What documents for probate?

[Ozgirl76]

My parents are just finalising their very simple wills and making me executor. From a practical perspective, when the second one of them goes (hopefully a long way off) what documents do you actually need to prove the valuation of assets? I’d like to get as much sorted as possible so I’ll have less to do when I’m really sad.

Obviously bank accounts etc are easy because it’s just a statement but do you need to show statements going back 7 years to show no gifts?

And a valuation of the house?

Do you send all these documents off when you file for probate?

Do you have both POA’s in place ?
I used a solicitor so he asked for what he needed. I got 3 valuations of the house from estate agents and emailed them to him. No, I didn’t provide bank statements but the solicitor might have got them without me knowing. I just stated no gifts other than the £3000 PA that you are allowed to give.
The house contents were worth very little, so we just said something like £200. The solicitor had the car valued.

I think if you have a simple estate within the allowances they take what you put on the form. But the onus is on you to be able to provide proof if requested. I'm guessing they can do certain checks themselves.

I just 'said' what the property valuation was, confirmed no gifts, and declared any jewellery that had been added as extras on house insurance (yes, they check home insurance policies!).

My estate was in the IHT threshold, but using all of the allowances availiable it came under. I was asked to show 'my working out' which was accepted.

Avoid using a solicitor if it's a straightforward situation. (E.g. 1 main residence, 2 spouse allowances, house left to dependants, bank accounts etc). There's a IHT helpline to ask any questions and loads online to help.

We had one house valuation from a local agent (they could provide a Red Book valuation if required) and valued the car using Parker’s price guide. A couple of pieces of jewellery had been valued and declared on the insurance, so declared those and estimated everything else.

I put together a spreadsheet of all bank / building society accounts, NS&I stuff, valuables etc whilst DM was still with us - made things much easier.

That’s great to know, thank you so much. I think theirs will be over for IHT (depending on how long and how healthy my mum is - my Dad sadly has terminal cancer). The house is probably 700k and they have quite substantial savings of around 700k plus a small commercial unit which will be passed to me when my dad dies, via my mum (so may or may not pass the 7 year rule).

But only the house has a non specific value, the rest of it is just in the bank or in NS&I bonds.

I also know my mum has one expensive piece of jewellery (about 15k) although I think she is planning to pass that to me while she’s still around (again, may or may not pass the 7 year rule)

Don’t forget that they can gift £3k per year or gift more if it’s out of regular income and it doesn’t affect their standard of living (if they choose to gift money).

They gifted to me a few years ago and we’ve kept that money in one place in case we need it for IHT.
They also do things like pay for our flights to come and visit them in the U.K. but that’s out of their income so I don’t think it counts as a gift.

If you're going to be the executor it would help to have
All bank and savings details, account numbers, sort codes
Premium bond account numbers
Any life assurance
Pensions and any benefit details
Ni numbers
Any valuables photographed, valued and insured
Utility bills and insurance details
House probate valuation
Birth, marriage certificates
Copy of their wills
Youll need all these so that any assets and debts can be included in the accounts and you can then see what the final amount will be to distribute. I just made up a file of everything. When the sad time comes when they pass you'll need all this anyway to obtain a death certificate, arrange a funeral and transfer of any assets.

That’s so helpful - thanks @MissMoneyFairy

Downloads the IHT400 form which deals with inheritance tax. It will guide you of what you will need when the time comes.

AGEUK have lots of forms and information for you to look at

@MissMoneyFairy has a good list for the finances.

I am going to suggest you also try and find out what sort of funeral they want e.g. hymns/songs, readings etc. Where they want to be buried/ashes scattered.

I would also have a conversation with both your parents about a PeACE plan https://nwknowledgenow.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PEACE-information-leaflet.pdf Their GP would usually talk to them and fill it out.

One extra certificate (may well not be needed by the OP in this case) is any divorce certificates- I had a bit of an issue tracking down one for an aunt who’d divorced back in the 1970’s as it wasn’t filed with all her other documents. It wasn’t something I’d have thought of, unlike a birth certificate.

You will need to value the assets when the first parent dies (even if no IHT is due because of spousal exemption etc).

Gifts made out of income are still gifts and have to be declared but are exempt if made out of income and part of a regular pattern of gifts. If you are relying on this exemption you have to provide details of all income and outgoings to show there was excess income from which to make the gifts.