When someone close to you dies somebody has to deal with their "estate". A person's estate is considered to be made up of the money, property and any possessions they had at the time of their death. The process 'Probate' means collecting any money that they are owed, settling any debts due (including outstanding taxes) and dividing the estate amongst the respective beneficiaries.
This consists of establishing what the assets and liabilities of the estate are, obtaining a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration in the case of intestacy where there is no will) to authorise the executors or administrators to deal with the estate.
All assets (including property) in an estate will remain frozen, until the Probate Registry gives the authority (via a document know as a Grant of Representation) to the individual(s) nominated in your Will, the "Executor".
If you have no Will, then it is up to the most appropriate member of the family member to act on behalf of the estate.
If there is a Will the estate will pass to the people named in the Will. If there is no Will certain rules known as the Rules of Intestacy will apply.
Whether you are an Executor or the next of kin, we can provide practical guidance to help you deal with the administration of someone's estate. We can help you determine the size of an estate for Probate and Inheritance Tax purposes. We can prepare an application for the Grant of Representation on your behalf and lodge the required forms with the relevant organisations to collect monies due to the estate and settle any outstanding debts.
We can arrange the transfer or sale of any shares and work with our residential property team to handle the sale of any property or land owned by the deceased.
In certain circumstances it may be possible for us to reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax payable.
In short, we can deal with the whole transaction from start to finish. All you need to do is contact us. As with our other services we will provide you with full details of our costs at the outset.
For further information please contact Simon Homer on 01926 422101 or visit our Contact Us page.
