Probate question
Discussion
I had do do this recently for my grandmother. I'm assuming you are the executor?
As far as disposing of assets goes, my understanding is everything gets frozen at date of death and you can't legally do anything until you have probate.
However, the only people who will kick up a fuss if you do sell something are other executors, beneficiaries or next of kin who may wish to challenge the terms of the will, so if you have their agreement then that bit's fine. You will be financially responsible for your actions though.
I don't know what the DVLA would say though - someone obviously needs to sign the transfer form, which you can't, see above. I suppose you could 'lend' the car with a view to sale, but then she will have to sort out insuring a car she doesn't own, which will be tricky.
On the plus side, once you have an approximate valuation for the estate and if it's less than the £263K threshold then getting probate is pretty quick - that stage of the one I did took 2-3 weeks.
AdrianR
p.s. you probably want to download and read some of these:
www.courtservice.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm
>> Edited by adrianr on Monday 4th October 13:35
As far as disposing of assets goes, my understanding is everything gets frozen at date of death and you can't legally do anything until you have probate.
However, the only people who will kick up a fuss if you do sell something are other executors, beneficiaries or next of kin who may wish to challenge the terms of the will, so if you have their agreement then that bit's fine. You will be financially responsible for your actions though.
I don't know what the DVLA would say though - someone obviously needs to sign the transfer form, which you can't, see above. I suppose you could 'lend' the car with a view to sale, but then she will have to sort out insuring a car she doesn't own, which will be tricky.
On the plus side, once you have an approximate valuation for the estate and if it's less than the £263K threshold then getting probate is pretty quick - that stage of the one I did took 2-3 weeks.
AdrianR
p.s. you probably want to download and read some of these:
www.courtservice.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm
>> Edited by adrianr on Monday 4th October 13:35
adrianr said:I'm going through probate with my grandmother at the moment and the £263K threshold is quite frankly laughable when you consider property prices these days.
On the plus side, once you have an approximate valuation for the estate and if it's less than the £263K threshold...
Just don't get me started on death duties and paying tax on stuff that has been taxed several times already.
adrianr said:
I had do do this recently for my grandmother. I'm assuming you are the executor?
As far as disposing of assets goes, my understanding is everything gets frozen at date of death and you can't legally do anything until you have probate.
However, the only people who will kick up a fuss if you do sell something are other executors, beneficiaries or next of kin who may wish to challenge the terms of the will, so if you have their agreement then that bit's fine. You will be financially responsible for your actions though.
I don't know what the DVLA would say though - someone obviously needs to sign the transfer form, which you can't, see above. I suppose you could 'lend' the car with a view to sale, but then she will have to sort out insuring a car she doesn't own, which will be tricky.
Thanks Adrian. I'm not an executor but my aunt asked my opinion as I'm thought to be more financially astute than my cousins, who *are* the executors! One of them is the beneficiary of the car, so it's not a case of selling anything, just a change of ownership. We all get on well and there are no disputes involved.
Thought: As long as the car is insured... perhaps it can be driven anyway?
simpo two said:
Thought: As long as the car is insured... perhaps it can be driven anyway?
Fairly sure dead people can't hold insurance policies if that's what you mean, but otherwise if she can get it insured then as I said, the only people who would complain are other actual or potential beneficiaries.
There is still some risk, i.e. if it is damaged/pinched or whatever, and daughter denies or is not at fault and then wants an equivalent sum from the estate in lieu which is opposed by other beneficiaries meaning the Will can't be settled etc etc. Don't underestimate the ability of families to fall out for generations over stuff like this!
Jon - I agree, it's a bad time to die, but when isn't? Also you could argue that it's the govt's policies that for good or bad have led to the current housing bubble (mainly by making money cheap to borrow) so you're still up on the deal except for the admin.
AdrianR
>> Edited by adrianr on Monday 4th October 15:56
adrianr said:
Thought: As long as the car is insured... perhaps it can be driven anyway?
Sorted: she rang the insurers and they told her the owner can be named as 'The Executors'. When you think about it, they legally own the vehicle until probate is granted.
Simple really!
simpo two said:
Sorted: she rang the insurers and they told her the owner can be named as 'The Executors'. When you think about it, they legally own the vehicle until probate is granted.
Simple really!
Splendid. I found that different organisations had different policies about what they would and wouldn't do - some were happy with a letter and copy of death certificate, others wouldn't do anything until probate had come through.
FWIW, I don't think the executors do own the vehicle, rather the estate owns it but in this case the effect is the same.
I borrowed a book by Which? called something obvious like 'Wills and Probate' from the library which was quite helpful.
AdrianR
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