[Help] Solicitors / Law / Probate

[sydney]

Hi all , anyone in the law business who has knowledge of probate procedure and willing to offer a bit of info .....pm preferred , thanks in advance Syd.

 

[Saunders]

Hi all , anyone in the law business who has knowledge of probate procedure and willing to offer a bit of info .....pm preferred , thanks in advance Syd.

Only experience from the financial side of requiring one but thie law society is a great resource assuming they dont have assets in Scotland. They have their own law society.

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/publi...s/dealing-with-someones-affairs-when-they-die

 

[sydney]

thanks mate ...this is a bit complicated but cheers i'll have a look.

 

[Lincolnshire Seagull]

gov.uk has some useful information, and you can start the procedure online there.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I recently did probate myself. If it's a simple estate i.e house, possessions, bit of money it's not that difficult. You just need the time to learn the process and do all the paperwork. It's just about keeping records and being organised, solicitors wanted £2.5k for the same thing.

I started on Gov.uk. SAGA also had some useful info.

 

[FIVESTEPS]

Saw the solicitor yesterday,opted for them getting probate and me notifying the banks etc.Because my wifes share of our estate is over 1million its a longer form to fill in,I was quoted between £1500 to £1750 which I was happy with as she seemed very competent.Thought you had 6months to apply for probate but that only applies if inheritance tax is to be paid if it is passing from spouse to spouse you have up to a year.As long as all your paperwork is in order it seems to be a fairly pain free process although covid has slowed things down,the times quoted given usual government lethargy didnt seem unduly long.If you opt for the solicitors to do everything they then charge a percentage of the estate I was quoted between 1 and 3 percent.

 

[sydney]

Saw the solicitor yesterday,opted for them getting probate and me notifying the banks etc.Because my wifes share of our estate is over 1million its a longer form to fill in,I was quoted between £1500 to £1750 which I was happy with as she seemed very competent.Thought you had 6months to apply for probate but that only applies if inheritance tax is to be paid if it is passing from spouse to spouse you have up to a year.As long as all your paperwork is in order it seems to be a fairly pain free process although covid has slowed things down,the times quoted given usual government lethargy didnt seem unduly long.

three bros trying to sort out mums estate 2 are abroad solicitors are "working remotely" but not answering phones or returning emails for 3 weeks they are executors ....mum passed beginning of May.....small practice in w.sussex who are apparently being bought out by a bigger company in early sept when all the charging structure , commissions etc are changing apparently.......getting a bit itchy.

 

[FIVESTEPS]

three bros trying to sort out mums estate 2 are abroad solicitors are "working remotely" but not answering phones or returning emails for 3 weeks they are executors ....mum passed beginning of May.....small practice in w.sussex who are apparently being bought out by a bigger company in early sept when all the charging structure , commissions etc are changing apparently.......getting a bit itchy.

Seems like a personal visit if this continues might be in order.A rough quote of costs before they change hands would also help.The solicitors being executors does if they are unproffessional give them the whip hand.Best of luck hopefully the change of ownership is just gumming up the works.

 

[The Mole]

I used a solicitor to apply for probate for my father’s estate. It ended up being a very lengthy process mainly because I was acting as executor on behalf of my mother (she has Alzheimer’s and I have lasting power of attorney). I think if It’s very simple you can do it yourself but I would have really struggled without a solicitor

 

[Weststander]

Seems like a personal visit if this continues might be in order.A rough quote of costs before they change hands would also help.The solicitors being executors does if they are unproffessional give them the whip hand.Best of luck hopefully the change of ownership is just gumming up the works.

Can [MENTION=420]sydney[/MENTION] (or anyone else) get a fixed quote upfront for this matter?

With two of the beneficiaries overseas and the law firm being bought out by a larger firm with no doubt higher charge out rates, cynically I’d be concerned that the final cost could be higher that the often mooted £2,500.

 

[dazzer6666]

Had to do this for my sister (quite complex - divorced, remarried, house jointly owned with first husband, money to go into trusts for the kids etc etc) and then my father (easier) in the last 18 months or so. Government portal and online process is actually pretty good and response times were way better than I expected - dad's probate came through within a couple of weeks of me applying. Would have wasted quite a bit of money using solicitors - there is always the middle ground - you can still get advice on parts of the process without instructing solicitors to handle the whole process if necessary for specific queries.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

Had to do this for my sister (quite complex - divorced, remarried, house jointly owned with first husband, money to go into trusts for the kids etc etc) and then my father (easier) in the last 18 months or so. Government portal and online process is actually pretty good and response times were way better than I expected - dad's probate came through within a couple of weeks of me applying. Would have wasted quite a bit of money using solicitors - there is always the middle ground - you can still get advice on parts of the process without instructing solicitors to handle the whole process if necessary for specific queries.

Yes - similar experience to mine. Only use a solicitor for the things you need to. The actual probate application is very straightforward and there's no need to pay a solicitor 800 quid for basically just filling in a simple form.

 

[sydney]

Can [MENTION=420]sydney[/MENTION] (or anyone else) get a fixed quote upfront for this matter?

