Being an executor

Talking to people often helps, better than letter or email.

What I would do, is
Speak to the highest person in the finance department you can get hold of.
Start off by saying “I wonder if you could give me some advice”
Explain the situation
Offer to set up a monthly direct debit to pay council tax going forward and say you’ll settle the full debt once you get probate.

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When I managed my mother’s estate, her bank was very helpful in releasing the balance from her account ahead of probate. I had to sign a form and the amounts were relatively modest but it was straightforward.

Just checking that you have considered this.

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The same here when my mother died no property was involved as I had purchased the house some thirty years ago.

The Probate was required to release the money in one of her two investment accounts rather strange it was the one that had the least amount of funds in ??.

The Probate procedure was a slow long affair back in 2013 so if Covid has had an impact I would hate to think how long this process could take at the moment.

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It’s interesting how the banks/building socieities vary wildy in what they need prior to releasing funds - in some cases the hoops you need to jump thorough and time involved to access just a few pounds are more hassle than it’s actually worth but you have to do so.

AC - this is purely down to an institution’s legal team, either playing safe by stipulating the need for Probate (sometimes legally when it’s not required!) or adopting the reality-route of accepting an indemnity, the latter part driven by their acceptance of the business/operational risks involved - it’s very rare someone tries something on.

Of course, some of the offices/branches of many FI’s nowadays have no/little knowledge of these matters - all part of the dumbing-down at front-office level, the latter having been much reduced in numbers of course.

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