Probate

A question about : Probate

My father passed away last Sunday and I thought everything was going to be straight forward as I'm the named executer and also the only beneficiary of the will as dad has left everything to me, but dads bank has now informed me I need to go to Probate before they will release his funds even though there's only around Ј3,000 in total in his accounts and some of that will be going towards the funeral costs. Dad was a widower with no partner, nor brothers or sisters and I'm an only child so no brothers or sisters.

I'd rather avoid using a solicitor due to the cost as dad hasn't left much and I'm on benefits (ESA Support Group + DLA) so can't afford any big bills. I've downloaded the Probate form and inheritance tax form from the .gov.uk website, but am finding it a bit confusing - putting in things like the house value, money in the bank and life insurance policies is pretty easy to do and straightforward as there isn't much and is well below the inheritance tax limit of Ј325k - the house is about Ј260k and monies/insurances about Ј5k, but where I'm struggling is:

Do I need to include the value of dads funeral plan even though that will go straight to the Funeral Directors and I'll just have to pay any difference from the estate? The company holding the policy won't disclose the amount its worth till after seeing a death certificate.

How do I value dads possessions? I've no idea of the value of a lot of his things like air guns, digital camera, furniture etc although none of it is antique as far as I'm aware,, and his car was through motability and has gone back.

Also, some of the furniture in the house is mine as I lived with dad, and the house is under an agreement drawn up by a solicitor in 1992 when my gran died and left this house 50/50 to me and dad, and we entered into an arrangement whereby I signed my half of the property over to him, on condition that after both he and mum had passed away I'd get my 50% back along with his 50% (mum passed away in 2005) - dads will leaves everything to me anyway, and the agreement is with the deeds at the solicitors and they said transfer of ownership is straightforward and only needs the death certificate.

I need to get things sorted ASAP as I now have to take care of all the household bills dad paid, and as his account is frozen until after Probate I have to take over the direct debits which I just can't afford at present (I have a DMP to fund which I'm hoping will be cleared from money I'm left by the companies accepting an offer of settlement - I only owe Ј3,200 on it now but am paying Ј200 a month, but when its cleared I can jst about afford all the bills, but not while paying it - it was set up by CCCS not one of the shyster companies btw).

Any advice is gratefully received, and cheers for reading through that lot.

Best answers:

• I can see that time is important in your situation. The probate form is quite simple and the assets are nowhere near the IHT threshold of Ј325K. The IHT form should therefore be easy to complete.
  I am surprised that the bank will not release the Ј3K to you without probate. Most banks have a higher limit than this, so it may be worth trying to persuade them or checking the advice from the bank is correct. They may just be taking the view that you need probate anyway so they will await that.
  You should remember that your affairs and those of the estate are separate. You do not have to take the DDs on. Tell the creditors (eg utilities) that you are trying to deal with the estate expeditiously but cannot pay them until probate has been granted and possibly until the house is sold.
  If the Funeral Plan pays out to the estate yes it is an asset to be included. If it is paid direct to the funeral director no. Remember the balance that the estate has to pay has first call on the estate funds.
  A nominal sum is sufficient for personal possessions .Your best estimate of their second hand value will do. Unless they are large enough to make the estate approach the IHT limit it is unlikely anyone will bother or expect a more accurate valuation.
  You will find that the Probate and IHT Helpline will assist you in filling in the forms.
• Thank you for the very helpful reply. I'm going to contact the utility companies about the DD's as I'm living in the house so don't want things cut-off.
• As you live in the place you become responsible for utilities and council tax from date of death.
  You will want to claim the single person discount and review your benefits to see if you are eligible for any extra help.
  If dad was paying over 10month then there will be a small refund due for 2014/2015.
  Take readings, the utilities are usually ok with the transfers and give a bit of time to set things up.
  Check the current state of the accounts to see if they are in credit or not.
  Also check for the transferable nil rate band, even though it will not be needed it will make the gap between the assets and the total nil rate available even bigger.
  Talk to CCCS about a temporary stop in payments so you can have some cash flow during this difficult time.
• Bank offered to pay the funeral costs from the estate if i brought in the invoice .
  Possessions basically value as low as possible .
  I valued old household furniture etc at Ј500 and it might have cost that to have it removed .
  Utilities will not cut you off .
  Basically take your time i took six months to change everything and get probate as their was no real hurry .
• Sorry to hear about your dad. I've done two lots of probate for friends, and although it looks daunting at first it's quite simple. Just take your time and work through it all a bit at a time. One thing I will suggest, when you register your dad's death make sure you get plenty of copies of the death certificate at the time of registering. Not sure where you are in the country but here, if you don't get extra copies at the time it costs twice as much to get further copies at a later date. You'll need quite a few, depending on how many people you need to notify. Don't just get one, as many companies, banks and government department will require the original and if you only have one or two copies it will take ages to send one off, wait for it to be returned, then send it the next company etc. When you finally get probate granted, get a few of those certificates as well for the same reason. If at all possible print off a general letter to companies, leaving blank a space to write in reference/account numbers then you can fill that in in relation to any accounts/insurance policies/pension numbers etc. If you would like me to I'll give you an example of what you need to put, just let me know.
  Take it slowly, you have plenty of time to get things sorted and good luck.
• I've posted a thread about DIY Probate. Make sure you download a couple of copies of each form, and fill in the first as best as you can in pencil, so that you can change things, if necessary.
  Providing you are below the limit, as I was, don't worry too much about exact figures. If, for example, you had an original oil painting, worth zillions, that's a different matter, but a repro print isn't of any interest to the Probate Office.
  My solicitors offered a free consultation regarding Probate, and you may well find one near you that does the same. If so, make sure you write down every single thing that is worrying you, and that you can clarify at that time.
  And if your consultation doesn't last sufficiently long enough, for you to get everything answered, then I'd be inclined to phone another solicitor in the area that also offers a free session, just to get your remaining questions answered. Good luck.
  xx