Is it difficult to do yourself. Has anyone ever done it?

I have heard it`s easy to do yourself but we`ve always had a solicitor as business`s were involved.

I did it myself, and yes, it is pretty easy, and will save you a small fortune.

I did find the Probate Office very helpful to me because I was going it alone, they were fantastic and guided me through the whole process. I would never pay a solicitor to do it, they charge way too much.

The solicitor was going to charge around £2000 for an estate of around £170.000. We thought that was a bit pricey as there is no property involved so we are going to go it alone.

As far as I can see it only costs £90 and a bit of paperwork on our part and a visit to the probate office so i don't see how they justify such fees. We did only ask for a rough estimate and he said it could be a bit less than that but knowing solicitors probably not much less.

Hello again Mazwad,

It's all very well trying to save on fees, but ultimately for financial institutions you will have to 'legally authenticate the last will and testament' of the person in question and whoever is 'legally bound by law to disperse of the estate' according to the last will and testament is normally a solicitor. Who also ensures that all monies and taxes are paid before the beneficaries can receive what the will states. The whole probate process takes anything from six months to 2 years.

I should do it the legal route and then at least you will get it done without any hic-ups. Do it yourself and you could end up liable for all sorts if you make a mistake.

There has also been some recent legal changes with regard to 'Power of Attorney and Endearing Power of Attorney' so handling this through a recognised legal option may be the only suitable one in the light of these changes.

2k from approximately 170k is well below the legal industry standard and for peace of mind and perfection is worth it.

Good luck.

Maureen
Northern angel.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you NA. I have been aiding a lot of people to go it alone, even to a couple of months ago. The Probate Offices are fantastic and will guide you all the way, advise on solicitors they use specifically, and even correct/ammend any errors you have made to your detriment.

Solicitors are the ultimate in rip-offs and time. I will be doing another before too long sadly, and have no worries about a DIY process. I also know I can complete way faster than the legal beagles.

I have to agree with la freak here as even the solicitor told us it is not that difficult as there is no property to dispose of just a couple of accounts and a few small life policies.

We are definitely going the DIY route and if it takes 6 months or more so be it we are in no hurry for the money. I also will take great pleasure in making her daughters wait for theirs as they didn't even bother coming when we told them their mum was fading, one only lives 6 miles away so there was no reason why she couldn't have come.

It sounds like you've really made up your mind Mazwad. I wish you the very best of luck.

Having dealt with two estates personally one with property the other without and stumbled across bank officials who were never very helpful I was forced into doing things through a solicitor. All else was not acceptable.

The easiest was the small estate of 23k in savings, the most troublesome concerned fixed capital assets with a property then worth 80K now a whopping 195k in the space of 2 years also with life insurances, money in the banks and other policies totalling somewhere in excess of 250k. The latter took 10 months from start to finish to sort out although I had been told it could take anything up to 2 years or longer if a Will was contested.

I truly wish you the best of luck.

Maureen
Northern angel

Just a quick update that may be of interest to anyone else not wishing to pay exhorbitant solicitors fees.

We applied for the forms, collected the will from the solicitors, filled in the forms and Mr M's brother took them to Brighton probate office where was given an appointment to get grant of probate on 27th feb.

Pretty quick and so far simple. Other than the probate forms we had to fill in forms for life insurance, a bank account and a building society bond. It seems all we do then is send the grant of probate when it is issued to the various places and they release the funds to the named executor.

The two grand we saved is going on a holiday for the four of us to Gran Canaria in April.

Well done Maz. The thing is, if you DO get in dire straits doing it, you can always fall back onto a solicitor, but to be honest, unless it's a very complicated will you can easily DIY the whole thing, and like you say, save a bomb!

Enjoy that holiday, you have worked for it, 2 grand for a few hours work eh? No wonder solicitors are so dammed rich!

Thanks La freak it was your post on here that was the deciding factor as we were trying to find out who had gone it alone and how difficult it was.

I shall drink a toast to you on my hols.

One more question, Mr M's brother is getting the grant on his own as we live to far apart, Mr M is retaining an interest. An executors account is being opened to gather the monies in can cheques made out to late MIL be paid into it?

No wonder solicitors are so dammed rich!

That's what kind of sticks in my throat, they get paid a mint for when you think about not doing a lot! Well done Maz, I mean why should you fill the pockets of these solicitors, why should they get their hand on your money?

We had unfortunately use the services of a laywer when we had to evict our tenant at the cost of £50 per hour!!! We were lucky it didn't have to go to court and she left before this happened as he could have been in court all day waiting to be called, and even though he would have been sitting around doing nothing we would have still be charged £50 per hour!

One of my friends recently sold their house, in fact there were three house being sold each to each other iyswim - they all saved themselves a fortune by not getting solicitors involved!

Maz, when my auntie died my cousin phoned her catalogue as she had an account with them to let them know, they then sent out a commission cheque in her name and the bank refused to cash it - my auntie's husband & her brother were executors. Sorry that doesn't really answer your question does it?

Probate has now been granted. It took just under a month from filling in the forms to receiving the grant, definitely worth by passing costly solicitors as all it involved was writing a few letters and filling in a few forms and swearing an oath. Total cost £93 and a bit of postage.

Probate has now been granted. It took just under a month from filling in the forms to receiving the grant, definitely worth by passing costly solicitors as all it involved was writing a few letters and filling in a few forms and swearing an oath. Total cost £93 and a bit of postage.

Im glad things are sorting themselves out Maz, we were granted probate 9 months ago for Mr I - the solicitors STILL havent settled his estate yet - and it had to be done by them as my darling step kids didnt trust me to do it for them, they thought I would rip them off (they were "advised" by their mother who said I would steal everything off them - she is a bit of a muppet who doesnt really understand the LAW!!!!) but hey, guess who is left to pay the bill........not ME!!!! (although the kids demanded to know why the legal fees were coming out of THEIR money and why I wasnt paying for it all!!)

Sorry to hear yours isn't sorted yet Isis but pleased you aren't having to fork out for the fees. We would have had to pay all legal fees on this one along with Mr M's brother because of the way the will was written.

They do get a larger share though that was meant to cover any expenses so they have saved themselves some money for a little bit of effort. Not sure how the others will view it but it was all legal and above board.

No Isis, you will for sure not be responsible for any bills, they all have to come out of the estate.

Maz, I am delighted it all worked out so well, you always had a crutch tho, as in being able to go to a solicitor if needed, but I doubted you would need to ~ well done!

One word of warning about all this. I lost my Gran just a few years ago, sadly she outlived all her children and was a widow. I was officially next of kin as the oldest Grandchild, and I got the full bill for her funeral/cremation, even though she had nothing to leave to cover the expense herself.

It is worth looking into 'prepaying' funeral costs plans. That nearly broke me, and came as a shock as the cost was over £2,000, and it really was down to me to pay.

No Isis, you will for sure not be responsible for any bills, they all have to come out of the estate.


Hi! Yes I am aware of that, unfortunately my step kids have hit the "real world" with a huuuuge bang and their f**kwit mother fills their head full of ignornant sh**e on a daily basis........

They havent even considered that there may be liabilities to do with their Dad's estate (there arent any, as we had the necessary insurance cover on credit cards and finance), all they see is POUND signs!

It is all such a messy business, I feel for anyone who is going through something similar......