Probate

If you have been appointed as an executor or a trustee in the Will of a deceased person, you should seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity as to your role, as it comes with a range of important legal duties and responsibilities which may impact on you personally.

You will need to decide at the very outset whether you wish to accept the role because, after taking any active decisions in an estate, you may lose your ability to subsequently renounce your role at a later date.

For executors and trustees who wish to continue to administer the estate, it is also essential to consider whether to instruct a solicitor at the outset or try to deal with matters yourself.

The benefits of instructing solicitors as opposed to acting for yourself are:

• You cannot charge the estate for your own time in acting for an estate so obtain no benefit from doing so
• Unlike the executor or trustee, the costs of a solicitor instructed by an executor or trustee are costs that can be paid from the estate and do not require payment by the executor or trustee personally
• Solicitors are required to hold professional indemnity insurance to cover the risk of loss to an estate which may prevent you becoming personally liable for such loss in what may involve high value assets
• Solicitors run a highly regulated client account into which assets can be safely received and held. Such accounts are not readily made available by high street banks to lay executors and trustees. Further, opening an unregulated current account in the names of the executors or trustees personally, creates an unacceptably high risk of monies being removed unlawfully or without the consent of all the executors or trustees. This may directly result in personal liability of the executor or trustees for such loss whether on a joint or several basis
• Solicitors are involved with the Probate Registry and HM Revenue & Customs on a daily basis. This means that we have up to date knowledge and experience of the sometimes extremely complicated procedures of these two important governmental agencies 
• Solicitors are on hand throughout the process to provide you with advice as to the many pitfalls that may otherwise cause difficulties or risk to the executor or trustee
• The administration of even a basic estate can last many months and can be extremely stressful and time consuming for the inexperienced executor or trustee

Our experienced solicitors will help you to:

• provide advice about the registration of death and funeral arrangements
• verify and value the assets and liabilities of the estate
• advise and assist with Inheritance Tax obligations and calculations
• prepare the application and obtain the necessary Grant of Representation (usually a Grant of Probate)
• collect in the assets of the estate, discharging the liabilities
• use our in-house property team to deal with any land or buildings sales or transfers
• liaise with stockbrokers, valuers and autioneers in regards to share or chattel sales
• liaise with accountants in respect of any capital gain, income tax or trust registration requirements of the estate
• pay out the net estate to the beneficiaries having conducted the necessary checks

To find out more just contact our team.

Our Probate Team