Lootman wrote:I know but it only takes one ornery custodian to refuse release of funds and then you have to deal with probate.
and I bet it is a world full of jobsmiths
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Lootman wrote:I know but it only takes one ornery custodian to refuse release of funds and then you have to deal with probate.
Lootman wrote:I am a big believer in avoiding probate if at all possible. It saves money, time, effort, frustration and risk.
If as an executor and/or beneficiary, I can get the assets in my hands without probate then I always will. The rest can be sorted out later - possession is nine points of the law, as someone apparently once said.
Clitheroekid wrote:Lootman wrote:I am a big believer in avoiding probate if at all possible. It saves money, time, effort, frustration and risk.
If as an executor and/or beneficiary, I can get the assets in my hands without probate then I always will. The rest can be sorted out later - possession is nine points of the law, as someone apparently once said.
In a case involving a house it can't be avoided, as you won't be able to sell the house without a grant of probate.
Likewise, if there are any significant investments, such as shares, bonds etc, a grant will be required to transfer / sell them.
Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries. These can be a real pain to deal with, and it may involve hiring local lawyers and paying often substantial legal fees in relation to the value of the holding.
Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries.
UncleEbenezer wrote:Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries.
Interesting. Does that extend to assets held on a platform (SIPP, ISA or otherwise), or is it just when you're dealing directly with foreign red tape?
Not that I'll ever have to deal with that myself, but my executors might.
Dod101 wrote:UncleEbenezer wrote:Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries.
Interesting. Does that extend to assets held on a platform (SIPP, ISA or otherwise), or is it just when you're dealing directly with foreign red tape?
Not that I'll ever have to deal with that myself, but my executors might.
I am in the same position but I would be very surprised if there were a problem since the legal owner is the nominee company not the beneficial owner, and that surely is what the foreign authorities are concerned about.
Lootman wrote:Dod101 wrote:UncleEbenezer wrote:Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries.
Interesting. Does that extend to assets held on a platform (SIPP, ISA or otherwise), or is it just when you're dealing directly with foreign red tape?
Not that I'll ever have to deal with that myself, but my executors might.
I am in the same position but I would be very surprised if there were a problem since the legal owner is the nominee company not the beneficial owner, and that surely is what the foreign authorities are concerned about.
I would have thought so too, and certainly assumed that.
Lootman wrote:Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries. These can be a real pain to deal with, and it may involve hiring local lawyers and paying often substantial legal fees in relation to the value of the holding.
I should pay more attention to that. I had thought that overseas securities held in UK nominee accounts, such as an ISA, would be easier to deal with than individual and/or certificated holdings, but maybe not.
Clitheroekid wrote:Lootman wrote:Clitheroekid wrote:One useful tip, if there's time, is to check if your mother has any shares or other investments that are registered in foreign countries. These can be a real pain to deal with, and it may involve hiring local lawyers and paying often substantial legal fees in relation to the value of the holding.
I should pay more attention to that. I had thought that overseas securities held in UK nominee accounts, such as an ISA, would be easier to deal with than individual and/or certificated holdings, but maybe not.
Yes, I should probably have clarified that the problems that I've encountered have been with certificated holdings, not those held in nominee accounts.
This is probably because the majority of estates that I've been dealing with have been elderly people, many of whom have inherited shares from their spouse (nearly always their husband). They often have little or no interest in the shares or investments generally, so have never bothered to deal with them at all, let alone go to the trouble of migrating the holdings into a nominee account - indeed, I very much doubt if the vast majority of these people would even know what a nominee account is.
This also explains the problem with the foreign shares. In all the cases I've mentioned what's happened is that the husband was an active investor, who maintained a portfolio of (certificated) shares. He then died, and his wife inherited them, but had no interest in them. Consequently, when a company was taken over, e.g. Cadbury by Kraft, she would just have binned the incomprehensible 100 page takeover documents, and ended up owning Kraft shares that were traded on the NYSE.
But this is probably a generational thing. As that generation, who dealt only in certificated holdings, dies out, so the problem may gradually disappear - I sincerely hope so!
yorkshirelad1 wrote:Utility bills: I put my Mum's utility bills in my name and her name several years before she died, so I could help her with sorting them out (i.e. the utility cos would talk to me on the phone about her bills etc).
hiriskpaul wrote:I vaguely remember that premium bonds and other NS&I investments often require probate as the NS&I set the threshold very low. I have been dealing with my uncle's estate the last 3 years and remember NS&I being a problem, although probate was needed for other reasons. On a positive note, premium bonds can stay invested for 1 year after death with prizes paid to the estate tax free, which can be useful.
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