Why probate?

I am hoping for a bit of clarity on behalf of a friend of mine.
He has been separated for over 8 yrs and she remained in the FMH. They remained on good terms and he continued to pay half the mortgage.
His 4 children from a previous marriage are all non-dependent adults living elsewhere and the two non-dependents from this marriage are now the same.

He was about to begin divorce proceedings to sort out the house and finances but she has sadly died unexpectedly from a stroke.
He assumed the house would automatically pass to him as nothing else had yet beenarranged but he has been told everything will now need to go to probate.
Can anyone shed light on what this actually means?

When a person dies their estate, all of their assets and liabilities have to be sorted out. If there is any inheritance tax this needs to be paid.

In order for a person to ''administer'' the estate they have to obtain authority from the court. Depending upon the complexity of the estate, a person applies for letters of administration or a grant of probate.

In this instance a lot will rest on whether there is a Will or not. This should be the first enquiry to make.

Charles

If she''s died without a will all her assets will pass to him as her husband not the children.
All the best
Pete

Unless there is a claim against the estate by one or more of the children..

Charles

I thought the law was the spouse inherits end of.Top of the tree is it not?

Your right Pete but as with all law its a bit more complicated than it seems.

Even if you have a will the administrator has to discharge liability''s before the estate can be distributed, anyone who thinks they have a claim can make a claim.

If you don`t have a will it can be a bit of a nightmare though if married the principal claim remains with the surviving spouse.

So for my will my brother is the administrator and he also has a letter of wishes, long story short when my liver finally gives up my sorry carcass is to be deposited with the very cheapest carcass disposal service he can find, though i did tell him should anyone inadvertently turn up for the funeral to have a bottle of tizzer and some plastic cups just so no one can accuse me of being tight, the rest of what i have is flogged off fire sale style and the proceeds go to the other half, which will last about 15 seconds because my good lady is the queen of shopping.

Ive actually forgot what the thread was about so ill take my leave.