Wills and executors

[Tim Lamb]

I think income after death is taxable. I was told because the *earner* is deceased there is no tax free allowance.

[Tim Streater]

SWMBO says google for probate, there is a gov.uk site it seems which guides you through it (she did her mother's a year ago). Just be sure you're on a pukka UK Govt website. This way, also, you'll be sure to be getting the latest forms and not out of date ones.

[Davey]

I once had a problem with a solicitor, who had kept money of mine for several months, for a deposit on a house, but 'forgot' to pay me the required interest. A letter to The Law Society, and suddenly the solicitor remembered that I was due said money. So it might be worth asking them if that £300 was justified or not. If not, they will have to account for it, and risk their license to solicit.

[ratsack]

It's more likely that they have convinced themselves that she included two of them as executors for a reason, even if they are wrong about that and are unlikely to agree to being removed as executors for that reason.

but the law seems to

IMO the best approach is to do all the paperwork yourself and ensure that all they have to do is sign off on what you have done and so minimise what they can charge you to do that.

But there is the evidence that two of them are included in the will as executors and you'd have to show that that wasn't a deliberate choice on her part to force them to give up being executors now, and that would likely cost more to do than to just do all the paperwork yourself and have them sign off on that.

The estate is certainly due for any tax due on the income that happens until probate is granted, but that won't affect you personally because you say elsewhere that you only get to inherit the property and that the cash is distributed to the grandkids and isn't likely to amount to much anyway, just a small part of the interest on the bank account presumably.

[John Rumm]

Very sorry to hear that Harry. My condolences.

Not got much to add other than, for most folks DIY probate is certainly doable. IIRC there are server guide books available with step by step instructions (and n doubt web sites as well these days)

[Dave Liquorice]

Once the total value of the estate has been totted up, any debts settled, credit colected if that total is over £325k the bit over £325k will be liable to IHT. Pay that (if any) get probate granted and the remaining estate is then distributed, tax free, to the benificaries as per the Will.

If a lump of inherited cash earns interest in a bank account that interest is taxed in the normal way. Likewise invest the cash in stocks/shares, any gain when you sell those stocks/shares will be liable to Capital Gains Tax if the total amount of gains in a year is over the CGT threshold.

If Harry's wife had any investments they will probably need to be sold and the proceeds put into the estate, any gains on those sale(s) would follow the CGT rules.

That is income to the deceased estate though not income to anybody else.

One key rule about tax is that once *you* have paid tax on a given lump of money *you* shouldn't have to pay tax on it again. "Double Taxation" is, generally, a big no no.

[stuart noble]

Wills are usually more trouble than they're worth, especially since most of them follow the intestacy rules anyway.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its a key rule that is broken time and again.

You make money. You get taxed in making it. You save it, you get taxed on any interest. Yo spend it, you pay tax on the transaction. You buy a house: You pay tax based on the value of the house every year, you buy a car, you pay tax based on the value of the car, every year. You invest it, and that transaction gets taxed.

Even if you give it to someone, that can be taxed as qwell.

No, that is not a key rule. The general principle is that if money moves, it gets taxed and even when its standing still it gets taxed as well.

[Adrian]

If Harry's partner had died intestate, Harry would receive nothing.

[charles]

executors have to settle any outstanding income tax bills.

[Brian-Gaff]

From what happened when my parents died, I'd expect it all to last over 6 months before the major items are sorted. This sort of thing with letters of administration and who is happy with copies of documents and who can work from copies etc seems t have been designed deliberately to cause as much chaos to the persons life as possible, with costs at every turn. all one ends up doing is keeping meticulous records of who has had what and all the letters back and forth. I found banks amongst the most snotty nosed people to get facts anode action out of. It also might be worth asking the solicitor if they would be open to just a fixed fee for doing certain parts of the executors job rather than taking it all on, as we did, but as you say, they may well be obstructive in this regard. Brian

[ratsack]

That's not correct.

and the proceeds put into the estate, any gains on those sale(s)

[F]

Partner.

[ratsack]

Wrong when you want something different to what the intestacy rules produce, as they do in this case.

especially since most

Most is irrelevant, what matters is what you want to happen.

[F]

Condolences.

Probate is *usually* simple. It's just a case of collecting the information required for a couple of forms which you can complete online. I was executor, with my brother, on my father's Will and we agreed I would sort it out by myself. I had probate granted within a month of his death. It's not difficult.

Best of luck in escaping the solicitors!

[RobertL]

On the IHT forms the OP will need to list all the gifts she made during the last 7 years of her life (gifts to anyone, not just to the OP).

Robert

[The Natural Philosopher]

that depends on whether the law recognises and unofficial marriage as a real marriage: I can assure you that it is probably true.

One of the reasons to get married is to give legal status to a partner that they don't otherwise have.

[RobertL]

The difference might not be due to the different company procedures. It is possible that the OP's name was specified on the first policy (but not the second) so no probate was required to distribute the money of the first policy. Robert

[ratsack]

I don?t believe that. That isn't what happened with the investments that I inherited from my father.

You don?t need that with a valid will.

[Adrian]