Case studies
Case Study 4 - Jonathan’s Story
We were called by a barrister whose father had recently died. He had heard of our service and was keen to have a meeting. Although he obviously had a good understanding of probate, he practiced in another area of the law and wanted Valued Estates to do everything on behalf of his surviving mother as quickly as possible.
His father’s estate included: -
- A will with several gifts to charities
- A four bedroom house and contents in Berkshire
- Guardian Financial Services portfolio
- British Gas
- Thames Water
- Council Tax
- TV license
- HMRC
- DWP
- Natwest account
- Natwest credit card
- Nationwide
- The Coventry Building Society
- BNY Mellon investment
- Local government pension
- State Pension
- Passport
- Driving license
- Car
Our fixed fee was agreed at the outset and covered the following aspects: -
- All postage, letters, emails, telephone calls and return visits to collect documents
- Obtaining written valuations of all assets including savings, house, contents and car etc
- Drafting and swearing the oath on behalf of the mother
- Completing Inheritance Tax forms
- Applying to the probate Registry for the Grant of probate
- Calling in all assets
- Paying back overpayments of pensions
- Paying out gifts to charities in the will
- Making an interim distribution to the mother
- Arranging the transfer of property with the Land Registry
- Transferring all utilities into the mothers’ name
- Obtaining clearance from HMRC regarding Income Tax
- Obtaining clearance from DWP regarding state pension
- Providing comprehensive estate accounts
- Making the final distribution to the mother
Feedback was sent by email every week to both mother and son to keep them updated with progress. We liaised primarily with the son who was able to continue working as normal during the administration process.
We received a call from one of two brothers in their 40’s who had both moved to Australia. They had returned to Bedfordshire to care for their father in the last few weeks of his life. After picking up one of our probate booklets at the funeral directors, a free advisory meeting was set up with the two brothers at their father’s home. At the meeting the reasons for probate and the process were clearly explained and the brothers ...
We had a call from a 78 year old lady whose brother had died. Her brother was single and did not have any children. She too was not married and had no children to help.
She had been given our details from her niece whose mother’s estate we had dealt with 2 years previously. I went to meet the sister of the deceased at his house in London. She was very uncertain about what her brother had in the way...
We were contacted by a man in his 20’s whose father had passed away without a will. His parents had divorced and he had not seen his two elder brothers for some time and he did not know how to contact them. He was unsure what was involved with his father’s estate as he had become estranged from him after his parents divorced. He had seen our booklet at the funeral directors who told the son that we had recently completed...
We were called by a past client for the fifth time. His mother-in-law had died at Christmas in a care home. The children had recently sold their parents’ house to pay for the care fees. Unfortunately, she had died after only a few weeks at her new home. Probate was required as the proceeds from the house sale had resulted in large amounts of money being spread around several institutions in order to maximise the income available...