We’re having a family argument about what price executors can sell a house for. I along with my sisters are sole beneficiaries of my late Father’s will, primarily this involves a house that has to be sold. However my sisters are executors of the will and therefore not taking advice entirely on the house value i.e. pricing too high. I am more realistic with the value and would like to know where I stand on this issue, is it up to the executors to decide probate value of the house or should it be the beneficiaries of the will?
Probate Quotes Probate Disputes
Answer to your probate question: what price can executors sell a house for?
It is up to the executors to put a price on the house. If it is too low HMRC could ask the District Valuer to give a valuation and the executor would be responsible for the penalties if he had valued it too low and underpaid tax. If it is ridiculously low, then the beneficiaries might decide to sue the executors for not doing their job properly if they can prove loss. The executors must aim to get a fair price for the house. That said, beneficiaries often tend to be keen for the house to be sold pronto, so “executors sales” are often a little under full market value to attract buyers who can go ahead immediately. But it would be prudent for those who might lose out to agree first.If the executors probate valuations are to high, and as a result, there is an undue delay in selling it he has to account to the beneficiaries. If as a result, the beneficiaries end up with too little they could sue the executor for their loss, but they would have to prove what that loss is in cash terms. That is not too difficult these days! Checking if the price the executors are asking for a house is at least in the right ballpark is relatively easy.But if the executors want to do their job thoroughly, they would ideally get a paid formal valuation from a Chartered Surveyor. That said, getting three valuations from local estate agents is a perfectly sensible way to proceed. Zoopla and many other property sites also have interesting comparisons. But other houses in the same street may be very different for the one your executors are selling. If all the estimates are wildly different or seem unreasonably low, maybe take another opinion. But an executor who prices at the top end will usually be seen as trying to do the right thing for the beneficiaries, as long as they listen to advice on subsequently reducing the price. As an insider tip, they should rehash the details, and put in a different photo and folio number when revamping details. It is surprising how often a changed set of property details will awaken interest in previously uninterested buyers.UPDATE – make life easier….For executors wishing to minimise the burden of insuring, repairing, protecting and selling a property, we have found this really useful service.
Probate Question: probate value house contents.
For probate please advise me on what contents need to be valued in the home. All our furniture, carpets are many years old – how does one value items of little value. We cannot give our teak furniture away. Does one add crockery and such like. Ornaments possibly, and here quite a few items in the house are my own personal possessions and not my late husbands. I am finding this part of probate very difficult. Valuing the house was not a problem.
Probate Answer: how to value house contents.
If the current death may create an Inheritance Tax bill, get a professional value for house contents.If it is possible that Inheritance Tax might be payable at some time in future, then you should obtain a reasonably accurate valuation – you may be surprised that some of your “old” bits and pieces are actually antiques. If it is possible any of the house contents might be valuable, a paid valuation might be wise to avoid HMRC penalties or allegations of selling items below value or favouritism in giving some folk valuable antiques and others throwaway trash. The Taxman and beneficiaries are far less likely to question a written professional valuation. Some Chartered Surveyors may provide this service or maybe a member of the National Association of Auctioneers and Valuers.If there is nothing of value at all, then just make a guess at what it could be worth – a couple of thousand pounds perhaps. What you are looking at is half of the contents, or the value of these which belonged to him, plus half the value of joint assets. And that does include the cutlery, crockery etc, though in most cases that will be of negligible value.If everything is left to you LEGAL spouse, then the valuation may be almost irrelevant, but you still need to retain records, copy Will and HMRC forms to prove that the Transferable Nil Rate Band for Inheritance Tax will be available when you die, and leave up to £650,000 free of IHT rather than just £325,000 (you may have won the lottery in the meanwhile!) (Or more with the new Property Nil Rate Band.)Do bear in mind that the value for insurance purposes is based on new for old – so a really old and tacky sofa could be worth nothing – but if it was high quality it might cost £2000 plus to replace, and that would be the insurance value.
