Hello all.
Have any of you done the probate procedure yourself?
How complicated did you find it?
Basically the deceased left a will and it’s a straight forward fifty fifty split.

Did my grans a few years back, and it was fairly painless. Solicitors wanted approx £1800 to do it.Basically all you do is assemble all the required documentation, get things like house valuation (if property forms part of the estate) etc etc.
Fill in the form, which is quite big but self explanatory and send off.
I'm sure there will be loads of guidance available on the web now.

Al

Never done it but isn't it mainly making sure all debts and liabilities are cleared before you know what the estate is worth.
Must be a legal type on here somewhere.

Did my younger brothers a few years ago and just in the progress of doing my dads. Piece of piddle if you're under inheritance tax levels.

Look up form PA1 and IHT205 and have a read on the web.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/DG_10029716

If you're in Inheritance tax levels then its alot of forms and complications so worth getting a soliciter involved.

Its not just about probate its about accounting for debts, informing the tax office of the final state of tax and claiming a rebate and transfering/selling properties, etc. It takes some time but you can save a fortune doing it yourself.

It can get a bit involved when the deceased doesn't leave a will. My Great Aunt died last year and her estate was divided up into 127 shares!
As long as the will is clear then you shouldn't have too much trouble but any help from a solicitor might be useful, if expensive.

Hi Piddy I have done it for both my parents, it was under the tax threshold and there were wills. Its pretty straight forward.

I suppose it isn't much different here in Canada, but we did our parents' a few years ago, and didn't need a solicitor, but used an accountant for the final taxes. The rest is just running around cancelling things, and making sure you have the right forms.

A legal person will milk you for all you've got, and probably not put money where it is supposed to go, as in the case of my uncle's.

Ah this is about execution of a will?

I don't see why you would need a leech, I mean solicitor to carry out instructions... Especially if they weren't around to fill it with so much jargon in the first place..

I thought it was about some youth offender or community service putting up shelves

done a few now, some simple some not.

if you have a will and its under tax threshold it will take you about 45 mins (honestly its so simple)

if its immediate family its even easier (unless the family situation is complicated i guess).

it only really becomes difficult once you pass the tax threshold and then you only really need a reasonable accountant and still no solicitor.

do it yourself, save the money.

My experience did involve inheritance tax, but was still quite straightforward. No accountants or solicitors required.
You are basically paying them money to assemble information by writing letters, nothing you can't do yourself.

Al