Probate

[steve-5snwi]

The wife's grandma passed away last night and now comes the fun part of the estate, there is no physical property as the house was sold last year to cover the care home fee's, so everything left is money, either tied up in investments or cash in the bank. Given the care home fees were £1100 per week i have no idea how much is left but for arguments sakes less say its 50k

We are now in the position where we need to arrange the funeral, can the costs be taken from the deceased persons account or would probate put a stop to this effectively meaning the account is frozen and that we would need to cover the costs and then recover them once probate has gone through and the will read (we know what the will states and who it goes to) but as ever where money is involved no doubt somewhere a vulture will appear.

Thanks

[chunder27]

Probate would likely take a while to be processed, so I doubt you could recoup it. I had to do the same thing and it took a month or so to come through.

If you cant afford to pay for the funeral, a solicitor might be best advice, or find a way to have a funeral on the cheap, (not easy or really that pleasant)

[anonymous-user]

There may be no need for probate in the case of a small and non complex estate, but this depends on who is the beneficiary. Funeral costs can be paid from the estate.


https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 31st December 11:39

[anonymous-user]

chunder27 said:

Probate would likely take a while to be processed, so I doubt you could recoup it. I had to do the same thing and it took a month or so to come through.

If you cant afford to pay for the funeral, a solicitor might be best advice, or find a way to have a funeral on the cheap, (not easy or really that pleasant)

With a tiny estate, a solicitor would be the worst advice.

[steve-5snwi]

As far as i'm aware the estate is divided up between the grand daughters, they are also the executors of the will and already have joint control over the finances as she has been poorly for some time. The value should fall below the tax threshold.

[steve-5snwi]

Oh and other than having no idea how much it costs for a funeral i'm pretty sure we have enough money to cover the costs so that shouldn't be an issue, but it would be simpler if we could just use the money before its divided up.

[anonymous-user]

Therefore an easy thing to fund the funeral and probably no need for a lawyer.

[TooMany2cvs]

Who does the will name as executor? The bank will give them access to her funds to pay any expenses - which include funeral.

[The Mad Monk]

steve-5snwi said:

The wife's grandma passed away last night and now comes the fun part of the estate, there is no physical property as the house was sold last year to cover the care home fee's, so everything left is money, either tied up in investments or cash in the bank. Given the care home fees were £1100 per week i have no idea how much is left but for arguments sakes less say its 50k

We are now in the position where we need to arrange the funeral, can the costs be taken from the deceased persons account or would probate put a stop to this effectively meaning the account is frozen and that we would need to cover the costs and then recover them once probate has gone through and the will read (we know what the will states and who it goes to) but as ever where money is involved no doubt somewhere a vulture will appear.

Thanks

What are grandma's children doing? They should be the first to take responsibility?

[anonymous-user]

Expect costs of 4 to 8K depending on how you do the funeral.

[steve-5snwi]

The Mad Monk said:

What are grandma's children doing? They should be the first to take responsibility?

That'll be the wife, we were just unsure if we could use her money to pay for the funeral or if probate would stop us using it until everything was agreed, the wife and her sister have access to the bank already and i believe inherit everything. We have no problem paying the funeral costs.

[The Mad Monk]

Breadvan72 said:

Expect costs of 4 to 8K depending on how you do the funeral.

Dignity are the biggest in the UK. They own a number of crematoria. They operate a number of undertakers under other names. They are possibly the most expensive.

[tiggerjaguar]

I would only advise not to get involved with any company who may be recommended by your bank and who are based in Warwick. Advertise as probate specialists. Many threads on here and elsewhere about inordinate delays on simple estates followed by extortionate fees.

[Paul Dishman]

BV 72 is providing, as you might expect, the best advice on this thread

[Beggarall]

For a small estate like this probate is not complicated and the executors should be able to do this quite easily. Often the banks will allow the costs of the funeral to be paid from current account before the grant of probate is obtained. Getting solicitors involved is likely to be (unnecessarily) expensive.

Edited by Beggarall on Sunday 31st December 14:56

[The Mad Monk]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Anybody can conduct proceedings. Especially if it going to be a non religious ceremony. I think in many ways it's a nice idea to use someone who knew the dead person - not so close that they are going to get too emotional, of course.

Do you really need a limousine to pick you up from the house drive you to the crem, drive you to the wake etc?

[Ross_T_Boss]

Don't take this as advice per se, but with PoA for my grandparents and no funeral plans in place (they're still with us, just about!) I have discussed with the parties that matter and agreed that when the inevitable happens we'll transfer money out of the account to cover the costs immediately, my intention is to pre-empt it to avoid any concerns over timings.

Given this was 2 days ago now, inform the bank, if PoA is in place it would be invalid now but if the executors are the same they may release the funds - entirely down to the institution.

If you can avoid using a solicitor and spare the time to DIY then I would. Check with the bank holding the account, if it's £50k then most likely they will require probate to release control of the funds to the administrator. They all have their own limits. You mentioned investments - this may require probate as well.

As a guideline on costs, recently paid £6.6k for a funeral for my father-in-law, not including the headstone but it was a burial which adds about 1.5k to the cost. Also, chapel and bishop were freely provided, as a regular attendee at his local church. The funeral director could have taken payment from the estate with some proofs, rather than settling it directly, but I just wanted to know it was all sorted.

[anonymous-user]

When my mum died I was working overseas, came back for the funeral for a week, and started the probate, sorted out months later on next visit, her bank advised me to give them the undertaker's bill as they could pay this direct without probate, that would have closed her current account. But my gran was insistent I paid the funeral before it happened, or my mother wouldn't be easy in the grave, so I paid in cash. But bank we're happy to pay direct without probate

[Vaud]

The Mad Monk said:

Breadvan72 said:

Expect costs of 4 to 8K depending on how you do the funeral.

Dignity are the biggest in the UK. They own a number of crematoria. They operate a number of undertakers under other names. They are possibly the most expensive.

The Co-Op are probably the best value for a "chain" and did a great job of my both of my grandparents funerals. ~£3k

[The Mad Monk]

Berw said:

my gran was insistent I paid the funeral before it happened, or my mother wouldn't be easy in the grave, so I paid in cash.

Did you explain to Granny slowly and carefully that it wouldn't make any difference?

Nothing you did, or didn't do, would make any difference?