Probate

Do you have questions about your role as an executor? Or perhaps you want to hand over the responsibility entirely? Whatever help you need, our solicitors can make the process easier.

What is probate?

Probate is the legal right to deal with someone’s property, money, and possessions when they die. You need to get probate before you can start dealing with the estate. For example, you can’t put a property on the market until you have probate.

Usually you will need to apply to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Probate before you can transfer, sell, or distribute any of the assets.

If the person died without making a Will, you’ll need to apply for Letters of Administration instead.

How we can help

Our solicitors offer you sensitive and practical support and give you peace of mind that you're administering the estate correctly.

Guidance and supervision

We can answer your questions and carry out some of the administrative paperwork. Often we’ll lodge the Will with the probate office, and make sure the right amount of Inheritance Tax is paid. We can just take a light-touch approach and make sure you’ve done everything you need to do to complete your duties as an executor.

Full service

There’s a lot of paperwork, emails, and phone calls involved in administering an estate. Sometimes busy people don’t have the time they need to focus on it. We can take the burden away and take all the responsibility for getting the Grant of Probate and distributing assets. We’ll keep you updated as we go.

Probate without a Will

If the person died without making a Will, the rules of intestacy will apply to the administration of their estate. That means that certain laws apply which govern the order about who inherits which assets. It’s often quite complicated. We can guide you through the process from making the first application to court to begin the administration, to administering the estate in line with the law.

Helping you through the complexities

You might be looking at Will which contains unusual or complicated instructions. How do you go about fulfilling these wishes?

It can seem a little opaque, and that's where our solicitors can help. We have many years of experience in handling complex estates including:

Estates where there are extensive gifts to charity, including where charities have been dissolved, re-named or merged.
Situations where there is no Will and complicated legal rules apply as to the distribution of the estate.
Wills that are incomplete or imprecise and require interpretation.
Complicated estates with business, agricultural or overseas assets.
Locating beneficiaries of unknown whereabouts that require tracing.

There are often significant tax compliance matters to attend to, including bringing lifetime tax affairs up to date, and reporting to HMRC.

We make sure that all these issues are dealt promptly and precisely, and that no stone is left unturned to resolve the estate,

Book a free 15-minute consultation

Please get in touch for a friendly chat with one of our Private Client solicitors.

Let us know what you are needing so that we can start today helping you prepare for your tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

Grant of Probate gives you the right to administer the estate. You can apply if you are named as the executor in the Will. Apply to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Probate.

You may need a Grant of Probate to access bank accounts, sell assets and settle any debts of the deceased. It’s called a Grant of Probate when the person left a Will.

If the person who died didn’t leave a Will then you’ll need a letter of administration instead.

Issued by the Probate Registry and gives the administrator legal authority to deal with the estate.

Letters of administration allow you to access bank accounts, sell assets and settle any debts of the deceased. It works in the same way as a Grant of Probate, but it’s called a letter of administration when the person dies without making a Will.

Need to apply to court before the legal administration of the estate can begin.

If you have permission you could search the person’s home. Alternatively, you could ask their lawyer or bank to see if the original Will is being stored with them.

You can also carry out an online search: https://www.nationalwillregister.co.uk/

If no Will can be found, then the rules of intestacy will apply.

Financial dependents who do not inherit under the rules of intestacy may have to make a claim under the Inheritance Act.

Unfortunately, the rules of intestacy do not take into consideration any special requests. That means that all personal possessions be divided up under the rules, even if the deceased verbally promised certain items to specific friends.

It can be extremely stressful, costly and time consuming to deal with an intestate estate.

Awards & Recognitions

We’re recognised by the Legal 500 as a Leading Firm in a number of practice areas. That means that an external, objective body has scrutinised our competency and client reviews, and found us to be one of the top family law practices in the UK.

Our lawyers are members of Resolution, so we are committed to a Code of Practice which promotes a constructive approach to family issues that considers the needs of the whole family.