The will of my FIL was straight forward ,ie all going to his son and me, it still had to go to Probate .
Thanks for that Muddy, you have just opened another bloody can of worms that I was not aware of 
Of course unless you leave less than ÂŁ5000 all wills have to go to probate .
Youâre welcome .
You didnât think you were going to shuffle off this mortal coil tax free did you? 
Unfortunately IHT once the province of the super rich has now caught up with everyone owing to the rediculous price of houses .
However the good news is this changes this year .
Now you can pass on the family home tax free to a family member up to one million pounds.
Itâs complicated so you probaby will need a solicitor to sort out George Osboure 's tricky arrangement.
Meanwhile itâs all grist to the solicitorial mill
I canât take the credit for it Rehab, it was Swimmyâs idea and I merely agreed with him.
I think I would probably appreciate being asked, so maybe your daughter would too.
Hope youâre not planning to go anywhere just yet though. 
Looks like I will have to hang on then Muddy But thanks for all the info, it certainly looks like I am going to have to get a solicitorâŠbugger!
Just doing a bit of forward planning Mups, prior preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance as they say
When you register a death they fill you in on everything.
They notify all the revelant offices and you can pick up leaflets explaining exactly what you have to do including the probate process.
The good thing is you wonât have to do anything
Yes, you are no doubt right, Rehab.
I did my will a couple of years ago, but I want to change it, so need to spend some time thinking about it more carefully this time.
What would you like me to leave you?
There is NO âdeath taxâ or âinheritance taxâ or any of that sort of crap in Aus.
The entire estate goes to the beneficiaries - less any admin/legal costs.
Muddy beat me to it, with saying probate is required only above ÂŁ5,000.
Mum had the foresight to include me on her bank accounts so effectively the money was mine when she died, so as sole Executor of her Will I didnât go to Probate. I just divided up all the money between us four siblings.
When I did my Will recently I Paid an extra sum of money that provides unlimited changes to the Will, storage, and more importantly the help with Probate, at no more extra cost. My sister and niece just talk to the one company for the Will and help with the process. And should I be a named Executor on two other Wills, they have the same benefit.
(1). If theyâd have gone to a solicitor theyâd have lost a percentage of the Estate, and the process can be drawn out, and (2) I donât think either of them has the time or ability to do the process themselves.
Of course as time goes on I may have to choose other Executors but thatâs something for the future. For the time being, I and my family have peace of mind. All I havenât done is pay upfront for funeral costs! Lol.
When my late wife passed away I took a fixed price deal. I have no complaints whatsoever. They were not overly expensive and did everything.
One less thing to sort when one is upset.
Donât get me started
That does look like the best option for me OG, this forum and thread has been one hell of a learning experience for me, although I have found info on the internetwebby thing, the actual knowledge and experiences of posters on here has put meat onthe bones.
Thank you to everyone for your advise and help, it has been appreciated and it will certainly help :grouphug:
Have you made your daughter an executor of your Will Rehab? Thatâs the best thing to do I would think, both for simplicity and cost. If you make a solicitor your executor it could cost an arm and a leg and I think it can complicate what should be a relatively simply matter of passing on your estate to your daughter. Your daughter who, as you say, will be main (or only) beneficiary can be both executor and beneficiary and she can apply for probate or she can get a solicitor to do it. I definitely would not employ a solicitor to act as executor - particularly if your daughter is the only beneficiary as your Will is not complicated by other beneficiaries. If your daughter feels capable enough she can apply for probate herself and just about everything you need to know (including all the forms required) are available on the tinternet. She will probably have to take the inventory of assets anyway, although you could help her with the bulk of that yourself (before you kick your clogs and I sincerely hope that wonât be for a long time yet). HM Government site has all the information and forms necessary for obtaining probate and in reality it is simply a matter of going through it, step by step.
http://www.probateforms.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PA2-How-to-obtain-probate-leaflet.pdf This link is a good place to start and can lead into all you need to know about the d.i.y of obtaining probsate.
When my mum died, my sister and I were the only two beneficiaries and were also executors. I found it relatively easy to obtain probate and execute her will without the necessity of a solicitor and she had a house and other assets to take care of. I surprised myself at how easy it was once I got into it. Once all assets are tallied up and the forms are completed and probate is applied for, the executor/s then go to make the declaration and probate is granted. The interview is not at all an intimidating process.
Once probate is obtained your daughter will be able to execute the Will according to your wishes, which in your case would mean that she is free to do what she wants with the house, etc. and discharge any debts there may be.
It is only my opinion, but I do think a lot of solicitors make a meal of this business, when in reality for people like yourself and your daughter - where things are relatively straight forward - there is nothing much that the average person cannot do for themselves- even if capital gains tax is involved. Hopefully you will have already done your best to ensure that any capital gains tax which might be due has already been minimised (and for doing that it is probably best to employ an accountant who is expert in these things).
Do a bit of research Rehab and talk to your daughter about it - after all it is her who will be doing the work (with or without a solicitor).
Thanks Aerolor, that certainly helps, a brilliant post and thanks for the links. Daughter is our one and only executor, so she will inherit the house, investments etc. I shall be touching base with here re probate this weekend. She is aware of what we are doing and now has Lasting Power of Attorney for myself and my good lady.
I am a bit concerned about her mentioning Windy Willows retirement Home for the Terminally Confused in The Gambia though:lol: she says I will like it :shock:
It might be an idea , if at all possible to hand over cash, thus avoiding 40%
death duties . Perhaps I am wrong.
Death duties:shock: What? Tell me more:lol:
You must be aware if your estate is worth over a certain sum , the goverment will clobber you for 40%. Bluudy cheek . Nowt you can do about it .
Itâs not that easy to do Apricot. It wouldnât affect you if you were dead, but it could well affect any beneficiaries if HM Government suspected ITax evasion.
It was probably a bit naughty but we took advantage of something called the seven year rule and gave money away. However, you have to be confident (or gamble) that you live longer than seven years from when the gift/s are made, otherwise the tax folks will call for tax to be paid, even if it is proportionate to the amount of time left out of the seven years.