I am having an issue with a very slow moving solicitor who is the executor of my mother's estate. In an attempt to be proactive I have just been looking on the government probate search site (https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills) and on there it shows a Probate Number and a Date of Probate for her will. Does this mean that - the probate process is now concluded and the funds from her estate can now be distributed? - does it indicate that the process has been started and that the case has been assigned a number but that is it not yet completed? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give.

Hi all My mother died in September and I've been putting off applying for a probate grant but I've made an attempt at completing application for probate form, (PA1) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-probate-form-pa1 and Inheritance Tax IHT205(2011) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inheritance-tax-return-of-estate-information-iht205-2011. I've read HMRC guidance notes but I think I'm missing something when completing the online version IHT205 because it flags up that my mother's estate could be liable for Inheritance Tax. I've carefully assessed Mum's assets and liabilities and assumed that once these were entered online it would automatically make the deductions but it doesn't appear to do this. My mother and father took out an equity release mortgage which amounts to £175,000, the property has been valued for probate at £375,000 so I would assume that the mortgage and any other liabilities should be deducted from the property value and other assets. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Should I deduct the liabilities from the assets myself before adding them to the online application? If not, I'll give HMRC Helpline a ring in the morning. Thanks for reading, hope this makes sense.

Hi folks, my mother died in September and I'm executor of her will. I've arranged for for an estate agent to view her vacant property in order to prepare a probate report. I'm also getting two property valuations so that the house can be put on the market after probate is granted. I'm going to apply for probate myself and I don't anticipate that inheritance tax will be due because once sold there's a large equity release payment outstanding. my question is does anyone know the difference between a standard probate report and an enhanced one? There is a fee of £250 for the standard and £350 for the enhanced. I was told the latter was 'to cover inheritance tax', but when I asked the estate agent's rep to explain the enhanced type in more detail, she advised me to consult a solicitor. I don't want a hefty bill for simple advice but wondered if I should have gone for the more detailed report, so if anyone can help I'd be very grateful.

I haven't a clue where to put this because my head is all over the place. My father has had a stroke, and has also got pneumonia. He is now on Palliative care, so it's just a matter of time now. My Dad was a hoarder, so there is a mountain of Paperwork for me to go through, but as far as I know, he has not made a will. He has a Daughter to a previous marriage, but she has had nothing to do with him for many years, and will probably never find out about his death. Then there is my older Brother whom himself has disconnected from our family, and he has not been seen for 15 years or more. Then there is me, the only one who had time for him, and lived nearby. For years I have practically been his carer, but not claiming anything for it. I am the only person who has access to the property, and will have to arrange, and pay for the funeral. His house is not worth much, but is paid outright. I would think that if he had done a will, he would have left everything to me, and I doubt anybody would have contested it. With the above information, does anybody know what happens next, and what I should do? Thanks in advance.

Hi just after some advice in 2017 my mother died and my sister was the executor it has just come to light that she withheld information from the beneficiaries that within 7 years before my mother died she had paid off my sisters ex husband in a divorce so she could keep the property. I understand that this should have been declared in the accounts what rights do the beneficiaries have now to reclaim this payment . this only came to light through the death of another family member who knew what had happened , do we have any rights to challenge this after all this time

a lifetime nationwide mortgage was purchased within a year of someone dying probate was delayed for several months whilst legal issues were dealt with that has now been issued. we have been told by the nominated executor solicitor that all issues... ..i'e the sale of the house to meet paying the lifetime mortgage must be dealt with within 1 years. when does that clock run from? the death or the probate date? we have a feeling the solicitor are pressuring us to accept a lower offer because the clock is ticking from death, when in all truth its nt that date, just to wrap things up quickly when they cant be bothered to properly market the property to attain a better value... who's correct? dx

Hi All, My father has recently passed away on 28th July 2017 following a short illness ( 2 Months ), He has 2 sons and 1 daughter and step daughter. We were informed by the step daughter about the death and she gave the hospital details. We contacted the hospital to arrange for the personal belongings and collect the death certificate only to be told in fact the step daughter had already collected the belongings including house keys death certificate. We told the hospital she was in fact not the next of kin and they said she presented herself as the next of kin the daughter. We have managed to contact her via mobile number with a view to sorting out the funeral and the estate, she has refused to confirm her address as we need to gain access to his flat to collect documents and she has the keys. She has stated she is named on the funeral policy and the is no will, we explained if there is no will all his policies and property belong to his 3 blood children and grandchildren. Due to the lack of contact with the step daughter we contacted the hospital only to be informed that our father is still in the morgue awaiting collection by the funeral director who as yet have not been appointed. We have made an appointment with a solicitor for Monday with a view to sorting out this mess. On another point we have been informed that the step daughter has been using our fathers debit card over the last 6 to 8 months maybe longer without our knowledge which clearly is now looking very strange, the only contact now is by text message and she has stated due to no will she wants nothing to be with solicitors or the probate again very very strange behavior and refuses to confirm her address. We need to access the flat to confirm paperwork and documents but how can we do this if she refuses to hand over the keys. Will the solicitor make some type of court order allowing access so we can sort out personal belongs.

