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Hi - looking for guidance from STW please.
My mum passed away recently (not CV related thankfully).
My sister and I have been managing her affairs for a number of years as formal Deputies through the Court of Protection, we also have Power of Attorney at her bank.
There is no will.
No property, but there is cash in bank.
Not enough to trigger Inheritance Tax.
I am acting as executor with my sister’s consent.
I believe that we don’t need formal Probate arrangements as there’s no property or other complex affairs.
Theoretically it should be a case of winding up the bank accounts? I have seen references to obtaining a Letter of Administration but am drawing blanks as to where / who this is obtained from.
Sorry for the dumb question but this is pretty new to me.
What happens next? Bank has been informed (online), do I just wait for their confirmation and follow their instructions or is there another procedure I need to be aware of?
I assume that I need to keep a record of winding up account statements to evidence what happened with funds (inc for Inheritance Tax evidence)?
Sorry for your loss
Have you looked here? https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate
will be differences where you are in uk
Hi mate, sorry for your loss
It depends on the size of the estate really. If there is not much left then you may not need a Grant of probate. The letters of administration is effectively another name for the grant wland applies when there is no will involved (intestacy)
You need to be satisfied re the extent of her assets. If it is just bank accounts etc then you need to inform them of her death and they will freeze her account and then contact you as deputy/next of kin re next steps. If the money is small (threshold is usually £5000) then they may release this money to you in order to pay out funeral expenses.
However, they may well insist on letter s of administration in order to release the balance of funds. It depends on the bank/building society. Also they may be less strict with an executor as opposed to an administrator as the former will have legal title over the estate by way of the Will
If you need to get a LoA then this will be relatively straightforward.youll need to execute an oath at a solicitors and then forward this to the probate registry. If you draft the oath yourself then the solicitors will only charge you a fee for witnessing the execution.
The fees can be paid out the estate.
At the same time you will need to file an IHT205 at inland revenue which is a very basic form which merely informs them that there is no inheritance tax to pay. You will have to do this in any case
There are other issues such as your right to act as administrator, although only your mother's spouse will have a higher right than you so I presume you are the one to take oath and get the LoA (if needed)
If you haven't already go on the Gov.uk website and the 'tell us once' service re tieing up state pension etc
Like I said it depends what n the extent of the estate and your role as administrator which can be onerous and also liable for mishandling of the estate.howecer it sounds very straightforward
Please let me know how you get in. I'm a contentious probate solicitor but I used to work in probate
Some banks are way faster than others. My mum had 4 different bank accounts, I just went round them all with the death certificate, Lloyds paid it straight into my account in a few days, Nationwide took a while, HSBC even still haven't sorted it and Coventry wanted grant of probate. Make sure you find out about any debts that need to be settled and notify council etc.
I had to organise probate for my aunty. While things may seem simple - she was the same - no property just money in the bank- there can be quite a bit to it.
without a will the money is automatically split between the living relatives. Easy..... but you have to prove it. There’s no assumption that a 75 year old woman’s parent have pre-deceased her for instance - I had to find birth, marriage and death certificates for her parents to prove they weren’t due a cut. You have to prove the relation of all relatives and prove there aren’t any others due their share.
The fun for me was one of 7 siblings had disowned the family 50 years previously, then disowned and disinherited her own children before dying of alcoholism. They were all due a share and the estate couldn’t be split until they had been found. When after months I found one of them it turned out they’d all since cut ties with each other so that didn’t put me any nearer to finding the rest.
the other thing is there are other claims on the money - not just family. If there have been any state pensions, benefits, care payments or whatever - they have a claim back on any overpayments /debts. So you can start to distribute the estate until they’ve either taken that money or confirmed that they won’t .
Hi,
I am a probate lawyer. Most of what has been said so far is pretty much correct but some is based on out of date information.
The rules as to who will inherit are set out on the flowchart here https://www.theprobateservice.org/interstacy-rules-flowchart/ the people who will be inheriting are the people who will be entitled to administer the estate.
If the estate is small and the assets are bank accounts most banks will allow the administrators to sign an indemnity confirming that they will act in accordance with the law. Each bank and financial institution has their own limits. Lloyds is the highest at £50,000 National Savings and Investments are the lowest currently at £15,000 most of the others tend to be about £25k.
If the asset holders are happy with an indemnity then there is no need for a grant. A grant without a Will is called letters of administration, it is only probate if a Will exists.
If you need to get a grant then you will need to complete an IHT 205 form https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inheritance-tax-return-of-estate-information-iht205-2011 and
A probate application form PA1A https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-probate-by-post-if-there-is-not-a-will
For small estates it is entirely manageable yourself. My guide to your duties can be downloaded here https://www.will-probate.co.uk/guide-to-being-an-executor-of-a-will/
I hope that helps.
Nick
Hi @NJA,
I'm in a similar situation to the OP but suspect I may need professional legal council. Mom passed in March leaving a property, no debts and no will. There are two next of kins, older brother and I. I've wound the estate up as best I can but now feel I'm at a point where I need professional assistance. If this something you could assist with or point me in the direction of a firm that could assist and are trusted?
Thank you all for the valuable input.
Ultimately after discussing with the family we’ve decided to pass over to our solicitor and let the professionals administer.
And to be fair, the moment we did, another unnecessary weight was lifted
I know someone somewhere will tell you you could have saved two grand on solictors fees by doing it yourself, having gone through it, if you can afford to, it is as you say, a weight lifted. Watching my step dad go through that for his sister nearly finished him off with the stress, and I've done it and whist everything is meant to be 'straight forward' it never is.
Some banks, utilites etc. were great when I had to handle my uncles estate (Saga insurance, especially), its time out of your life to make appointments at banks, turn up for 20 second oath swearing in a town miles away, and HMRC online forms designed for seasoned accountants if theres one slight anomaly with the inheritance along with the DWP "You owe us money, no wait we owe you money, no wait..." letters that I would rather not do again.
Sorry for your loss
It seems to me that you need to contact a lawyer. He can help you figure it out.