Probate

[BlueHawaii]

Hoping someone can help as I keep getting conflicted answers.
Our mother passed away over a month ago in France. She had lived there for 25+ years. She had a bank account there but also held an account over here in the UK.
My sisters and I (father passed away in France 18 months ago) have an appointment with the notaire in France, we are paying him a fee to deal with the estate.
However I have been told I need to apply for probate in the UK too, as the funds in her UK account are above £25k.
Do we need probate in UK and notaire in France, or do we just move the UK money into the French account so it's all under one estate?!
Thanks for any insight!! Probate office (uk) most unhelpful.

I'm not sure but common sense would tell me that you need to apply for probate in the UK too so you have the authority to transfer her money. Plus you need to make a declaration as to whether inheritance tax is payable and i think you need to apply for probate to finalise that.

There must be some solicitors firms in both countries that deal with cross country issues such as these?

Yes probate in every country that assets are held. You cannot transfer UK assets to France without UK Probate

Thank you. Just waiting on the forms from U.K. Probate office now. Guess it makes sense to have probate in uk to allow be the authority over her accounts. Thanks both

As a quick add on. You don't have to have a solicitor in the UK for probate. If the will is fairly simple (no big legacies to go to various people/charities ) it's pretty straightforward to complete yourself and post off.