I realise that this is a difficult question because each persons financial circumstances are different.
I have property, shares etc and nearly everything is in joint names, and a will, If I or my good lady kick the back last my daughter will get everything. My question being about probate, dump it all in the hands of a solicitor or leave her to sort it out herself?
Any ideas, tips or advice would be appreciated.
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We had a Solicitor to do Probate , we were not upto doing with it all ,after the death of a parent the least to worry about the better .
And we didnt want to get it wrong and go through it all again at a later date .
Hi
Solicitors can be very expensive, but very simple.
Have you asked your daughter what she would prefer?
We’ve done both if I had a choice I’d get a solicitor, it’s amazing how easily it can go wrong even with a solicitor but you have come back if they make a mistake.
Thanks for the responses folk, I have done some research and there have been some horrendous stories about solicitors charges, I.e ÂŁ50 for sending a letter, a percentage of the estate and hourly rates for work carried out, thoughts?
Ours did it on a fixed fee arrangement, it was just a case of negotiating the fee prior to them taking it on.
Thanks Julie I will look into that, I think our financial affairs are relatively simple, any idea what ball park figure I might be looking at to do the job?
Probate was done for us in 2013 and i have the paper work to hand , so here are the charges we paid then ,
Their charges for obtaining the Grant of Probate ÂŁ550+Vat
We are told in writing it will be paid also on a time -spent basis on all additional work.
Also a fee of £45 payable to the Probate Registry along with £1 for each official copy …
plus we had to pay a Swear Fee of £7 to an independent Solicitor .That had to be paid Cash to the Solicitor at the time of the signing …
Eliza, you are a star! Thanks, it gives me a rough idea of what I should be looking for.
your welcome 
My daughter looked it up online a reckoned she could do it when the time comes.
I’m really thick where this thing called probate is concerned . Surely if there is a will made specifying who gets what then why can’t the executor just sort it ?
For instance my will was drawn up by a solicitor , my two kids are executors and split everything 50/50 so why should they have to pay to sort it , surely the will says it all .?
That’s what I thought Sue,
But,
Probate is the legal[1] process whereby a will is “proved” in a court and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased.
The granting of probate is the first step in the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person, resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person’s property under a will. A probate court decides the legal validity of a testator’s (deceased person’s) will and grants its approval, also known as granting probate, to the executor. The probated will then becomes a legal instrument that may be enforced by the executor in the law courts if necessary. A probate also officially appoints the executor (or personal representative), generally named in the will, as having legal power to dispose of the testator’s assets in the manner specified in the testator’s will. However, through the probate process, a will may be contested.[2]
From Wiiki
Money from Banks ,Shares and also Deeds of Property will not be handed over without Probate.
If it was things of little value ,this would not be a problem ,
Probate is an official document which the law up holds …
Yes I agree, this might be the best idea Rehab. She might say she would be quite happy to sort it out, or perhaps she may prefer a solicitor to deal with it. Best to ask her I think.
Thankyou rehab and Eliza .
In my head I just assumed my two kids could take the will to my bank and also the will as evidence of my death and transfer of house ownership.
Crikey , dying ain’t easy
:shock:
If a house is involved you may need to look at tax needing to be paid, solicitor knows ins and outs of all that. We had capital gains to pay without the solicitor the first we would have known would have been a big bill arriving.
Or cheap 
I will take your advice on that and run it by her.
Rehab
If your will is straight forward ie all going to your daughter it’s not hard at all.
When completed you just have to swear that the will is true .
You just get several copies of the Death certificate and send it to the various places .
If your daughter sells the house she will only have to pay capital gains tax on the amount it has gained since the day she inherited it.
She will also have a CGT allowance of ÂŁ11100.
She will have to pay inheritance tax if your estate is over ÂŁ325k it is charged at 40% over this amount.