We’d just like to say thank you so much for all of your help in sorting Daddy’s estate – we know it’s your job but you were so helpful with everything including our million and one questions, we were completely clueless on our first visit to you but you took it all in your stride and helped us through this painful period.
Yvonne & Barbara Pink
Banks often offer to deal with your probate, but you may be surprised at the difference in cost when you speak to a Probate Lawyer. This is because Independent Solicitors like the Probate Lawyer team are experts who can work fixed fee.
You could save thousands in probate fees using Probate Lawyer
Call today 020 8509 6800 or contact us online to see how much you could save on Probate
| ESTATE VALUE | £65,000 | £180,000 | £405,000 |
| Typical Bank fee | £2,600 | £7,200 | £16,200 |
| Typical Solicitor’s fee | £1,300 | £3,600 | £8,100 |
Call us on: 020 8509 6800 to speak to our Probate team
What is Probate?
A Grant of Probate is the legal authority to act for the estate of the Deceased and administer and/or distribute it in accordance with a Will or Rules of Intestacy.
What are ‘Grants of Representation’ and ‘Personal Representatives’?
A Grant of Representation could be either a Grant of Probate (see above), or a Grant of Letters of Administration. The Grant is a court sealed document issued by the Probate Registry to either the executors (where there is a Will) or to the Administrators (where there is no will or no surviving executors – i.e. intestacy). The collective name for executors or administrators, which many financial institutions use in their literature, is Personal Representatives. A Grant of Representation however is not always required when someone dies.
On behalf of myself and my executor, may I thank you for the way you have conducted the business of dealing with the estate. I must say that I constantly felt that your attitude was positive, focused and totally professional. Although this was a very sad experience it was made easier by your assistance, patience and understanding for which I thank you.
Roger M Titmuss
When you need It
Generally speaking, a Grant of Representation (whether it be Probate or Letters of Administration) will not be needed if the deceased left less than £10,000 in total or everything is owned jointly with someone else who is still alive. However it is in the discretion of the relevant institution as to whether they will deal with the deceased’s estate without a Grant of Representation. You must have a Grant to transfer a house or land in the deceased’s sole name and to transfer or sell stocks and shares. You will probably need a Grant where there are individual assets worth more than £10,000 and to collect pay outs on most life policies and pensions.
Call us on: 020 8509 6800 to speak to our Probate team
The Personal Representative’s responsibilities and liabilities
As a Personal Representative you have a duty to oversee the burial, payment of debts and that the estate is distributed in accordance with the Will or the intestacy Rules, which set out who (out of the surviving relatives) is entitled to a share of the estate. You are personally liable to all the creditors and beneficiaries of the deceased to the amount of the estate that you administered or could have administered if you had acted properly.
The Personal Representatives are also under a legal duty to pay any inheritance tax that be due as a result of the death. In order to determine how much, if any, inheritance tax has to be paid the first job is to value the estate. In other words, to provide a financial snap shot of all the assets and liabilities of the deceased on the day that they died. Inheritance tax is then calculated based on the total net estate (all the assets minus all the liabilities) at the date of death.
Call us on: 020 8509 6800 to speak to our Probate team
I cannot find a will, what do I do?
If there is no Will, the estate is considered ‘intestate’. If you think that there may be a Will but cannot find it then you will need to prove that you have searched for it, using a specialist service. If the Will is subsequently found, after the estate has been declared Intestate, then it must be redistributed in accordance with the Will. Liability for an incorrecty distributed estate lies with the Executor, but there are insurance products available for difficult cases which reduce any personal risk.
Call us on: 020 8509 6800 to speak to our Probate team
There is a solicitor as an executor do I have to use them to do probate?
If a solicitor was appointed by the deceased they may expect to be appointed to administer the estate. If Co-Executors and beneficiaries agree that the estate should be administered by an alternative firm or by the Coexecutors themselves then the Solicitor Executor may agree to Renounce his/her appointment but isn’t obliged to do so.
Here to help
We hope this gives you some better understanding of the steps that need to be undertaken after someone dies. Our aim is to ensure that the stress factor that so often occurs when administering the estate is alleviated as much as possible. We offer compassionate and sympathetic advice to ensure that the process from start to finish is dealt with in the most efficient manner possible.
Call us on: 020 8509 6800 to speak to our Probate team
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