Hi everyone, its been a long time since I posted on CAG. My uncle recently passed away and I have been appointed executor of his will. He lived in the house that he and his wife owned but she is in a care home. In his will he has left all his assets to his wife. I do not expect his wife to return to the house so will I have to get probate. Most of his care was paid for by the local council and now they require details of his death and if probate has been granted. His wife has all her care paid for by the local council so will I now have to sell the house to pay for it? Trevor33

A bit of a story but I am very worried about something. On 21st April 2017 my aunt passed away. She had a son and a daughter (my cousins). She treated her daughter very cruelly all her childhood, whilst favouring the son and at 16 dtr left home, cut most ties, several attempts over years to put things right, no joy. Dtr now happy, loved, housed, and fed, all by her own hand and pure hardwork lol. However, the son is dishonest, used to thieve off his employers, and steal out of his mother's purse. He then set up a business with his sons and has been bankrupt three times (although as far as we know not currently bankrupt). Aunty has left a property worth nearly £500,000, and she was also rather cash rich. Now, my mother and Aunty used to sit and joke about the little nest egg she had left my mum . Mum used to say she was going to give it to the Donkey Sanctuary, and Aunty said at least some good would come of it. Dtr also confirms that on the one occasion when she challenged her mother about the sheer injustice of all this (after all father had TWO children and had he not died at 47 Aunt wouldn't be in the wealthy position she was when she went) was told emphatically "everything to go to son outright, except a bit of money for you, my sister and her daughter. I have only left you money so that you don't try and contest the will and ruin your brother's life!" Aunt also told my mother this several times. Over the last 8 years or so Aunty became more housebound so her son and his wife took over her care and control of her bank account (although not by power of attorney). I know all this from my mother. Moving onto June 2017, my mum died unexpectedly. She was not a wealthy lady at all. I was able to give her the send off she deserved, and I asked for donations to the Donkey Sanctuary. Well, in doing this it reminded me about Aunt's will, and I thought, well if probate has been granted, then I could look at the Will (becomes a public document then?). And do what mum wanted with whatever she had been left. I really cannot imagine I would have been left anything much because my Aunt helped me out so much when I was a kid. But when I look at the Probate thing on line, they haven't registered it. Now, I told my cousin (dtr) about this, and she says "of course he hasn't applied for probate yet, he wants to empty his mother's bank account first, he is not a suitable person to deal with the estate. he is extremely sly and dishonest". Is there anything I can do here? I think my mum was left a small amount of cash, I would like to have that sent to the Donkey Sanctuary as per her wishes, but I suspect my cousin (son) is not applying for probate yet so he can continue to use the cash in my Aunt's bank account, just as if she were still with us. This cannot be right can it? I do not speak to him, and will not be speaking to him. On another note, I really feel for my cousin (dtr). She truly had an awful life with her mother. This is all confirmed by my own mother. And the things I have had to listen to from my cousin, its heart breaking. It was outright child abuse. My late Uncle (who adored his daughter) got early onset dementia and died when he was 47 . He was in a highly paid position with a fuel company, the house was paid off and Aunt received his very generous pension and all the rights that went with that until she died at 87. I feel that my cousin (dtr) should have an equal share in this, and I wonder, does she have any grounds to contest this Will, whenever we get to see what is in it? I do hope someone can help us out here, neither of us have ever had to deal with anything like this, and the first time we try to, it seems full of dishonesty and unfairness! Thanks for taking the time to read.