With two of the beneficiaries overseas and the law firm being bought out by a larger firm with no doubt higher charge out rates, cynically I’d be concerned that the final cost could be higher that the often mooted £2,500.

its already under way ......they were going to charge us 3% the new entity charges 4 % thus my frustration at them not answering emails or phone calls .....my cynical side has them racking up maguiresque bar tabs in croatia or cyprus ....i'm finding their lack of communication frustrating to say the least.

 

[Eeyore]

I used a solicitor to fill out the forms and run the legal areas of my parent's estate. It makes things easier as one mistake and it gets protracted.

They offered two services. One where they do the legal bits (£1.5k) one where they do it all (£7.5k).

I opted just for the legal bits and did all the other stuff myself with their fact sheets about information gathering. It was easy and the work of a junior clerk. Probably about 5 working days of time that saved £6k.

I would always encourage someone to go down that route.

Also, and do note [MENTION=420]sydney[/MENTION] , if a solicitor fills out the IHT and other legal forms once you have surrendered all the correct info HMRC are inclined to pass things through probate quicker, I was told. It certainly seemed that way too. Might be worth a thought. I thought £1.5k was worth it to take some of the pressure off knowing the forms would be filled out correctly.

The only delay I had was getting my father's tax update from HMRC itself despite it all being straightforward. However, the solicitor would have got it no quicker.

I started the process in May (it involved property) and probate came through in the early October (mainly due to the two month delay from HMRC).

I saved £6k and had the piece of mind knowing that all the legal bits had been done correctly so there would be no comeback.

Mayo Wynne Baxter were very, very good.

Oh, and a note. If you find old insurance books still make an enquiry. I found a life insurance book from the 70s and called them up anyway. There was £1.4k sitting there. It paid the bill. Thanks to dear Dad. It was as if he was saying to us, even as kids, 'I've got this covered'.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

its already under way ......they were going to charge us 3% the new entity charges 4 % thus my frustration at them not answering emails or phone calls .....my cynical side has them racking up maguiresque bar tabs in croatia or cyprus ....i'm finding their lack of communication frustrating to say the least.

Surely if you've signed a contract at 3% then the new entity can't just up it to 4% on takeover ?

 

[sydney]

Surely if you've signed a contract at 3% then the new entity can't just up it to 4% on takeover ?

well these are the kind of things i'm trying to find out but they are just not responding , they have told my brother in UK it could take until the end of oct due to covid backlog .... also they charge a fee after a certain amount of time to hold the money in their account..

 

[Weststander]

its already under way ......they were going to charge us 3% the new entity charges 4 % thus my frustration at them not answering emails or phone calls .....my cynical side has them racking up maguiresque bar tabs in croatia or cyprus ....i'm finding their lack of communication frustrating to say the least.

Although I’m in a different profession, I’ve seen clients face unexpectedly high costs. You can’t beat a definitive fixed quote.

Imho the lack of communication means you should walk away. Otherwise you could be at your wits end in 6 months time. CV19, lockdown and personnel working from home is no excuse, they’ve had 5 months to get arrangements sorted by now. Most professionals I know are now dealing with matters as efficiently as before.

 

[sydney]

I used a solicitor to fill out the forms and run the legal areas of my parent's estate. It makes things easier as one mistake and it gets protracted.

They offered two services. One where they do the legal bits (£1.5k) one where they do it all (£7.5k).

I opted just for the legal bits and did all the other stuff myself with their fact sheets about information gathering. It was easy and the work of a junior clerk. Probably about 5 working days of time that saved £6k.

I would always encourage someone to go down that route.

Also, and do note [MENTION=420]sydney[/MENTION] , if a solicitor fills out the IHT and other legal forms once you have surrendered all the correct info HMRC are inclined to pass things through probate quicker, I was told. It certainly seemed that way too. Might be worth a thought. I thought £1.5k was worth it to take some of the pressure off knowing the forms would be filled out correctly.

The only delay I had was getting my father's tax update from HMRC itself despite it all being straightforward. However, the solicitor would have got it no quicker.

I started the process in May (it involved property) and probate came through in the early October (mainly due to the two month delay from HMRC).

I saved £6k and had the piece of mind knowing that all the legal bits had been done correctly so there would be no comeback.

Mayo Wynne Baxter were very, very good.

Oh, and a note. If you find old insurance books still make an enquiry. I found a life insurance book from the 70s and called them up anyway. There was £1.4k sitting there. It paid the bill. Thanks to dear Dad. It was as if he was saying to us, even as kids, 'I've got this covered'.

yep ....bless their souls eh...?? my folks would be spinning in their graves if they weren't cremated....****ing state of the world.

 

[Billy the Fish]

I do wonder about solicitors. They're obviously capable people but with things like conveyancing and probate, FFS at least be contactable when you're charging so much. They're the reason house sales take so long - open a letter = 1 week, reply to letter = 1 week.

 

[sydney]

Although I’m in a different profession, I’ve seen clients face unexpectedly high costs. You can’t beat a definitive fixed quote.

Imho the lack of communication means you should walk away. Otherwise you could be at your wits end in 6 months time. CV19, lockdown and personnel working from home is no excuse, they’ve had 5 months to get arrangements sorted by now. Most professionals I know are now dealing with matters as efficiently as before.

we can't walk away ...all the forms have been lodged , the solicitor is the executor.