The March 2017 Budget has made my wife & me think about the consequences of the massive hike in Probate charges. We are both 69 and have accumulated significant savings, partly as the result of my wife inheriting her parents house, which she still owns, and which has been rented out for the past 13 years or so. Her house is worth in the region of £650 K.
Facing the inevitable, it's likely that one of us will die before the other and we are concerned about access to our spouse's savings w.r.t. the need for Probate.
I would assume that savings held in joint accounts should be reasonably easy and straightforward without Probate, but savings held individually could be more involved.
We have significant savings in ISA's and with NS&I in sole names which would be above the providers internal guidelines for release of funds to a spouse without probate. With the recently announced increased charges, the cost of Probate to allow release of her savings could be based upon the value of her let house, £650 plus half the value of our marital home £600/2 = £300 k plus her savings, so well in excess of £1,000,000.
Whilst we are happy to keep our individual savings in NS&I, effectively giving Mr.Hammond access to cheap borrowing, neither of us much likes the idea of exorbitant Probate fees just to access this money as aforementioned. As a result, we are considering putting everything, savings, investments, wife's house, in joint names so that the only requirement for Probate will be upon second death, not the first as well.
Perhaps there is somebody out there who can help straighten out my possibly muddled thinking on this little predicament.
Thank you, Dave.
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