Probate - do you have recent experience?

Jaxjacky has explained the complexities Beautful. It sounds as though a lot of work was needed. Remember solicitors have studied for years to qualify and are entitled to a decent income, they have to keep up to date which costs money, they have to be insured and to pay for an annual practising certificate (not cheap), have office overheads and staff to pay and there is a compulsory 20% vat on top of their fees.

I went to probate for a small amount of money that I was entitled to from from late husband ... not that much but had to do it ... my cousin helped me to fill in the forms, can't remember how much, I gave her £50 for helping me ... if I had gone through a solicitor would have cost about £1K I think as just over 6 years ago , not too sure but £7K is extortionate ! Also no where near 1 year ... perhaps a month or two ... not that long at all ... perhaps with the cost & how long some are taking perhaps more complicated & complex

The estate had complex investments; bonds, shares and life policies harrigran.

Your solicitor’s charge is incredibly low harrigran.

£7k solicitors bill for sorting probate ? That can not be right, I employed a solicitor for DH'S estate and it cost me £ 450.

My Mum died in September 2019, her estate went through probate and was dispersed by November 2020. It was handled by a solicitor with a final bill of £7k. Considering this was through Covid we were satisfied.

Yes I would agree doing it on line seems to be quicker as the online form seemed to do most of the work. Dh did it all on line and had to ring the probate office once as mil had a trust fund set up. Person in probate office was really helpful so even that didn’t cause problem. Others folk seem to have more of an issue.

BlushingSheep

I don't understand why my experience shows that probate is so much longer than everyone else's.
There's me thinking that a year was a standard length of time, but clearly not.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what probate means, in that we gave all the info to the solicitor, and a few weeks later she told us that everything had 'gone to probate' but perhaps she meant that everyone who needed one had a copy of the deed of probate.
All I know is that it took a while before everything was sorted out and received.
It's a bit depressing that we're having to go through it all again so soon.

It seems from hearing what other people have to say that straight forward probate is a lot quicker on line than in the hands of solicitors. I may be wrong but it is definitely the impression I have got.

Perhaps their estates weren’t so simple after all, Blue. Unkind to say awful and unacceptable without the details.

26 months after my father’s death and 23 months after my mother’s their so-called simple Wills still haven’t been finalised. And that’s with employing solicitors to execute the Wills!
Awful and unacceptable.

My husband died in October. We had a straightforward will. I’m still waiting for probate
The DWP and his work pension schemes were informed by ‘tell me once’ but I’ve had endless repeat correspondence and hung on 40 mins on several occasions with the DWP. Usually with unhelpful staff
The works pension should be straightforward, I’ve not had a penny. Thank goodness if savings to pay funeral and Christmas expenses.
I fear for women with no previous experience of managing banks, bills etc.

Hi. Our late Dads probate took about 6/7 months. Even though relatively straightforward. Had legal will etc. The only problem was the solicitor Mum & Dad used for their will didn't have Mums maiden name on. So, solicitor Dad used for his new will when Mum passed had to do something about that. All 3 of us were executors so all got emails to be signed several times * Make sure you read & reply with exact wording Probate ask*. Whoops...I didn't on one & all 3 of that particular one had to be redone. Luckily my siblings know I'm not tech minded plus I'm poorly so they were kind lol however it's a legal document & probate need you to write exactly as asked. Ppl think if a legal will left it's going to be quick. No. Sorry it isn't. Probate have to be satisfied we weren't just 3 strangers who had possibly bullied a vulnerable elderly man. Dad wasn't vulnerable but so many are. Hence why takes so long. Had to see all our legal documents of who we were via solicitors. It's a good thing. Dad died last March & we've just managed to close his British Gas account this week. That's been worse than probate. GL x

By the way a will can be contested by anyone who thinks they have a claim up until 2 years after the person has died. So if you make or change a will please use a solicitor and they will help you make it water tight. Especially if you have relatives who you do not want to profit from your death.

Notsoold27

There is no legal time limit for applying for probate

If it’s more than 2 yrs you have to request an extension.
If there were no rules nobody would submit anything.

I did this in January this year following the death of my MIL. Straightforward as only savings - house had been sold before she entered a care home.

Took less time than the website intimated - around four weeks

There is no legal time limit for applying for probate

A simple probate should be done in a few weeks, it it’s more complicated and solicitors are involved there will be no rush, the deadline is 2 yrs unless extended

You have my sympathy Squeeze.
Probate took 3 months for me earlier this year.

I didn't use a solicitor as the costs were horrendous particularly for changing the house deeds. I sent all the documents off to land Registry August 4th 2022.
After hearing nothing back I rang them yesterday.

Conversation went:
MEG. I am calling for progress on case no. xxx
Land Registry Lady: Yes that file has not been allocated to case worker yet
MEG: But I thought it took 3-5 weeks?
LRL: I don't know where you got that from...
MEG: It's on your website....
LRL: It must not have been updated
MEG: It was updated on 4/10/20222 -it says so at the top...
LRL: Oh.... we have a backlog of 1.5 million applications to get through.
MEG: OK. I will clear the paperwork from my dining room table if it's not happening anytime soon.
LRL: I will put a priority sticker on it and will give it to a case handler to see if I can get it chivvied along a bit.
MEG: Thanks.

Lovely Land Registry Lady, but I could distinctly hear Escape to the Country playing on the telly in the background as she talked.

I think this country has been very badly served by it's Civil Servants during Covid and it's aftermath.

Roll on 2023.
Meg.

I lost my Mum Aug 21; the will was held with a Solicitor and it took exactly one year for everything to be concluded; when probate was applied for the solicitor advised us there was a back log; it was finally granted in Jan of this year. Keep strong, it will sort it's self out.

My husband died in February 2021. It took about 8 months because the Solicitors I had were a bit slow but there were some complications as his half of our Home was left in trust for our daughters.

I did probate when I was widowed, almost straightforward but was still stressful. Took around 6 weeks and then I had to go and swear an oath. Hence my dying tidy files for my AC

When my ex husband died, about 5 years ago, our son was an executor and did it all online himself and it was very quick and efficient. No Solicitor involved. And it was a home-made will, but no problems arose. I was amazed.

At the hight of Covid mum passed away (not from Covid)
Not complicated Will, we had everything to hand when filling in the paperwork, we applied on line it was very straightforward .. Within 15 mins or so.. Return email "Granted" paperwork, shocked! arrived following week.
From comments and others experience very unusual but can happen quickly.

I know there were hold ups during the pandemic and I am relieved I was spared them when DH died.
He died in November and I handed everything over to our solicitor before the end of the month. There was a slight hiccup because although I had authorised photocopies of our wills, the originals had disappeared into storage somewhere else and needed to be tracked down,
Christmas intervened but probate was still granted round about the end of January.
Totally straightforward. And the bill was round about £1000 as I remember.
OK we could have saved that but it would certainly have taken longer.

I think it depends on how long it takes to collate all the required information before submitting for probate. Our solicitors were, and still are, completely useless at communicating.
My father died nearly 2 years ago, my mother 21 months ago and still their wills are finalised. That’s with pretty straightforward wills!
I’m fed up with chivvying them along.