Off topic - intenstacy and inheritance rules ( if anyone might know)

[stuart noble]

Forget solicitors! There's a local probate court in Bodmin, with interviews taking place in Truro

You only need go there once to swear under oath. They then send you the probate certificates in the post. You send each of the building societies a copy, and your sister's accounts will then be put in your name. It's wise to request a couple of extra copies in case anyone else needs to see it, but they'll advise you about that during the probate interview. Don't forget, they're used to dealing with bereavement. They don't expect you to be familiar with the process, or to be in any fit state to deal with it.

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[Martin Bonner]

Except that if the administrator is the sole beneficiary, there's not much point. Either the OP pays for the advert, the creditor comes forward and is paid there and then; or the OP doesn't pay for the advert, the creditor comes forward much later, and is paid when they do.

Technical point: If there is no will, there cannot be an executor. The person handling the estate is called the administrator (but the responsibilities are exactly the same as an executor).

[Martin Bonner]

Strongly agree, BUT there is a post up-thread from somebody who got their parents to nominate a solicitor as executor because he feared disagreement with his brother. That is a very good reason to go with the solicitor.

[fred]

In article , sweetheart writes

On uk.legal you were told that the matter was not simple but you were referred to a very highly regarded and authoritative yet simply worded book on the subject.

That was a very good and helpful answer and it is by buying that (reasonably priced) book and working through the relevant sections that you will be able to find the specific answer that suits your own specific combination of personal circumstances.

As stated, the situation is not simple and is more complex than can be answered in a 30 line answer to a newsgroup post.

[sweetheart]

With respect I looked at the Which? book. Like all Which? Books, it is never simple with them. I have been a member of Which ? for 35 years, so I know more than a smidgen about them and about some of the rubbish they write.

I am grateful to the more simple explanations I have received. That is not to dismiss the book, but it is a lot to take in.

n update. I rang the local probate office as suggested. The man there was very helpful and is sending me all the forms necessary and he seems to think it is very straightforward. he checked that she was a widow with no children and that I was her sister and our parents were dead and so left me as the one who had to fill the forms and deal with things.

I get a letter of administration from him which I fill in, send a death certificate, go and see them and they give me Letters of Administration which I then use to get the money from the bank and building society.

I have decided I don't want to sell the house yet, so I will just divide up the money according to what my sister said and then leave it all for a while. if I need a solicitor after that I will have to get one.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its easy enough for an executor to appoint someone else, in case of dissent. It is impossible to wrest it away from a bent law firm who don't want to let go. I know, We tried.

[The Natural Philosopher]

well done!

get an estate agent to look at the house and advise on clearance, value, refurbishment and rentability.

you should also contact local council to advise house is unoccupied: saves council tax.

Do not cut off power or heating. you will need to at least keep it frost free.

And if its to be let unoccupied be aware of potential squatters.

Security may need tightening.

[stuart noble]

Good luck with it all. Don't forget to tell the local council the house is unoccupied. IIRC you don't pay council tax for six months or so, but I may be wrong about that, or it may vary with different councils.

[Ericp]

You do really need professional help in this one. I have been down this road twice, the first with my mother and second with an aunt. The first was easy but I gave up on the second as it got too complicated. In relation to the estate, the second was not to expensive either, and the time saved well worth it.

For the 2010/2011 tax year, the IHT rate is 0% on the first £325,000 (the "nil-rate band), and 40% on the rest of the value, at death, of an individual's tax estate

[Tabby]

Think I've been on enough foreign holidays to know not to bother.

NT

[Tabby]

I did, I just told him his price was out of the question. I only needed help with one complication and asked for a per hour price. You're the customer, theyre the businesses competing for your custom.

NT

[Tabby]

Indeed, I'd sooner deal with an unreasonable brother than hand complete unconditional control to a solicitor. The latter just isnt smart.

NT

[Tabby]

Also inform the house insurer, otherwise the policy is likely to become void. And replace all the locks or lock barrels, or rekey them.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Oh, I have a few memorable ones. Camper across the Mojave desert, grand canyon, Utah, and down the California coast. Cheap and brilliant.

A week in a game park in Africa. Brilliant

10 days snorkelling in coral in Mexico. Great. Not cheap tho.

Oh and a weekend in Seville..great architecture.

[Tabby]

Africa is the one that made the most impression on me, but once is enough. The food in france, yum, but it means giving everything else up to go there. Foreign hols are one pita is the truth of it.

NT

[Tabby]

I could well be wrong, but I understood that if no creditors come forward in a reasonable time they cease to be able to claim in future. Advertising is thus a liability/risk shedding exercise. It does also sometimes let distant relatives/friends that have lsot touch know.

NT

[Clive George]

Wow. Giving everything else up?

There are some things foreign places can offer which the UK doesn't have. Large mountains in the sun is what I mostly go out for. But then my holidays aren't for lounging around. Sure, travel is a pain - but it has rewards. And we can find a long tedious drive just within this island.

[chris French]

Yeah, not really sure what NT is on about here.

Or compared to my experience of French roads compared to ours, the drive can be considerably shorter and be much more tedious...

Ok, it's at the limits of what is the UK maybe, but I was looking at going to the Outer Hebrides - you can get along way from the other side of the Chanel in the same amount of time. We may though go to Canada next year, we will probably make it most of the way in the same time :-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

So put up income tax instead?

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, reduce the state to the minimum necessary to actually stop people destroying each other, or getting taken over by a foreign power, and stop trying to be all things to all men.

The costs would be about 10% of what they are, and then we could afford to buy what services we actually wanted, not what services They think we ought to have.