Residue left to spouse

[paulnotcluedup]

Please could I check the process when residue is left to spouse?

The estate is subject to probate.

Would the residue get caught up in the probate process or could these assets be passed to the spouse quicker than this - as the residue will not incur any IHT - even though the rest of the estate will incur IHT.

A large sum of cash is being left as residue and there is concern that it may take a long time for this to be released.

Many thanks

[someone]

Any property owned as joint tenants (including joint bank accounts) passes automatically to the survivor(s) and, at least in theory, all that is required is a death certificate to remove the deceased's name from the title or account.

These assets do not form part of any "residue" in a will although they might be relevant for IHT calculations.

Everything else has to be gathered by the executors and then distributed to the beneficiaries according to the will. Some banks will release funds to the executors without a grant of probate up to a certain limit (which varies by bank) and executors can (but are not required) to make partial distributions to beneficiaries before the full estate is accounted for.

But executors are ultimately personally liable if anything goes wrong during this process - as an extreme example, if the executors released cash to one (of two equal) beneficiary and then while waiting for probate in order to sell the house to raise money for the other beneficiary, the house burned down and the insurance had lapsed or the insurers refused to pay out, the executors would be liable to make good on whatever the second beneficiary should have got from the initial distribution.

There may be additional complications if the executor is a beneficiary - releasing funds early to themselves in preference to other beneficiaries might be a problem - legal advice is required!

[AGoodman]

Residue also covers administration expenses, debts etc. It's impossible to say that the residue can be distributed without full knowledge of the estate but the executors/administrators can make an interim distribution, keeping back whatever they think they may need (and spare) as a reserve.