sounds uncomplicated. My advice would be to apply for probate directly, do as much as you can and if at any stage you get stuck the probate helpline is really helpful. I would only pay someone as a last resort. It’s very do able yourself. I totally understand it’s so overwhelming especially as your loss is so recent. Give it a go, don’t pay someone if you don’t have to.

Anjo2011 thank you so much for that. I will defo have a go at doing it myself. I've decided I will cancel appointment with solicitor (my 1st job monday morning). Reading all the advice that everyone has been giving following Literallynoonecares post has made me feel abit more positive that this is something I will defo navigate round.
Literallynoonecares & all others- I am sorry for your losses, our angels would be so proud of us.
R x

I’m sorry for the loss of your dad. My darling dad passed away in May we completed probate ourselves. It was very straightforward. The only issue we had was that you have to send the original will not a copy as we did. This took a couple of weeks extra to rectify.
Make sure you send all documents registered mail as well

freyaparkrun
Thank you for that, was it a nightmare getting the originals returned to you?
R x

It is really easy to do yourself, this from someone not very tech aware. My advice would be to print the forms off first so that, by the time you do it online you have all the relevant paperwork to hand.

One thing to be aware off is the difference between the value of the property at time of death and when it is sold. There was a 100k difference in my parents house. I got a snotty phone call about it. Even though it was still within the IT band. When I explained it was OK but it was unsettling at the time.

So what paperwork do I actually need for this? Will, death cert, valuation, what else?
Sorry to be a pain with all the questions.
R x

The government have a website “applying for probate” to help.
from what I can remember
details of the deceased
original will and any codicils
details of everyone applying for probate (name , email, telephone number, address )
debit card for fee
death cert.
i can’t remember if there is any thing else.

Hope this helps

We didn’t get a valuation of house, just looked at similar properties that had sold nearby. The Probate helpline was very helpful, they asked value of house, money in savings/bank and anything else of value, then told me what form I needed. You send the form off with original Will Signed Post, so keep copies. They don’t ask for bank statements. We were under the IHT threshold thankfully as that form I don’t think I could have completed. I did ring the helpline again just to make sure I had filled it in correctly and was told not to worry, if anything was found incorrect they would just write to me. They actually encouraged me to do the form myself.

I didn't get a formal valuation. Mums 3 bed bungalow was worth no more than £150k and there was under £50 k in the bank so my estimated value was accepted.

Just thought id update you all from my previous threads about doing probate myself.
I got dads house valued from 3 different estate agents, which were all in similar price bracket, less than £200K, so no inheritance tax palarva.
Used gov.uk website, & completed probate application which I found really straight forward.
At the end they tell you what documents I needed to send by post & in my case dads original will & death cert.
Cost me £303.
Literally 11 DAYS!!! later had an email 'probate granted'. Couldnt believe how quick it was. After all my stressing about it, making solicitors appointments for them to maybe doing it, coming on here to read everyone elses issues/concerns, taking advice from you beautiful people & taking the plunge to do it myself & saving myself alot of money.
So...anyone who is sadly having to go through this situation & thinking of applying for probate themselves....DO IT!!!
& thank you for all the advice & help I got on here.
R x

Well done, it’s mad to think Solicitor was going to charge £2,000 for something that doesn’t really take too long.

Lennonjingles. Thank you. I know terrible isnt it? Such a massive saving. My dad would be so chuffed that I didnt pay £2K. & in his words he'd be saying '£303, ay thats a bargain queen, well done' 🥹
R x

@Raycie22 chuffed it was straightforward for you, you saved a decent amount of money doing it yourself. Good on you for giving it a go and it paid off.

Anjo2011. Thank you x