My mum died earlier this week.She and my Dad made mirror wills each leaving everything to the other.My brother and I are executors,I also have EPA.We are hopefully on the point of selling their house.My question is what do I need to do now?Do we have to apply for probate and if so how easy is it to do yourself?
Will etc
- Thread starter notsogooddtr
- Start date
Yes, you need to apply to probate - and you will need it before you can sell the house. All the answers to your questions are here:
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview
It will depend on whether the house is in joint names with your dad (I'm presuming your dad survived your mum) and whether the house was in their joint names as joint tenants.
If that is the case then your mum's share will pass to your dad outside of the will and you should be able to sell the house on behalf of your dad if you have Power of Attorney for him, and there will be no requirement to obtain a grant of probate to sell the house.
I would suggest that you seek independent legal advice to check the situation.
If that is the case then your mum's share will pass to your dad outside of the will and you should be able to sell the house on behalf of your dad if you have Power of Attorney for him, and there will be no requirement to obtain a grant of probate to sell the house.
I would suggest that you seek independent legal advice to check the situation.
as an excuter to my mothers will we were told everytime it goes to probate even if there is a surviving partner. and takes up to 3 months and that's with solicitors doing it we ended up taking 9 months before everything was sorted and sold .
Where a property is in joint names as joint tenants then the share of the property passes outside of the will to the surviving owners, whether that surviving owner is a spouse or not. This would be the case even if the will left their share of the property to someone else, so in that specific case there is no requirement to obtain a grant of probate to deal with the property.
As every case is different and it's difficult to know what the situation is here, and specific legal advice should be sought.
As every case is different and it's difficult to know what the situation is here, and specific legal advice should be sought.
Any funds in joint bank accounts or other investments also pass to the other joint holders outside of the will.
As has been said, get legal advice, even if the advice is to apply for probate it doesn't prevent you making the application.
Note that passing outside of the will does not exclude the assets from IHT calculations.
As has been said, get legal advice, even if the advice is to apply for probate it doesn't prevent you making the application.
Note that passing outside of the will does not exclude the assets from IHT calculations.
Yes it does. You won't need a grant of probate to sell the property, your dad can still sell the property with you acting as his attorney, but you will need to appoint a second trustee if you are the sole attorney. This is not as complicated as it sounds, and can be done in the deed that transfers the property to the buyers. It might be an idea to appoint your brother, but it could be anyone.
Strictly speaking you should take out a grant of probate to deal with your mum's share of the proceeds of sale, but this won't be required for the mechanics of the sale of the property.
The solicitors acting on the sale of the house should be able to give you appropriate legal advice.
