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Probate Form IHT 205

No doubt like many before us, my wife an myself have been thrown headlong into the depths of probate following the sudden death of her father.

Re IHT 205 can anyone tell me if a Civil Service Pension will be classed as an ASP (Alternatively Secured Pension) Question 7 form PA 1.

Also - is it realistic for 2 reasonably intelligent folk (me and the missus) to do this ourselves. My wife (usually a fan of charity shops and bogoffs) is getting so p****ed off with it all she's thinking of employing a solicitor at 200 an hour (ouch - she earns 200 quid a week!)

Reply to
Trevor
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Like you I thought that maybe I could do the IHT200, but when it came there are so many pitfalls you wouldn't believe. So we decided to take on a solicitor to do the obtaining of probate, and we decided to do as much of the distribution as possible especially the transfer of shares to keep the costs low. Our solicitor did not charge a % of estate as some do, but soley an hourly rate...which I believe was 140 quid an hour. Remember that you have 6 months to apply. I think it was worth it for peace of mind.

Reply to
biggirlsblouse

There is nothing complicated about this estate c.a 139K house joint names value 120k everything left to spouse, civil service pension - sums it up.

Reply to
Trevor

I think an ASP refers to some sort of income drawdown arrangement for personal pensions, ie where there may be capital left in the pot to inherit.

Reply to
Andy Pandy

So not the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme?

Reply to
Trevor

Is there any capital to inherit? If not then I doubt it. Phone the HMRC helpline to be sure...

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Reply to
Andy Pandy

My BIL did it, he has no legal training, took a few weeks with a bit of too-ing and fro-ing of forms but it gone done. I think you can phone them up and ask questions like this, no harm in trying anyway.

Reply to
Tumbleweed

Yes I feel I could do it myself, but then I work 6-7 days per week. My wife (whose father has died) only works 3 days per week but has never done anything remotely financial in out 12 years of marriage, and is getting incredibly stressed doubt at the prospect, so the solicitor option is appealing more and more to her, and I'm inclined to agree.

Reply to
Trevor

fair enough, though look at it from another perspective. FWIW I was happy for the BIL to hand it over to a solicitor, but I think he took this view, which your wife might consider...how about if she imagined that she was working for say 50/hour (assuming it took her 20 hours to do it over several weeks and saved 1,000 of solicitors fees? And 2k of fees would be

100/hour!)
Reply to
Tumbleweed

I 'did it myself' when my father died and I found the whole thing very therapeutic as well as being far far cheaper than using a solicitor. I had no special legal or financial training. You will find that the captial TAxes people are very helpful and that there are several good DIY books available.

Robert

Reply to
Robert

DIY - post questions on here or uk.legal.moderated

If he was aged under 75 then there's no way it can be an alternatively secured pension (ASP), a form of income drawdown - . Phone up the scheme trustees.

The Probate Service are helpful

It would be a good idea to understand the process. A good book is essential if DIY. The consumers association Which? magazine books are a great starting place. Most libraries have them.

If you use a solicitor, as a double check on costs, a legal costs draftsman might be worth considering -

Daytona

Reply to
Daytona

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