What would happen in this situation probate for first deceased spouse if not done

[wilko73]

I've recently lost my mothers so will be filling out probate forms,this got me thinking I wonder if my mother actually did probate for my late father that died over 25 years ago.i'm thinking that if she hadn't it's going to complicate things greatly.The family home was put in to mum's name before he died as he was ill but I'm not sure if they had individual bank accounts or maybe they even started a joint bank account in those years that he was ill so funds would just pass to her at death.He left a will with her named as executor and I know she wouldn't have got round to probate if it was left to her that's if probate was required.Is this likely to be a problem after so many years?How would they even know how much he had in his account if it was so long ago as surely there wont be any records existing?

[AGoodman]

There is no obligation to take out probate. Think of it as a useful tool to access assets in the deceased's name. If you don't need it there is no obligation to take it out. Banks will often release cash of up to £15k-50k (depending on the bank) without a grant.

Similarly, there is not usually an obligation to file an inheritance tax return where an estate is left to the widow/widower.

[wilko73]

Thank you.i will be using dad's unused Nil Rate Band so wondered if his probate needed to be completed for his NRB to be used?

[AGoodman]

No.

But you do need to claim the transfer of his nil rate band within 2 years of your mother's death. You do that on IHT402if you are submitting an IHT400 or, if it is an excepted estate (probably below £650k) on the probate application.

[AK2021]

We have just been in a similar situation.
Wife died leaving an exempted estate, handled by a solicitor, probate not applied for. House held as tenants in common. All assets went to spouse in the will.
Husband died, we claimed transferrable nil rate band.

The stumbling block we encountered was
Q7 on IHT403 "What was the net value of the spouse or civil partner’s estate passing under their will or intestacy? "
We didn't have that information. House value etc.
We were advised that almost all assets passed by survivorship and therefore not "under their will"
The value of remaining chattels was estimated, and HMRC accepted that.