Stokkevn

Having seen Mikemike's comment about hassle etc with the SRRV deposit for his wife when he dies got me thinking and after a quick rummage through my paperwork came up with SRRV visa deposit, state pensions from 4 different countries ( 2 do pay her after my death & 1 might ), a couple of non UK private pensions and some investments in Switzerland, All sounds impressive but it is not.

The question is, who the heck does she get to deal with all this for her over here. Bless her cotton socks but her knowledge of finance starts and finishes with what I have in my wallet.

mikemike

''Bless her cotton socks but her knowledge of finance starts and finishes with what I have in my wallet''
DITTO hence my leaving the SRRV scheme

the inconvenience I now get with the 13a scheme is a fraction of the issues the boss would have to deal with on my demise.

Pension issues are broadly similar . So I completed the nomination of beneficiary form. I also asked for projection of widows and childrens' pay out ''if I had died yesterday''' I have placed copies of such in my ''death folder'' with undated notifications of my death for each pensions department.
Notarized certificate of ''financial interest'' confirming the pensions are the only source of financial support, renewed every 5 years. In addition last 6 month copies of JOINT bank statements with last 6 months of my utility bills to show there is a 'financial dependency'

As for the now badly treated UK state pension for foreign wives with British children overseas. There is an online form(cannot find the link) That offers very limited support as it is treated as a ''state benefit'' and does not reflect my contributions.

We do not keep surplus funds in our joint accounts all excess is transferred to her sole account as joint accounts would for probate purposes be frozen on death.

my pensions jurisdiction is UK and this may differ for others

lastly our UK and local wills are ''mirrored'' each to the other

EnglishRed

You may want to check that as my understanding under UK law is taht it automatically goes to the surviving spouse and is not considered part of the estate.

Gazza-d

I think you wi!l find that the account will be frozen until a death certificate is produced.

mikemike

You will find it frozen untl probate is proven. Unless the amount is deemed to be too small. Last time I think it was a value of £5000 or less tfor the whole value of the estate to be probate exempt. Things do change

Lynn R

My brother and I dealt with our late aunt's estate in 2020. The only thing we needed the grant of probate for was her house, she had a bank account with Santander which had approx 25k in it and that was below their threshold for needing probate (which would have been 50k) and they released the funds to my brother as executor after he provided them with a death certificate and a copy of the Will - other banks may have different policies - and a small life insurance policy. The insurance company sent me a cheque for the proceeds after only one phone call, they did not even ask for a death certificate which amazed me.

mikemike

quick google

People also ask

What is the threshold for probate in the UK?
between £5,000 and £50,000
The probate threshold in England and Wales can be anywhere between £5,000 and £50,000. This is because every bank and financial organisation has their own rules on how much money they can release before seeing a grant of probate.Feb 14, 2020

for more detail
https://farewill.com/articles/when-is-probate-required