[Margaret Pilkington]

They still make money from you once your ,over one has passed.
Yes, you can apply for probate yourself….but I am not sure how easy it is…..and you still have to pay for this….if you get it wrong and have to reapply you have to pay again.
The commissioners of Oaths….well that was done in the presence of a solicitor…..neither of these people do it for nowt……so you still end up stumping up.
They make money out of the dealing with any property in the estate too.
The solicitors are required to ensure that you are not practicing any avoidance of Inheritance tax too.
You are only allowed to dispose of limited funds as gifts in the last seven years preceding the death…..so there are quite a lot of traps.
I know that I learned an awful lot about dealing with an estate during the time after Ma died.
The biggest lesson was blood is NOT thicker than water…..and where there is money to be had, some of those you called family, can turn nasty and show their true colours.