Probate and other Admin after your 2nd Parent dies
Discussion
At the moment this isn't the nice structured and organised post that it needs to be - hopefully it might become that eventually.
The admin / probate tasks on the death of your first parent are relatively simple, and given that (in many cases) you have the surviving parent available to fill in the blanks, also makes things easier.
The tasks on the death of your second parent are correspondingly more difficult and currently I'm making it up as I go along. What I've found out so far is:
Mobile phone - you want this working until after the funeral - Whatsapp is tied to the mobile phone number and that's going to be the only way you have to contact some people
Email - you also want this working until after the funeral for the reasons mentioned above
House Insurance - the current insurer will probably only provide acceptable cover for 60 days after the date of death. After this, you'll need a specialised insurer. To take out this policy you'll need lots of details about the house and also about any prior claims - you may not have these and they may not be easy to find.
Probate - Form IHT 402 to transfer unused IHT allowances from the first parent to the second. What a joy this is. You need a copy of your first parents will, which you probably sent off to get probate when they died. You can download it, but it costs (not very much) and it's fairly clunky. I haven't managed to download the will yet, but I can download the grant of probate - which isn't much use as I already have a copy of this.
Probate - Form IHT 403 - Gifts - another bundle of fun. No gifts were made whilst my Dad was alive, but once he died my Mum started giving away money like it was going out of fashion. I've got a record of all of this, but there's only space for 15 gifts on form IHT 403 and there are many more than that - I haven't yet worked out how to deal with this.
The will - My Mum knew exactly where my Dad's will was, and hers (at the time) was a mirror of his. However, she did mention (in passing) that she'd made an updated will after my Dad passed. I can't find this anywhere. I've initiated a search on the National Will Register, but am not certain of a result. She was a tad confused for the final few months, so I'm not 100% certain that there actually is an updated document.
There's probably more to come from me on this topic, but I'll leave it here for now.
The admin / probate tasks on the death of your first parent are relatively simple, and given that (in many cases) you have the surviving parent available to fill in the blanks, also makes things easier.
The tasks on the death of your second parent are correspondingly more difficult and currently I'm making it up as I go along. What I've found out so far is:
Mobile phone - you want this working until after the funeral - Whatsapp is tied to the mobile phone number and that's going to be the only way you have to contact some people
Email - you also want this working until after the funeral for the reasons mentioned above
House Insurance - the current insurer will probably only provide acceptable cover for 60 days after the date of death. After this, you'll need a specialised insurer. To take out this policy you'll need lots of details about the house and also about any prior claims - you may not have these and they may not be easy to find.
Probate - Form IHT 402 to transfer unused IHT allowances from the first parent to the second. What a joy this is. You need a copy of your first parents will, which you probably sent off to get probate when they died. You can download it, but it costs (not very much) and it's fairly clunky. I haven't managed to download the will yet, but I can download the grant of probate - which isn't much use as I already have a copy of this.
Probate - Form IHT 403 - Gifts - another bundle of fun. No gifts were made whilst my Dad was alive, but once he died my Mum started giving away money like it was going out of fashion. I've got a record of all of this, but there's only space for 15 gifts on form IHT 403 and there are many more than that - I haven't yet worked out how to deal with this.
The will - My Mum knew exactly where my Dad's will was, and hers (at the time) was a mirror of his. However, she did mention (in passing) that she'd made an updated will after my Dad passed. I can't find this anywhere. I've initiated a search on the National Will Register, but am not certain of a result. She was a tad confused for the final few months, so I'm not 100% certain that there actually is an updated document.
There's probably more to come from me on this topic, but I'll leave it here for now.
Tell Us Once - Government service
Tell Us Once will notify:
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax and to cancel benefits and credits, for example Child Benefit
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example Universal Credit or State Pension
Passport Office - to cancel a British passport
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles and end the vehicle tax
the local council - to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (sometimes called Council Tax Support), a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
Veterans UK - to cancel or update Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
Social Security Scotland - to cancel benefits and entitlements from the Scottish Government, for example Scottish Child Payment
HMRC and DWP will contact you about the tax, benefits and entitlements of the person who died.