My parent died 5 years ago and a sibling acted as Executor. I have never seen the Will (despite requests) and the Probate Office has no record which indicates it did not go to Probate even though there was property and effects involved which have since been distributed. I thought I was also named as an Executor (along with a third sibling) but, of course, since I haven't seen the Will I have no way of knowing for sure. I have contacted the solicitors who, as far as I know, dealt with the Will and they say they were not asked to do the Probate and do not know if any subsequent Wills were made but if I wanted a copy of the Will they do hold I would need a copy of the Death Certificate and the permission of the other Executors, the latter being the problem due to lack of cooperation. This being the case, plus the apparent lack of Probate - meaning the Will is therefore not in the public domain - is there any other way I can obtain a copy? I would like to be certain the assets were disposed of in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as I have reason to believe there may be some discrepancy. I have discovered the deceased made several Wills before death (while in the care of the Executor sibling), two in the same month, and the property has not gone to the person the deceased and their spouse (who died first) always wished it to (which was not me, by the way). How can one be certain it is indeed the very last Will & Testament that's been acted upon by an Executor - or that it's been carried out properly? If Probate has not been granted, can anyone who has a Will of a deceased person obtain Probate - in other words, is it the first person to get there, so to speak? Can someone dispose of property and/or effects without Probate? Are beneficiaries entitled to see the Will?

Hi Guys just looking for some guidance and advice please. My mother-in-law passed away middle of 2016. My wife and her brother are named as excutors on the will (which was collected from her solicitors). My wife has taken the lead role in dealing with her estate. The majority of the estate has been left to her with monies being left to grand children, only a few personal items left to her brother. He was given up for adoption and only reappeared on the scene 12 years ago. He had stated early on that he didn't want anything leaving to him as he was already set up for life kind of thing, even though money was left to his son. My wife applied for probate in her name and requested power reserved for him as she needs to sell the house which has been left to her. He is now saying that she has being acting fraudulently on the probate application because he hadn't signed anything. He also seems to think there is another will, the will we have is lodged with probate. We can honestly say that we have never found a more up to date will. He has stated that he has researchers looking for a second will. please can someone advise us, my wife is in total bits at the moment regarding this. Also, we need to amend the details submitted to probate as we have now come across further assets. Does anyone know what we need to do regarding this.

Hi I'm hoping I am posting this question in the right forum? My cousin who turned 50 in March passed away from a short cancer related illness. She was an only child and her mother, my aunt, is in her 80's. They had a joint savings account which they both contributed money into for more than 10 years and when she passed away the account had approximately £19,000. The estate has gone to probate and when the building society were informed, they sent a cheque direct to my aunt for the full amount. We assumed that as the account was in joint names the money would automatically be hers. However, the solicitor that is dealing with the probate has advised my aunt that the £19,000 should be included as part of the overall estate, which I understand exceeds £350,000. Question: As my aunt contributed to the savings account and as it was in joint names, should this still be included as part of the estate?

Hello guys, I hope the brains here can help me please. I am executor for my aunt, with another family member and a partner from the firm of lawyers who drew up the will and were nominated as executors with us. The papers have been submitted to the probate office by the lawyers and they have now submitted an interim invoice for over £5000 to us as executors. I had, perhaps naively, assumed that the bill would be due after probate was granted and the assets were distributed. Would we normally be expected to pay a bill ourselves at this stage? Do we have the authority to say that the lawyer can take the fees from the estate assets? We have incurred expenses personally on behalf of the estate that haven't been paid so far and now they seem to be asking us for money. This doesn't seem right. What do the experts think please? HB

Sorry if this isn't the place but I couldn't find an appropriate sub-forum. I have a very frustrating problem at the moment and I wonder if anyone can help. My father recently died and my brother and I are joint executors of his Will, together with being the main beneficiaries. In 2006-2008 my father went to Cuba on holiday on a few occasions and on one of his trips married a Cuban. She never moved to the UK and he never moved to Cuba – it was more a marriage of convenience for my father to be able to visit without problems with immigration out there. My father has not seen her since 2008 and has never provided for her financially. He has left her a small token in his Will also, plus she will be entitled to a monthly income from his pension. Anyway, we are now starting the gruelling process of sorting his affairs and we cannot find a marriage certificate for them anywhere. For all we know the marriage may not have been legal, but we have to assume it was. We have tried to contact the spouse without success, the number seems to have been changed (the one in his address book) and she hasn’t answered any emails from us, and we are not even sure she is getting those. I have also written to her via normal post asking for the marriage certificate. On top of this, I have also written to the Cuban Consulate to see if they can help me. Unfortunately we have no idea of the date or place of marriage, only that it was around 2007 or 2008 and apparently dealing with Latin countries is a very arduous process. Unfortunately we are at a standstill and I wonder if anyone can advise what we can do to progress probate. I have been advised we will need the marriage certificate but if we get no response and no-one can get hold of her and we can’t find any details or proof of the marriage, where does that leave us? The property still has a mortgage and we have opted to continue to pay this until sale, but obviously that won’t be possible unless we get probate. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. Kxx

