Probate enquiry

positivenote

HI all,
looking for advice here. My wife is executor on her mothers estate (she passed away about 6 months ago) with the estate being split equally between my wife and her sister (their father died year ago). Her mother left a will declaring this split. My wife started the probate process and was getting on top of everything bit by bit, house was valued and put on the market/credit union and bank were notified of her death/very small amount of shares were also discovered.
However, the grief of losing her mother has got on top in the last 2 months and each day is proving very challenging, she hasn't looked at any of the documentation since august. There is just a big folder of stuff that hasnt been opened. Their mothers house is still on the market and her sister is looking to sell her house and move into a new build in the coming few months.
Im not sure how to broach this or help if I can in anyway. Any advice or clarity on what can and cant happen regarding this whole process would be appreciated.
THanks

arubamuuu

I'm assuming if the house is on the market then you've been in contact with a solicitor. You could always ask them to take over the executor duties, in that they trace all the bank accounts, necessary documents, etc and all your wife would have to do is sign whatever forms necessary.

For example, the banks will require the executor's signature to close the accounts. You could get your solicitor to do all the dealing with the bank, get the correct forms on your behalf, and then the solicitor will explain to you what everything is for, your wife signs the form and the solicitor sends the form off and deals with any queries that arise (same for the transfer/sale of the shares). The solicitor may also be able to pay any tax that is due on your behalf as well. Your solicitor could also deal with cancelling any health insurance/car insurance, etc if you ask them to do so. Your wife may just need to contact the companies and tell them XYZ Solicitors are acting on her behalf in dealing with the estate.

Honestly, getting a good solicitor for the sale of the house and to manage the estate will cut a lot of the stress. Yes it'll cost you some money but in my opinion its worth it. Most general practice solicitors who do residential conveyancing will do probate work as well.

3DataModem

arubamuuu wrote: »

Yes it'll cost you some money but in my opinion its worth it. Most general practice solicitors who do residential conveyancing will do probate work as well.

And the estate will cover the cost, so it'll only cost your wife half of whatever the fee is.

arubamuuu

3DataModem wrote: »

And the estate will cover the cost, so it'll only cost your wife half of whatever the fee is.

I forgot about that. Most wills will have a clause before the clauses leaving property to family that all debts and expenses are to be paid by the estate so chances are the estate will pay for the solicitor's fees.

Peregrinus

What others have said. Your wife is going to have to retain a solicitor to handle the sale of the property anyway, and the additional expense of having the solicitor support her in other aspects of the affairs of the estate is probably thoroughly justified. Your wife is grieving, and would benefit from practical support like this.