Tell Us Once will also contact some public sector pension schemes so that they cancel future pension payments. They’ll notify:
Armed Forces Pension Scheme
NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales
Scottish Public Pension Agency schemes for NHS staff, teachers, police and firefighters in Scotland
Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme
Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS)
To close or change the details of the person’s financial accounts, you’ll need to contact organisations like:
banks
mortgage providers
insurance providers
companies that the person had contracts with, like utility companies, landlords or housing associations
personal or workplace pension schemes, unless they’re one of the public sector pension schemes that Tell Us Once contacts
Tell Us Once will notify:
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax and to cancel benefits and credits, for example Child Benefit
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example Universal Credit or State Pension
Passport Office - to cancel a British passport
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles and end the vehicle tax
the local council - to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (sometimes called Council Tax Support), a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
Veterans UK - to cancel or update Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
Social Security Scotland - to cancel benefits and entitlements from the Scottish Government, for example Scottish Child Payment
HMRC and DWP will contact you about the tax, benefits and entitlements of the person who died.
Tell Us Once will also contact some public sector pension schemes so that they cancel future pension payments. They’ll notify:
Armed Forces Pension Scheme
NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales
Scottish Public Pension Agency schemes for NHS staff, teachers, police and firefighters in Scotland
Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme
Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS)
To close or change the details of the person’s financial accounts, you’ll need to contact organisations like:
banks
mortgage providers
insurance providers
companies that the person had contracts with, like utility companies, landlords or housing associations
personal or workplace pension schemes, unless they’re one of the public sector pension schemes that Tell Us Once contacts
omniflow said:
Probate - Form IHT 403 - Gifts - another bundle of fun. No gifts were made whilst my Dad was alive, but once he died my Mum started giving away money like it was going out of fashion. I've got a record of all of this, but there's only space for 15 gifts on form IHT 403 and there are many more than that - I haven't yet worked out how to deal with this.
I just made another copy of page 3.Just on the IHT 403 completion , you should be either able to add pages or add a note referring to a separate schedule even if not in the same format as long as the total carry over number tallies.
It is also possible to group together payments to the same individual within the same tax year and again add a further sheet of more detailed breakdowns.
Obviously this is all after you have worked out what are pure gifts and what are gifts out of additional / excess income.
OT , but I had to add multiple additional pages on the 400 form as regards music royalties including the ability to “ discuss “ how I thought this should be calculated.
It is also possible to group together payments to the same individual within the same tax year and again add a further sheet of more detailed breakdowns.
Obviously this is all after you have worked out what are pure gifts and what are gifts out of additional / excess income.
OT , but I had to add multiple additional pages on the 400 form as regards music royalties including the ability to “ discuss “ how I thought this should be calculated.
And on the House Insurance , always advise the circumstances to the existing Insurer as soon as you can.
Many will agree to stay on risk but may add specific conditions.
Obviously if necessary there is then the specialist market.
Generally if going to a new Insurer the questions are not really that different to any meerkats site so do not require specialist knowledge.
If more unusual or listed or whatever then the original Insurer may still be the preferred choice.
As with all such calls ask for the Bereavement team as even if they don’t have one you may well find a much more sympathetic ear.
This advice should be followed for all calls including banks and the like.
The tell me once scheme is ok but only deals with HMG depts and the previous time I used it then found it was actually better for me to know each part of my to do list had been done.
Actually that’s a tip in itself - make a to do list of everything you need to do / people to contact and have 2 columns. One to tick when called / emailed / written to and one when the process concerned has been completed.
You continue to have my sympathies as does anyone in this position especially when it’s the second parent that has died.
In between the copious work needed don’t forget to think of yourself and grieve.
Think of the work needed as a bunch of individual baby steps not as one giant step which frankly can be very daunting.
Many will agree to stay on risk but may add specific conditions.
Obviously if necessary there is then the specialist market.
Generally if going to a new Insurer the questions are not really that different to any meerkats site so do not require specialist knowledge.
If more unusual or listed or whatever then the original Insurer may still be the preferred choice.
As with all such calls ask for the Bereavement team as even if they don’t have one you may well find a much more sympathetic ear.
This advice should be followed for all calls including banks and the like.
The tell me once scheme is ok but only deals with HMG depts and the previous time I used it then found it was actually better for me to know each part of my to do list had been done.
Actually that’s a tip in itself - make a to do list of everything you need to do / people to contact and have 2 columns. One to tick when called / emailed / written to and one when the process concerned has been completed.
You continue to have my sympathies as does anyone in this position especially when it’s the second parent that has died.
In between the copious work needed don’t forget to think of yourself and grieve.
Think of the work needed as a bunch of individual baby steps not as one giant step which frankly can be very daunting.
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