Probate Services

Alongside the grief of losing someone close to you, the death of a family member, friend or relative can lead to a host of questions and uncertainty about the legal processes involved in dealing with a deceased person’s estate; i.e. their goods, property, bank accounts, shares and a host of other items.

When applying for the legal right to deal with somebody’s possessions after their death this is referred to as applying for Probate. It describes the process of proving that the Will of a deceased person is valid, so that their possessions can be distributed in accordance with their Will.

If the person who has died left a valid Will, you will be given a ‘Grant of Probate’, whereas if the deceased has not left a valid Will, then you will be given ‘Letters of Administration’.

There are some cases where Probate is not needed; such as if the estate is valued at less than £5,000 after funeral costs, if the deceased had jointly owned land, money, shares or property; these will then pass to the surviving owners automatically. A similar situation occurs if the deceased only had savings or Premium Bonds, but every financial institution has its own rules and so professional guidance can save a lot of potential pit-falls.

A Will is a formal declaration by someone describing what should happen to their belongings after their death. It needs to have been signed by the person who made it and also by two independent witnesses. A Will should allocate an Executor – or in some cases more than one. If you are named in the Will as an executor you will need to obtain the original Will in order to apply for Probate.

If you are one of several executors named in the Will, you will need to agree with the others who is to be responsible for applying for Probate. Alternatively if the deceased person did not leave a Will, you can apply to become the estate’s administrator but only if you were the person’s spouse, civil partner or child. In cases where there is no legal or valid Will, the estate will be distributed under the Rules of Intestacy.

In some cases the application for Probate and the subsequent duties can be relatively simple, and can be carried out without professional assistance, but in many cases utilising the services of professionals who are familiar with the law and subsequent administration can save a lot of time, money and heart-ache. If you have any questions about anything to do with Probate or dealing with a deceased person’s estate, you should contact us and let us guide you in the right direction.