Grant of Probate

[NoMercy]

My nan passed away at the end of may and left a will stating that her estate is to be divided equally between her 3 daughters. My mother and her elder sisters are the executors of the will. My aunt has applied for the probate to save on Solicitors' fees and they are now awaiting Grant of Probate. However, Santander have sent cheques made out to my mother for all the monies nan had in her accounts.

Is my mother okay to bank these cheques, pay outstanding bills and funeral costs before giving her 2 sisters their share of what's remaining, or has the bank made an error and should she wait for Grant of Probate first?

Obviously the house won't go up for sale until probate is granted but she wants to know what to do about these cheques.

TIA. X

[ubasses]

Santander should have waited for probate, it would depend on how they all get on and if they are happy for your Mum to do that. The best way to keep everything separate is for the 3 of them to open an Executors account at a Bank and pay these chques in until everything is completed, and the Estate can be distributed.

[Borrheid]

It could be that your mother was nominated by your aunt as next of kin. I'm sure as long as she keeps track of all monies received , she won't get into any bother . She could ask the people at the Probate department . They don't give legal advice but they will have dealt with this sort if thing before.

[NoMercy]

It's not the first mistake Santander have made...they "forgot" to send the death certificate off, for which they made a paltry £20 apology!

Thanks for the advice.

[ladybirder]

That happened to my brother and me when we were joint executors for my mother. The cheques came to me and I put them into a joint account we had opened for that purpose - we were the only two beneficiaries as well.

[237SJ]

I agree with the above. When my Dad died, my sister (who was the executor) opened an executors` account and all monies went into that. The banks wouldn`t release anything until probate was granted. The only exception was the current account which was in joint names with my mother so she was able to access the money. Nothing surprises me with Santander though.

[ubasses]

Should have said, if there is any IHT to pay, this must be done before anything else happens and a Bank would agree an overdraft facility if necessary to allow you to pay the Taxman before house sale.

[Buenchico]

If your mother hadn't left a will, and your aunt was therefore applying for Letters of Administration rather than probate, nobody would be entitled to touch the estate until the Grant of Representation had been obtained.

However where a will exists, executors seeking probate can lawfully start 'tidying things up' prior to a Grant being obtained. If all of the executors are happy for the monies to be paid into your mother's account, and for her to pay off any bills and to pay for the funeral, there should be no problems.

Chris

[Buenchico]

I'm not sure what Ubasses is going on about. You can pay any IHT (due from the sale of a deceased person's house) in instalments spread over 10 years. (Only 10% has to be paid within 6 months):
http://www.hmrc.gov.u...instalments/index.htm

[NoMercy]

I am not sure was the IHT Threshold is but Nan's entire estate will not exceed £150,000 as she gave a lot of her money away 5 years ago when my granddad passed.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

[Buenchico]

Assets given away up to 7 years prior to death can still count when deciding whether the IHT threshold (of £325,000) has been met:
http://www.hmrc.gov.u...alue-estate/gifts.htm

[EDDIE51]

Nomercy, as far as I know the time limit for giving money away as gifts is 7 years before death not 5 so you may have problems as the gifts money may still be counted as part of her estate.

[ubasses]

You sound like you are well within the threshold, however if your Nan gave enough away to bring her back over the threshold, after allowing for the tapering tax payable, you will be able to claim any nil rate bank your grandad did not use. So if he left all his estate to your Nan the limit will increase to £650,000.

[Barmaid]

NoM - as long as everything is OK between mum and her sisters, I would suggest that she banks the cheques and then immediately (after clearance) pays the money into the executors' account (if there is one). If there isn't one as long as the money is properly accounted for I really wouldn't worry. technically Santander shouldn't have done this, but as long as it is properly accounted for, no problem.

You know how to contact me on FB should the need arise.

[NoMercy]

Thanks so much everyone and thanks BM x