Been putting this off for some 8 months now...
Mum left the house to me in a will but I still need to go through some form of probate to get house changed into my name in order to sell it?
This is what Gemini is telling me and it also seems to think that it needs to be done through a solicitor, it's not DIYable?
Is Gemini correct on both the above assertions.
Thanks for the help as always.
I'd phone a few solicitors and ask, I think other than spouse it needs to go through probate but may also depend on value of house.
You shouldn't need to put it in your name to sell it but would have to go through probate to sell it, be aware that any uptick from value at date of your mother's death to actual sale may be subject to capital gains tax - so no advantage in under valuing it.
I applied for and was granted probate in a similar situation. Didn't use a solicitor but got someone knowledgeable to check the forms for me.
had to do that with my parents house, was little more complicated as it needed to be split and my brother's half bought by me
took forever to go through, i want to say like 8 months.... required a solicitor, but i think that was mainly due to the split/sale
Yes you do need to do probate.
Takes a while, we applied for it for MIL.
...and don't leave it too long because you'll start to get hit for Council Tax on it, possibly doubled depending where you are
Did it when my father died, no need for a solicitor on an easy estate. If you manage to get through to the probate service on the phone they are actually very helpful.
As above start it as soon as possible as it is slow.
Did it when my father died, no need for a solicitor on an easy estate. If you manage to get through to the probate service on the phone they are actually very helpful.
As above start it as soon as possible as it is slow.
Thanks to all that have offered info, appreciated. 👍
Another who's done probate themselves. Take your time, read and re-read, dot i's and cross t's. As long as it's straight forward you'll be fine, no need for a solicitor.
If you have inherited a house and it’s just you as the beneficiary of the sale then I would use a solicitor. Yes, I know that they cost money but sometimes life is too short to spend scratching your head filling in forms, use the time for hiking and cycling.
Money well spent!
Mum left the house to me in a will but I still need to go through some form of probate to get house changed into my name in order to sell it?
Yes. It grants you legal recognition of the right to administer the estate, otherwise despite any wills it's not yours to sell.
This is what Gemini is telling me and it also seems to think that it needs to be done through a solicitor
No.
I went through this with my late mum's house. I did the entire thing online via gov.uk, probate fees are about £300. You need a valuation of the house (not rocket surgery if you're selling it) along with the value of the estate (bank accounts etc). There's a lot of questions but it looked more daunting than it actually is, most of it was "£0" or "n/a."
A few caveats for my case. I too put it off for months, I'm guessing for similar reasons to yourself, this didn't matter one jot. It was as straight-forward as scenario as it could possibly be: one house, one bank account, no debts, I was sole beneficiary. The net total was relatively small, I was applying for probate on a mid-terrace in Accrington, not a country mansion with 40 acres in Surrey.
The one fly in the ointment was that both myself and my mum's solicitors were named on the will as joint executors (knowing my mum, she will have done this so as not to lay the burden on me). They said it'd be something like £1,500 for them to process probate for me (with a bunch of exclusions) or £250+VAT for them to relinquish their rights as executor. I thought "or, I could just do it myself and ignore them" but you cannot do that - I got it kicked back by gov.uk when I tried - so I had to pay £300 for the solicitor to sign a PA17 form (which I filled out for them) in order to give me sole control. I'm in the wrong line of work!
Submitting the details was buttock-fluttering, I was convinced I was going to fluff some minor technicality but it was fine. I was told by gov.uk that the process would "up to 16 weeks," it was approved in 4.
...and don't leave it too long because you'll start to get hit for Council Tax on it,
I got 12 months council tax exemption as it was unoccupied. After that they started getting a bit testy but by then it was in the End Of Days on the sale. The important thing here is to communicate.
If you have inherited a house and it’s just you as the beneficiary of the sale then I would use a solicitor.
...
Money well spent!
I couldn't disagree more. Sorry.
Oh, one more thing,
They will require the original will, which they keep as it becomes a "public document." So if you don't have a copy of it for your own records, do that before sending it away.
The house is registered with the land registry? We had one in the family that wasn’t which was far more complicated
Is the house near you? I seem remember that insurance required a weekly visit.
Just doing it myself at the moment pal. Its pretty straightforward when you get into it (Depending on the value of the house). Just checking, did your mum have a will and were you named as an executor? Were there any other executors named?
Basically its one form on the .GOV site which i could complete in 10 mins. I did it yesterday but i have a few things i want to confirm first before i submit it. It costs £300 plus £1.50 for each copy of the probate.
Things to consider (Not including any other things left such as money and shares)
1) Your mum had £325,000 IHT allowance so if the house is worth less than this then happy days as it will be classed as an excepted estate and wont need IHT400 completed.
2) You dont mention your dad but if he died and passed everything to your mum in recent years (Not sure how recent it has to be) then his allowance passed to your mum and she then can have upto £650,000 IHT. This gives you upto £650,000 leeway and again it will be classed as excepted case so no IHT400 form to complete.
3) In the event it was worth even more then you could even use the RNRB allowance which is £175,00 and applies for houses passed to children. I am not sure of how this is applied for.
I did everything i could to avoid the IHT400 form as it seemed to need every justification. I got 3 x estate agency valuations which when added to the cash/savings came to less than the £650,000 figure so could be dealt with as excepted estate. Will submit it when i have had it checked by someone i know who is qualified
The house is registered with the land registry? We had one in the family that wasn’t which was far more complicated
Ah, same here, I forgot about that. It affected the sale only (and was a pain in the arse to resolve). It didn't affect probate, in fact it only came up as an issue with the solicitor handling the sale after probate had been granted.
I think it depends on you as a person and how happy you are with managing the detail. Getting a solicitor to handle it can save the hassle (and possible stress depending on how you're dealing with the death of your Mum), and as you're selling the house straight away then you can get them to handle that as well and just bundle it into one quote which will be paid when the house is sold.
My experience is that it looks like you could relatively easily do it yourself, for my in-laws it was handled via solicitors as part of a much more complex will/house sale structure but even without that challenege I still think I'd 'outsource' it for the convenience at a difficult time.
I think it depends on you as a person and how happy you are with managing the detail. Getting a solicitor to handle it can save the hassle (and possible stress depending on how you're dealing with the death of your Mum), and as you're selling the house straight away then you can get them to handle that as well and just bundle it into one quote which will be paid when the house is sold.
My experience is that it looks like you could relatively easily do it yourself, for my in-laws it was handled via solicitors as part of a much more complex will/house sale structure but even without that challenege I still think I'd 'outsource' it for the convenience at a difficult time.
Yes it really depends on the person and the circumstances... it can be straight forward, but if the estate is worth several hundreds of thousands, has any complexities beyond a house and a savings account, there are several beneficiaries etc, a few grand in solicitors fees can take a load off.
If the executor is also a beneficiary, it adds a layer of officiality and goverance so all the accounts are 'independently verified' transparent and other beneficiaries are less likely to start a bun fight over executor expenses, who gets what, if the will is written a bit woolly, or if the deceased died intestate (without a will) etc.
