my Dad died last month and he'd willed everything to my Mum,However,her name isn't on the deeds of the house......

[cutekids]

so she went to the solicitors yesterday and he said that-because of this-it has to go to "probate".Apparently,she has to have this printed up in the London Gazette and a local paper of ours incase anyone "wants to come forward"...!?!Dad paid off the mortgage years ago and,as far as he was concerned,everything was to go to my Mum and subsequently Me. She's really worried and it's going to cost her £7000.00 too!!!!Is this all correct?

7K ?? splutter

so she has to take an ad out £50 or so .. where's the 7K coming from?

Sorry...no...maybe i worded that slightly wrong! what i mean is that, the solicitor is charging her £7000.00 to do it....plus the will itself etc.!!!

If there is a will why on earth does it cost 7k and why the need to advertise even if it has to go to probate. It sounds as if it should be straightforward. Who are the executors ? Does she really need a solicitor for anything other than changing the deeds ?

I'd call CAB and find out personally

personally I'd tell the executors to find another solicitor

were they married?
if so, it automatically goes to her
was there an actual will?
if so shouldn;t be an issue
if not its murkier, but shouldn't have to be that complicated

solicitor sounds slippery

You can do probate yourself without a solicitor fairly easily and cheaply.

Contact the probate office (usually at the local court) ask for a probate form fill in make an appointment take relative documents and fees. Honest it's that simple if there is a will.

I second what mrz says - I've been helping a friend to do DIY probate as she was quoted £1,000s to sort out her father's extremely uncomplicated estate so she decidied to do it herself.

There` are lots fo books on the subject and resources on the net - she has found it to be very straight forward so far - just takes a bit of time and effort.

all wills have to go to probate
if there is a will and it is properly drafted then there is very little difficulty in doing it yourself.
I can't see any reason at all why anything should need advertising in the London Gazette if there is a will

Change her solicitors pronto, and get the executors to do probate themselves (if she is an executor, you help her)

and please ignore mazzystar, who isn't correct I'm afraid.

but the point is if there is a valid will and a straightforward estate (ie no trusts etc) then DIY is the way to go

i'm sorry - i stand corrected

Check www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029716
according to probate1.com/application_fee.html fee should be under £100

Oh don't pay a solicitor...it's money for old rope.
My godmother of 75 did her own probate stuff twice with her parents who died at 97 and 99. She bought a book called "wills and probate" and did it all herself.
It costs about £500 and a bit of your time.
I strongly recommend you do this, my dad was really impressed when he found how it was easy and cheap and started cursing all the solicitors he has paid over the years (he gets named executor so many times as he has an honest face).
Solicitors also draw the process out by about 9 months when in reality you can do it much quicker.

well,she reckons that because the will was lodged with these particular solicitors,and one of them is actually an executor(i think),that she has to go along with them.my mum's step cousin is another executor who is quite happy to do it but Mum thinks it will take up too much of his time...he doesn't live locally.yes,the will is very,very,simple. basically,everything of my dad's goes to her(he has no debts;etc.and he owned the house)>

NO! SHe can do it herself. If they start telling her she has to use them because one of them is an executor, complain to the Law Society.
This is madness.

The advertising in the paper is to make sure your dad didn't owe anybody any money, that would be liable to paid for out of the estate. However, as long as your mum is sure he didn't then you don't have to do it, we didn't for my father-in-law.

Not sure if Msdemeanor is qualified to give advice or not, if she is then please take her advice over mine, but I am not sure you can get out of it if the solicitor is the executor. However, I do know you can change a will by deed of variation within 2 years of the person's deaeth, as long as all beneficiaries are in agreement. So, you could change the name of the executor to, say, yourself, and save literally thousands. You would still need the solicitor to change the deeds of the house over to your mum's name but pretty sure you could do the rest of it yourself.

Fees for executing a will are usually done on a percentage of the value of the estate, so this can soon add up to thousands of pounds.

so,if Mum is absolutely sure that Dad doesn't owe money anywhere....which she is....then she doesn't have to have this announcement?

so,if Mum is absolutely sure that Dad doesn't owe money anywhere....which she is....then she doesn't have to have this announcement?

Am not legally trained, but I know this was the case when my fil died!

I don't understand why it matters that her name isn't on the deeds - it's his house, he's left it to her, that should be straightforward, shouldn't it?

My dad died intestate & the solicitors didn't charge nearly that much for sorting it all out - definitely sounds like a shyster

OK,thanks for that.have to say,this is really worrying my Mum so much.

contact Hulababy her husband is a probate solicitor, she'll be able to tell you if £7K is too much for executing a will.

I'm doing probate for my mother following my stepfather's death. It's £90, you need to attend an interview and swear an oath and the forms look daunting but they're not when you go through them - it's just complicated if you have an enormous range of possessions, land, investments, etc. Please don't pay £7,000 if you can help it!