Q: Our Mum died a few weeks ago and my sister and I were planning to administer her Will ourselves because we are the sole beneficiaries. However, we have just discovered that the house was in Dad’s sole name and he died over thirty years ago when we were young. We don’t know what happened regarding Probate when Dad died, we think Mum just took over everything as it was likely in joint names. In fact, we don’t even know if Dad left a Will. How do we go about getting Probate for Mum’s Will?
A: It is likely that the house would have passed into your father’s estate when he died, and then passed on to your mother, either through a Will or through the line of intestacy if he didn’t leave a Will. So, the first thing you need to do is establish whether your father left a Will and whether Probate was applied for after he died. You can do this by searching the England and Wales Probate Records to check if a ‘Grant of Representation’ was applied for. This Grant includes probate and letters of administration.
If you have already checked with Land Registry and established that the property was in sole ownership and that probate was not applied for and granted on his estate, you will need to apply for probate for your father before applying for probate on your mother’s estate. Applying for a Grant of Letters of Administration will enable you to legally move the house into your mother’s name and then you will need to go through the process again to pass it to the beneficiaries. You will also need to calculate the value of both estates to determine IHT liabilities.
Whilst you were hoping to get probate without using a solicitor, in cases such as this where the property was not transferred after the first death, it may be beneficial to seek advice from a solicitor.
This question has been answered by Victoria Wilson, a Partner with GHP Legal. If you would like to speak to someone about this or any other legal matter, please visit our website www.ghplegal.com and use the contact us form, or call us on: Wrexham 01978 291456, Llangollen 01978 860313, Oswestry 01691 659194
