Has anyone ever needed to get probate? What did you do?
What did I do? Left it to the solicitor, that’s what, even though it was a very straightforward estate. The only thing I did was to go to the Probate Office to swear the oath. It didn’t cost the estate much and was money well spent. DIY Probate enthusiasts might huff at wasting money on professional fees and call me a lazy lump, but never mind. I would definitely do the same again.
Alison
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I bought a DIY probate kit from WH Smiths. In the pack there are some basic forms and a guide on how to complete. They give a web address and access code for all the forms that you need.
As my Dad’s estate was fairly simple to deal with, me being the only child etc, no outstanding debts the process was fairly simple. I started completing the forms and then put them to one side for a few weeks. I later went back (with a clear head) and quickly put right the bits I had missed.
Once complete you send the lot, complete with any wills, to your local probate office and within about 10 days they asked me to swear the oath at a solicitors. Once this was done a few more weeks went by and it was all complete.
I certainly wouldn’t knock anyone for getting a solicitor to do the whole thing. What was driving me was shortly after my Father’s funeral, the funeral directors offered to send round their financial advisor. The lady came round and stated that they wrote to this organisation and that organisation…which I had already done most of. When they quoted me £5,000 for the privilege, I decided to do it myself. The pack cost was about £25, the probate office cost was £215 (a year ago) and the oath cost £5.
Dad banked with HSBC. Their threshold for probate is £30k. Worth bearing in mind as some banks are higher or lower than this.
Good luck whichever route you choose
Thank you. As far as I know the estate in this case goes to the remaining spouse, not sure why probate is needed…
Hmmm, when my Mom died, the remaining estate passed to Dad and then obviously to me when Dad passed. Is there a will in place?
Yes think so, all above board and no hidden millions so should be simples, maybe I’m confused. Thanks for help
My advice would be to Google your local probate office and ring them and ask if you do need to go probate, just to be doubly sure. If not you haven’t spend ££’s on a solicitor.
Some solicitors give a free half hour consultantation, which I found really useful. I did the Probate forms myself - leaving gaps where I wasn’t sure, and writing notes about why I’d left gaps - then had a solicitors free half hour and went through it with him. My ‘unsures’ were clarified and the forms went off to the Probate office. I then got called in to do the oath thing and in due course Probate was granted. My Dad’s affairs were very straightforward, but if you want to do it yourself I recommend the free half hour.