Your probate questions: what price can executor sell a house for?
Probate Disputes.December 2018.
(Free Guide to what to do on death and or probate advice HERE.)
Probate Quotes Probate Disputes
Court fee £273.
Note: Joint assets passing automatically to the surviving joint owner should not be included when calculating the fee.But are you sure you are doing the right thing?If the net estate as above is under £5,000 (see example 2 below) then
Court fee: NO FEE.
Application for a second grant in an estate where a previous grant has been issued.
Court fee: £20.
Additional Copies.Official (sealed) copies of the Grant of Representation if ordered when you lodge your application for a Grant of Representation.
Court fee: £1.50p per copy.
Note: You should decide how many copies you will need and add the cost to your application fee – this will give you the total amount payable. See examples below. It can save you a lot of time when collecting in the deceased’s assets if you have a few extra copies of the grant to produce to the organisations holding the assets.‘Sealed and certified copy’ – if assets are held abroad you may need one or more of these. Please check with the appropriate organisations before ordering.
Court fee: £1.50 per copy (including Will and Grant).
Additional copies (consisting of grant including a copy of the Will, if applicable) ordered after the Grant of Representation has been issuedCourt fee: £10 for first copy then £1.50 per additional copy.You should state the number and type of copies you need on the checklist on page 4 of the PA1 (application form). Please print the name of the deceased person on the back of the cheque. Please ensure you order sufficient copies for your needs, when you send in your application.Please note: appropriate post must be paid. Standard rate postage may not be sufficient. If your forms weigh over 60g they may need to be weighed at your local Post Office.
Probate Court Fee Refunds/Remissions.
If you consider that you would suffer financial hardship if you pay a court fee you can apply for remission (or if you have already paid a fee a refund of that fee or part thereof). If you wish to make such an application you should ask a member of the Registry staff to supply you with form EX160 (including form EX160A). Your application will not processed until the fee is paid (or an application for refund/remission has been successful).
Example 1 of Probate Court fees.
Net estate of £75,000.4 copies of grant at £1.50 each + Fee £273Total Probate Registry Fee £279
Example 2 of Probate Court fees:
Net estate of £2,000.1 copy of grant at £1.50 each = Court Fee Nil = Fee £1.50.Total Probate Registry Fee £1.50.With fees constantly under review, you should always check the fees are correct at that time. Just ring your local Probate Court Office and they will advise you.The Ministry of Justice attempts to justify the increase by saying that in many instances the fees will be met from the estate of the deceased, while fee discounts are available for some who are unable to afford fees.
]]>To Probate A Will, the executors of that Last Will need to go through the process of gathering all the information about the assets and liabilities of the person whose Will needs a grant of probate. Once they have all that information, and have settled any Inheritance Tax Liabilities with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the executors can apply to probate a Will though a Probate Registry. A grant of probate is an official document which the executors may need to administer the estate. It is issued by a section of the court known as the probate registry.
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Once the Probate Registry is satisfied that the forms have been completed correctly, that the Last Will presented for Probate is properly constructed and signed, and the relevant fee has been paid, they will normally call in the executors seeking to probate the Will to swear an oath that the forms are a true and correct reflection of the deceased’s’ estate.Executors who seek to probate a Will without full and detailed care and attention and who lie about this under oath are liable to find themselves in very expensive and very hot water!But it is not always necessary to probate a Will, as many estates pass automatically under the survivorship rules where assets are owned jointly, and other estates are sufficiently small that banks etc may not require that the Will be probated. We have a leaflet on that too. Do I need to probate a Will?Many people do find they are flummoxed by the paper work surrounding probate of a Will, and hand the job over lock stock and barrel to a solicitor or bank. Generally speaking, we offer a much lower cost alternative way to probate a Will, so do get in touch with us before you commit to any other professional dealing with the probate of a Will. Unlike many, we are quite happy for you to do some or all of the legwork yourself, and we even offer an assisted route to probate a Will through DIY Probate UK.com – see the link to the right.