[dagriff]

As far as England goes the tax rate is 40% of anything over 250,000 UK pounds.
Because 250k won't even buy you much of a house in most areas, you could be affected. The amount is taken from the total estate, not you personally. The estate is divided as per the will after the tax has been taken.

In Canada, as the tax has been already taken, there is no further liability as far as revenue Canada is concerned. I suspect it is the same in the U.S.
Please check that out further.
Be sure to inform your bank of what's going on or you may get a visit from "other" government agencies when an amount of cash is transferred to your account!

If it was three months ago I would guess that it has already gone through probate.
The next step is valuation for the tax man. The valuation may not take long, but the taxman works at his own pace.
For instance, my best friend died in Feb '05 and we are still trying to settle the estate. Admittedly it is a very complicated one due to an incompetent lawyer giving him bad advice on how to set up his companies (The lawyer coincidentally died 2 months after my friend. He had a wife & 2 children and no will.... that shows how good he was).
I am paying 200 pounds an hour for one of the best in the UK to sort it out.........

I'm sure you wont have problems like this, but don't hesitate to call the lawyers to speed them along.
They are being paid to do it by the estate, which is indirectly you
Follow up with e-mails (they seem to charge less to answer an e-mail than answer the phone or write a letter.

I know it's hard to be cold and unemotional about money left by a loved one, but you have to put your "business head" on, all the people you will be dealing with will have theirs on.
I felt guilty about it myself, then someone told me if he hadn't wanted me to have it, I would not be in the will. And that he worked his **S off all his life to get where he was, so I owed it to him not to let the taxmen get a penny more than they are entitled to.

Hope that helps. Main thing is call the lawyer, (If after a while you think they are dragging their heels, try mentioning the Law firm of "Clarke, Wilmott" that seems to light fires under people !

ps. incidentaly, that's actualy a picture of him under my user name.