Probate
If you wish to instruct us to act click here and complete our Probate instruction Form
THE PROBATE PROCESS
Stage 1: Up to Grant of Probate
- Our first objective will be to obtain a Grant of Probate, which is a document that the Court produces to give the Personal Representatives of the deceased the authority to settle the Estate.
- In order to deal with probate we will need to have all of the financial documents of the deceased.
- Once we have received the documents, we will seek to establish the assets and liabilities of the Estate.
- If there are documents missing, we may have to write to you to ask you to search for any other papers or documents.
- You will need to notify us of any documents which come to light and which we may have not been previously seen.
- We will then write to all the necessary financial institutions to obtain date of death balances. We will also write to such institutions as the Inland Revenue, Council Tax authorities and any pension companies.
- We need to establish all the assets of the estate and all liabilities before we can we apply for a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration if the deceased died without making a will).
- It normally takes about three months to be in a position to apply for a Grant because some companies do not respond as quickly as others.
- If there are any foreign assets, this process will take longer.
- Applying for a Grant of Probate involves drafting a form of Oath in which the details of the Estate to the nearest £1,000.00 have to be declared.
Step 2: After the Grant of Probate (Distribution)
- Upon receipt of the Grant, we will then write to all the necessary financial institutions to gather in the assets of the Estate and to pay any liabilities.
- We will arrange to distribute any specific items that have been left to beneficiaries and if the will leaves specific amounts of money (pecuniary legacies) we will also distribute these
- If the Estate is more than £300,000.00 before we can apply for a Grant, we have to settle any outstanding Inheritance Tax. This involves a careful calculation in order to establish the correct amount of tax which is due and allowing for all appropriate deductions.
- We will also write to the Inland Revenue to establish details of any tax which may be due to or payable by the Estate.
- Each and every financial transactions has to be carefully recorded in order to ensure that the final administration accounts are correct.
- Once all the assets have been collected and liabilities paid, we will prepare final administration accounts.
- We will calculate any tax which may be due to the Inland Revenue especially from any interest which has been earned during the administration.
- We will go through these accounts with you.
- If you approve the Accounts, we can make the final distribution.
- Finally, we will then write to the Revenue to check any outstanding tax which is then discharged thus concluding all matters.
- The process of distribution following a Grant of Probate will take a further 3 months on average - as long as there are no disputes concerning the distribution.