My father died recently leaving everything to me in his will. However when I produced the will and the death certificate, both his bank and my solicitors told me it would have to go to probate. Why?
Although banks, building societies and the like can pay out sums up to £5,000 on production of a death certificate they will require you to produce a grant of probate if the amount comes to more than that. This is partly to ensure that the money goes to the right person, but also so that the size of the estate can be checked in case inheritance tax is payable. In some circumstances the financial institution will ask you to sign a statutory declaration promising to distribute the money correctly and indemnifying them for releasing it.