Hi Raggedrobin
I am just doing probate for OH. If things are straightforward it should be easy. You do have to swear on oath. I went to local solicitor and it cost me £7. Probate itself cost around £200. You may need house valuation. Tell estate agents your parents are thinking of selling, not that you want a figure for probate -that might cost more money!
The estate has to be under £1m, in my case it all came to me, there was a couple of other things, neither of which applied. You can phone the probate office, very helpful and they will tell you. Often you don't need probate anyway BUT if anyone asks for it, it has to be done. I did all the forms, sent them off and probate has been granted. The firms that wanted probate were the firms we both had ISAs with. The chancellor, in the last budget has allowed ISA s to be passed between spouses/partners without losing the ISA wrapper. Neither firm seemed to be aware of this!!
The other organisation that, apparently, always wants probate is NS&I. I was prepared to ignore them, cos he only had £4 worth of premium, but as I had to get probate, I'll probably get round to claiming my £4 back!
Hope this helps!
Just read above two posts. I had dealt with OHs affairs for many years, so no unexpected surprises and all neatly filed! That helps a lot.
Thanks Lyn for reminding me absolutely London Gazette and local paper. I must do that myself!