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?

I've done it myself a few times.

Last time, a couple of years ago, lots of the institutions allowed the death certificate/probate to be uploaded to a portal or email. I work full time and did it around that, didn't feel onerous tbh.

And the process of applying for Probate wasn't difficult at all.

I did both Probate forms for my in-laws and my father. Both were under IHT so easier. I recall I just added up all the money, no evidence was needed. I rang the Probate Office helpline who told me what forms were needed. Yes, it takes a bit of time ringing round, but it saves so much money and so much quicker than a Solicitor. Like someone said most financial institutions have departments that deal with deceased clients so it’s easier, a lot of banks actually have online websites, where you upload death certificate and may even cut out the need for applying for probate if the amounts are below a certain amount.

OP, by the time you've assembled all the paperwork to give to the solicitor, and dealt with various enquiries from them, and then had to chivvy them six months later, and chivvy them again, (and again and again and again) you might as well do it yourself. It's easier and quicker in the long run.

I've done probate for estates similar to the one you're dealing with and it was really simple. For banks and BSS with high street premises I just made a series of appointments on the same day and went from one to the other with my ID and copies of grant of probate and paperwork and it wasn't much of a hassle. A lot of places have specialist trained bereavement teams who are pleasant to deal with and seem very efficient. Many off a phone service so you don't even have to visit.

I managed Dad's probate myself - uncomplicated will (50-50 split with sibling) and under IHT threshold. Was much easier than expected.

I did DM’s myself. I had to contact several financial institutions but all (apart from Lloyds) were easy to deal with.

You mention 10-15 financial institutions so yes it will take time but it will be just as time consuming if you appoint solicitors because you will have to devote hours to sending them various bits of info anyway. Then pay them ££££ for the privilege and wait for them to process it all. You won’t be their priority.

When I’d gathered all of the required info for DM’s estate it only took 2 weeks to receive the Grant of Probate once I applied online.

Thanks again everyone for your good advice and practical experience. I think we will look again at Donny it ourselves.

I wish I'd attempted it myself it took our solicitors 8 months to apply for probate!

Have pm’d you @wincarwoo. Hope that’s ok?

Back again...so we've worked out the estate is liable for inheritance tax.

Has anyone had to get a valuation for property? My mum owns 50% of the house. Last sold 6 years ago.

Did you see my message @wincarwoo?

I used a solicitor, cost a lot but it was a complex estate with property here and abroad and the deceased was also going through a divorce at the time so I just handed everything over to them to deal with. The money came out of the estate anyway.
Much easier. Took a while but I wasn’t in a hurry.

I did need to get probate valuations for the property here, it was very straight forward, I just called a few estate agents and asked them to come and do a probate valuation.

Thanks Walter yes. We will do it ourselves for now.

Thanks we don't plan to use a solicitor at this stage. But good to know that we will need a probate valuation.

Yes we had to get a valuation and used a local estate agent I know. I was originally advised that we had to get 3 different valuations but in the end I just arranged for one and submitted his valuation. It was fine - no queries from HMRC. My late DM also owned 50% of the house and she left it in trust to me and a sibling.

I did probate myself as solicitors were quoting us quite a lot and it all seemed fairly straightforward. Apart from the house, mum just had a small number of bank accounts.

I’ve just paid the inheritance tax bill and opted to pay all at once rather than the 10 yearly instalments plan.

I did this for my FIL last year and more recently my MIL. It can take a bit of time (they also had several accounts with different banks/BS). We applied in Feb, still haven't heard yet and they have come back with a few questions about the estate.

As previous posters have said, you need to gather all the information to pass to a solicitor so you may as well do it yourself. The online form also adds up quite a lot of it as you go. I made the mistake of printing the form to fill it by hand before doing it online and I could have saved myself a lot of time.

And although we are below the inheritance tax threshold we still needed to fill in a IHT 400 which has delayed it a bit. Best to do that first then you'll be given a code to put on the probate application.

Off the back of this how long would anyone think is reasonable after a sale has completed , for the estate to be distributed (straightforward will)
When my dad died it took 2 weeks but the estate I'm dealing with at the moment has taken much longer

OP, we got house valuation using Zoopla and the sold prices of similar properties in the area.