Morning Caggers, A friend of mine sadly lost his sister last year, you may have read my post about transporting her body through the country previously, and it transpires that she has had a history of mental illness, which culminated in her death due to an addiction of Paracetemol. During her last few months it transpires that she has made some very odd decisions, possibly due to her mental condition, one of the strange decisions was to instruct a company of solicitors to be the only executor, strange as her mum is alive as is her brother and they have a family friend who is a senior barrister, or may even be a High Court Judge I believe. Anyway it is what it is and she did have a Will, again littered with odd decisions but it is her current Will . . . The main issue for her family is that she did own a property, 50/50 with a Housing Association etc, and there was a small amount of money in her bank. The solicitors in question are doing nothing with the probate or estate, her mum keeps looking after the house and has been paying the Rent/Mortgage, Council Tax, all the Service Bills etc . . . The funeral director is chasing for their money too . . . and yet the Solicitors do nothing with the estate . . . I'm led to believe that this is a common tactic by solicitors that sit on this for a year or two, to justify exorbitant fees which funnily enough equal what cash is yielded from the estate . . . please somebody tell me this isn't true as this would be a disgusting tactic by someone who is meant to be morally whiter than white and representing everything that this proud country stands for legally?

Help needed my husband of 1 year passed away at the age of 83years old, i I was made sole executor of the will and sole beneficiary on his new and last will dated 8 months before he passed away. I had been together with my husband for 4years and looked after him day and night, simply his wife, carer, friend and we had a good life together. My late husband had no blood children of his own nor did we have children together before we married he was widowed and his late wife had a son from a previous marriage whom lives abroad He had completely no contact with my late husband. I made an application for probate only to find out 3 weeks later that my late husbands step-son had put a caveat on the probate. This man is 60 years old and has lived abroad all his life, made no contact with my late husband or came to the funeral. How can this be allowed? I was with my husband day and night at the hospital until his dying day, i live in the matrimonial home which is on my husbands name and there is about 70k in the bank on my husband bank account which rightfully is mine i cannot get any access to it without grant of probate. My solicitor sent them a warning and giving 8 days to reply. Does this man have a right to place a caveat and on what grounds? My husband was of sound mind when he did the will and it is a legit will witnessed by a different solicitors. What can happen?

Hi guys. Can you help me with a problem we're having? OH is sorting out a family member's estate and Cap One aren't helping much. So far they've sent the same letter about five times and not and not answered any of his questions. Who can we escalate this to please? HB

]In a case involving the family, a close relative of mine has almost certainly been unexpectedly included in a elderly relative's Will to the tune of many thousands of pounds. A substantial sum. However, the elderly relative passed away earlier this year, and the sole executor, the only offspring has subsequently delayed the process of probate, to the extent he has not yet made an application. This intelligence is borne out by the online probate registry which as yet is not showing any reference to any application, and therefore no information on the Will. The Executor would have been expecting to inherit the whole estate from his sole surviving parent, and would therefore have been extremely upset when he read the Will to discover that he had not in fact inherited everything. Indeed a sizeable chunk, close to a six fire sum, had been allocated elsewhere. I cannot find any definitive information about this scenario. What happens if the Executor simply declines to register the Will? Does that mean eventually he can claim there was no will/the will was not valid - it is his responsibility as I understand it for him to prove it is valid if there are questions marks ( and it is in his interests to indicate there are); does 'intestacy' rules then kick in, in which case he would stand to gain everything as if the Testator's instructions were set aside. Is there a time period during which an Executor is legally obliged to make the application? I cannot find any reference to this. And finally, is it possible to somehow 'contest' the will, perhaps argue it is invalid ( undue influence etc. or something along similar lines) before it is even necessary to apply for probate, get the Will effectively invalidated, and then claim as the Testaors only immediate relative/offspring of the Testator the inheritance under intestacy provisions? Or, could it be explained that the main assets a property, currently on a leased tenancy cannot be sold until the tenancy is terminated, and that is the reason why the Executor is holding back. I detect a pungent odour of rodent in this current scenario, and that the Executor is cooking something up, but what?

Hi Guys My siblings and I are in a legal battle with my late mother's husband. He is being unreasonable regarding her estate but when we last saw him several years ago he was getting old and was quite poorly. We are wondering if he has actually died and his children are making unreasonable demands via their solicitor. How can I find out if he has died? Is there a central register where deaths have to be recorded?

