Probate solicitor

[wincarwoo]

Has anyone recently compared the costs of a private solicitor with the coop probate service.

Estate worth under £200k no property but at least 10 different financial institutions holding investments/savings.

Trying to work out if it's worth asking a local firm for a quote?

Would you feel confident to do it yourself? I didn’t but having recently seen the process, I could have.

No we'd rather pay I think. Nobody with the time or inclination to do it.

Ok. I’d certainly shop around then. Some people have paid thousands and it’s so unfair. Good luck

I would just have a look and see what is involved, I thought I would need a solicitor but it is really really easy to do yourself. I had one query with the form and the Probate Office were really helpful. It took around two months to obtain the Probate and I was just amazed at both the ease and speed of the department, especially as I had heard horror stories of delays etc.

Good luck whatever you decide.

I know that you say you don't want your do it but it is fairly straightforward.

MSE has some good information on tracing accounts here.

And you can find out how to apply for Probate here.

It would probably just be a few hours’ work OP. I’ve done it for a bigger estate and it was doable. There’s lots of guidance online.

Thanks everyone that's helpful. I'll reconsider doing it ourselves.

I did my grandad's. Or took about 2 hours.

I would do it yourself. The estate is under the threshold for IHT so very easy to do online.

Do consider doing it yourself. You have to do quite a lot of work to provide the solicitor with what they need anyway. It’s possible that not all the financial institutions will need probate to release the funds. Although my mum had a few accounts, only her bank actually wanted it.

Send each institution a letter with a copy of the death certificate and grant of probate. In the letter ensure you reference the account name and number and details of where you would like proceeds to be sent (executors account). If in shares you will need to ask for them to be sold unless you prefer to transfer as stock.
It's essentially one letter repeated 10 times to start the process. The institutions might want to undertake further vetting, but that's essentially it.

OP is not asking about what to do when she has the probate certificate, but the process of getting the probate certificate.

I agree with @SnakesAndArrows . You will need to provide the solicitor with most of the details on bank accounts/ assets etc anyway which is the hard bit imo.
Once you have all this, actually applying for probate is a doddle as you are guided through the process on line. Suggest you give it a go and then consider a solicitor if you start to struggle

I was going to pay someone to do my Mums but once I had compiled all the info the Solicitor would need I thought why not just do it myself as the hard part was done.

I did mine with an online solicitor and it was about 800.

It really is straightforward OP. We've done it 3 times and it's didn't take up much time at all.

As I was in and out of hospital after DM died I employed a solicitor.
Estate was worth about £350k.
Cost £6k plus Vat. (Set price)
I'm sure if I'd been well I could have done it myself.

I used co-op for one parent and thought price was around £2,000 but then I asked for a quote when my second parent died they quoted over £9k as they would be closing the estate. I had already done a lot of the practical stuff. Going for one that will just give advice and check paperwork.

My parents’ solicitors (where their wills etc were kept) wanted £6k to do their probate application. Estate worth just under a million.

I thought that was a lot so I did it myself. Only cost me the probate registration fee which was £275.

It’s really straightforward to do. Just an exercise in admin really.

Had a quote of £15K from the solicitor who drew up the original Will for a straightforward estate. As others have said you need to provide so much information either way, so you may as well have a go yourself. The solicitor will not apply for the grant immediately anyway so you can mitigate some of the delay in getting the grant by applying yourself.
Ended up using an online probate service who charged about £450 (plus probate application fee).
Some estates do require skilled probate professionals but most do not.

Even if there are about 10-15 financial institutions involved?

That might be more complex than what I did, but I would DIY, yes.

As long as you have the details, it’s merely a case of detailed admin.

You really do end up doing the majority of the legwork anyway, even with a solicitor (digging out all the account details etc).

It took me about 8 hours I reckon to do all my mum's admin - from sitting down with her bank statements and mental filing system, to applying for probate, to contacting each financial institution with the documentation at the end, selling the house and divvying up the funds.

Someone is going to have to invest the time anyway to cancel direct debits, contact the bank, send out copies of the death certificate etc (I think sols will do this but it'll be £££ per phone call or email when it's a 5 minute job).

For a small, simple estate I would save the cash and diy.

Yes. Once you've got a draft letter set up, you can send the same one to each institution, just with the relevant account info for each. It's a bit more time consuming, but no more difficult. Most financial institutions have dedicated bereavement teams who are really helpful too.

I did my Mum's myself and it wasn't hard, but when my Dad died later he had been passed Mum's allowances and there were property complications so we used a solicitor. She had to take tax advice from an accountant as the whole thing was far from straight forward. Yes it cost us but no way could I have done it.