Probate and Estate Administration ServicesIf you have suffered a bereavement then the last thing you need is the stress and worry of Probate and Estate Administration. Why not let us take this worry from your shoulders?We provide a full end-to-end probate and estate administration service. Our fees start at £750 and are capped at 1% of the estate value (and may be far less) they are quoted at the outset and are very reasonable, often we even save family’s money as we know the laws of Inheritance tax and capital gains tax very well and we know how best to mitigate them. For free initial advice about Probate (without any jargon) and our free 160 point probate check list call us or pop into our office for a chat. What is Probate?When a person dies somebody has to wind up their estate. Gather in all their assets, sell assets, pay their bills, and distribute their estate as per the persons Will (or as per the laws of intestacy). This process is commonly known as probate. Though technically, it should be called estate administration, as probate is a little different. What is the difference between probate and estate administration?Probate is a type of court order, basically when you are administering somebody's estate and you write to a bank for example, asking them to release funds, if the amount in the bank is above a certain threshold (this varies but typically is between 5 to 10 thousand pounds). Then they will politely reply that you can't have the funds without a grant of probate. The same applies to selling a house, the conveyance solicitor will ask for a grant of probate in order to be able to sell the deceased's house. When is probate needed?Generally estate administration requires a grant of probate unless the person’s estate is quite small. Though if the deceased is married a grant of probate may not required. It then depends on whether the deceased had any accounts or property etc. in their own name or not. For example if Mr Brown died and had a joint savings account with Mrs Brown that had £60,000 in it then the whole account automatically passes to Mrs Brown and a grant of probate would not be required. The same applies to jointly owned property. Why choose us?More> |
Is probate required if there is a will?Whether or not there is a will has no bearing at all on whether a grant of probate is required or not. The presence of a will prevents the intestacy rules applying to the person’s estate, it has no effect on probate. How long does probate take?For an average estate we would expect probate to last between 6 - 9 months. Complicated estates can take longer. What does an Executor have to do?The executors named in the will have the power to administer the deceased's estate. Does the executor have to act?No they do not have to. They can renounce power or they can reserve power. In both cases they could pass responsibility of administering the estate to professionals. Call 01279 260 068 for friendly advice |