I have been estranged from my family for many years. I have just been informed that my father has died and that my brother is the executor. My mother is still alive so I take it all my fathers assets are transferred to her My question is my brother being given access to the will when the mother is still alive The death is being registered in the probate office so all assets can be passed to my mother As wills are public documents, can I have access to this will from the probate office even though my mother is still alive. That is what is confusing me Many thanks

My father has passed away and in his will requested a cost effective paupers funeral with no minister, eulogy or any ceremony. He was on Pension Credit does not own any fixed property as such, just normal household furnishings. However we found about £12000 savings. We are ourselves on Pension credit and have very little savings. I am also disabled otherwise we would consider a DIY funeral where we transport the body in a shroud to the crematorium. Funeral directors want over £1000 to perform this simple task. If we are unable to do a cost effective paupers funeral then all his assets are to go to the RAF Association and this places us in a difficult situation as it seems we cannot do a paupers funeral due to the amount of huis savings. Basically it seems our chances of inheriting anything are now minimal. Up to date we have had a few costs regarding his stay in hospitals and care homes over the past 5 months plus purchasing items to make his last days as confortable as possible. We are also concerned whether probate is required as this will be an additional expense. Can any oen please advsie regarding the funeral and probate?

Hi My brother has dismissed the solicitors dealing with our late mothers estate (she died intestate as the will seemed to have disappeared?) and has had the letters of administration passed over to him & cleared her bank A/Cs. He has sent me a really abusive email & has threatened to spend my inheritance. I have sent him an email requesting that he pay my share of the estate into my bank A/C directly. I cannot see him complying with my request. Is there a legal time frame for settlement? If he does not comply with my request is he breaking the law & if so what is my course of action. Any advice would be greatful. Thanks. David

Hi all, A sticky/tricky situation I have which requires your clever minds for advice. My father recently passed away (1/5/14), and I believe he has made a will, according to my younger sister. My sister has told me that herself and my fathers' wife are named in the will although I do not have any proof of this and also have no reason to believe otherwise. The thing is, prior to his death, my father had expressed his wishes that he would like to leave money to his five children (including myself). This money is what is left after he received compensation for contracting mesothelioma (asbestos cancer). My fathers' wife had encouraged him to withdraw money over a period of time and he kept £30,000 at home in a shoe box so his wife would not have to pay rent on their flat when he passed away. She also persuaded him to transfer money to her account from his and also to open a joint account. He has left jewellery including a £10,000 Rolex watch and also a £5,000 ring, amongst other things. My question is this; do I and my siblings have any right to his belongings. My younger sister has said that his belongings automatically pass to his wife and when she dies, what is left, passes to my younger sister and my fathers' wife's daughter? I do not think it is right for her daughter to gain financially from my father's death as this is not money or possessions they had acrrued together, it is from an unfortunate situation. Any advice would be truly appreciated. Thank you for your time Mark

Hello Short background My mother passed away 6 years ago and the estate still has the house. Initially the mortgage wasn't paid for 18 months after her death - neither myself or the co-exeutor were working and in 2008 HIPS were still enforce and there allegedly wasn't any money left in the estate to pay for a HIPS so the house couldn't be sold (there should have been enough money for 12 months of housing costs but co-executor spent it all in six weeks down at Tescos). Roll on to now. I have been in and out of work, used a PPI win to avoid repossession in Oct 2009 (literally arrived back from arranging the transfer to find the court papers on the doormat) Arrears built again - were cleared again - built again were cleared again - currently cleared and my work situation is looking more stable after changing industry - the right decision my income is much healthier than it has been in about 7 years (council tax arrears are next to be cleared in a few months) Halifax did what all mortgage companies did - the computor send the same letter out every month the only difference being around £300 arrears, and £1700 arrears where the wording changes but essentially the same. They charged £35 for these letters. A year or so ago they restructured the mortgage into 2 accounts the capital account and a secondary account of about £2K which I understand is where they put all the charges and fees There is also two sets of legal fees - one for when they used the court to have myself and the co-executor declared the legal owners - co-executor swore he had completed and sent in the probate forms - more lies he is good at lies and bugger all else. Took me two days to sort it after I spike to the probate office and they told me they hadn't received any forms - he didin't seem to know about a few things required when filling these forms in so I know it was lies not lost. The second set is the fees up until issues the court summons for repo - that was stopped a week after I sent the lump sum from my PPI in. I suspect that there is another fee for a visit - I told him to get lost I am going to start with a SAR to find out all the fees added since my mother died. I want to try and sell this year so the getting the fees back is within my remit as executor to maximise the estate value. Lower mortgage left more left for the beneficiaries - me and the lying theiving co-executor. So SAR next week and then the rest of the process starts The mortgage is in the name of personal reps of Mrs XX but the mortgage compnay has a copy of the probate documents so they know I am partially liable for the account Not so brief afterall:oops:

anyone clue up on probate? we have a massive family issue at the moment with a lump of money that has been split between some family members and not others. If anyone is clued up i will explain further. Thanks