probate help

[GOONERLAND]

wife dad passed away although we have a certified copy of will we need probate on family home - its dilapidated but still worth around 900 - 1.100,000.
our solicitor has retired so we are now in process of starting the probate - small current account with High st bank (pension credits only) otherwise NO ASSETS OR cash except property
where do we go from here?

[Peridot]

Hi Goonerland,
Sorry for your loss.
Provided there is nothing more complicated other than having the property and a current account to sort out (ie no shares or other significant assets) you may be able to deal with this yourselves as the named executors in the Will.
Are you plannig on selling the property? There will be inheritance tax to pay on the figures you have indicated. Are there sufficient liquid assets to pay this or will the house need to be sold first? Inheritance tax must be paid within strict timelimits or it will start accruing interest.
This link may help you:- https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inh...on-left-a-will The executor(s) can then decide if they wish to deal with this or whether they feel they need some help from a lawyer.
Many lawyers will offer fixed fees to complete certain aspects of the process. For example you could obtain the valuations for the house and any items of value, closing bank statements and any debts due, then a lawyer could prepare the necessary forms to apply for the Grant and deal with the inheritance tax forms. This can keep the costs down when instructing lawyers. It is always worth discussion options if you do take this route. Then you can decide which tasks you are happy completing which reduce the amount of time the lawyers are involved and therefore the cost.

[GOONERLAND]

Hi Goonerland,
Sorry for your loss.
Provided there is nothing more complicated other than having the property and a current account to sort out (ie no shares or other significant assets) you may be able to deal with this yourselves as the named executors in the Will.
Are you plannig on selling the property? There will be inheritance tax to pay on the figures you have indicated. Are there sufficient liquid assets to pay this or will the house need to be sold first? Inheritance tax must be paid within strict timelimits or it will start accruing interest.
This link may help you:- https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inh...on-left-a-will The executor(s) can then decide if they wish to deal with this or whether they feel they need some help from a lawyer.
Many lawyers will offer fixed fees to complete certain aspects of the process. For example you could obtain the valuations for the house and any items of value, closing bank statements and any debts due, then a lawyer could prepare the necessary forms to apply for the Grant and deal with the inheritance tax forms. This can keep the costs down when instructing lawyers. It is always worth discussion options if you do take this route. Then you can decide which tasks you are happy completing which reduce the amount of time the lawyers are involved and therefore the cost.

Thank you , we found a company that offer a fixed price probate of approx £1500 charge plus court fee £150 and the valuation of property fee 250 so around 2k in all- which i think is pretty reasonable and sees us all the hassle and leg work especially if we can get done before brexit and parliament pass the new court fee charges !

[Peridot]

Hi again,
That sounds sensible. It can be difficult locating all the necessary info and completing the necessary forms. Check there aren't any extra bits they will then be charging for but it does sound a sensible price.
Hope there are no problems and the estate can be sorted quickly and easily.

[GOONERLAND]

Spoke with company today and seems good to go.
As i usually endeavour to attempt these type of projects i had a look at the 16 page probate form and although it appears straightforward there are so many tricky questions that will probably result in the form being sent back so definitely worth passing over to the pros to complete ! However assuming all goes ok and the probate complete lets assume the property is valued at 1.1m and we pay all IHT due( 950 allowance IHT on 150k at 40% = 60K
- 3 months later we repair spending 50k and sell for 1.350 what would we have to pay in tax ?

[Peridot]

Hi Goonerland,
Inheritance tax is calculated on the value at the date of death. If you don’t then sell the property but increase its valve before selling then there may be some capital gains tax to pay on the difference between the probate valuation thanks the sale value received when it happens. This link may help you calculate:- https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax
Your solicitor should be able to advise on the best options re valuations etc.

[des8]

KenziMac welcome, but please don't tag on to someone else's thread.

If you want assistance start your own thread.
This avoids confusion