The task of administering an Estate (Probate) as an executor after the death of a loved one can often feel overwhelming. It can be a complex and time-consuming process, with a significant level of risk attached.
If you decide to seek assistance with administering an Estate, our Estate Administration and Probate solicitors and legal executives have extensive experience of all sizes and complexities of Estates and we would be happy to provide the support you require, such as applying for the Grant of Representation, which inheritance tax forms you will need to complete when liaising with HMRC or get an accurate value of the Estate to establish if any inheritance tax is due.
Where there is a Will, we can advise on the terms of the Will and where there is no Will, we can explain the intestacy provisions so you can be sure you understand how the Estate will be distributed.
If required, we can also draft a Deed of Variation, and depending on the nature of the variation, advice might also be needed in relation to inheritance tax. As the paperwork for Deed of Variation needs to be completed within two years from the date of death, we recommend the process is started as soon as possible, as whilst some Deeds of Variation are straightforward, other situations may be more complex.
We aim to create flexibility and longevity in our documents, to ensure you get good value for money. To view information on our Estate Administration fees please click here.
Once we know more about the Estate, we can provide you with an accurate quotation based upon how many hours we believe it will take to finalise the matter, and the level of service that you require. We would normally invite you to a meeting where you can discuss any queries or concerns you have, chat through the details and also meet the person who you will be dealing with.
The administration of an Estate will often break down into four stages, some of which may overlap, and our experienced team can help guide and advise on all or parts of the process:
When someone dies without leaving a Will their estate is ‘intestate’ and you may require a legal document called a Grant of Letters of Administration in order to deal with their Estate. A Grant of Letters of Administration is a legal document issued by the Court to prove who has legal authority to deal with the estate of the person who has passed away. We can help advise on the inheritance laws called the “rules of intestacy” which determine who is allowed to apply for the grant. These rules place the deceased’s relatives in order of priority and the person that is highest up on this list is the person that should make the application.
Our team can also help prepare and make the application to Court for a Grant of Letters of Administration, complete the Inheritance Tax returns and calculate any tax that needs to be paid to HMRC.
The administration of the estate, often referred to as probate, can be a complex and time-consuming process, with a significant level of risk attached. An executor who gets it wrong may find themselves having to pay out of their own pocket to rectify mistakes and/or recompense beneficiaries or HMRC. It requires having details of everything the deceased person owned and how much this is worth, as well as their outstanding debts.
If you have to administer an estate there are number of legal, tax, property and estate administration tasks that need to be carried out including:
If you want to hand over the process to an experienced pair of hands, a solicitor can handle all of these steps and provide regular updates on progress, or they can provide you with just the assistance as and when required e.g. review the Will or estate at the outset, to identify who is going to complete each specific task and prepare a detailed case management plan to ensure that the full Estate is administered correctly.
It may be that you wish for some assistance with the Estate administration but wish to complete some tasks yourself. We are happy to work with you to provide such support and assistance as you require. In such circumstances, we will review the Estate at the outset to determine the steps that will be required. We then work with you to identify who is going to complete each specific task, to ensure that nothing is overlooked. The key to this will be the preparation of a detailed Case Management Plan. This will be the basis of our scope of work and will allow us to work with you to ensure that the full Estate is administered correctly. This is the best option if you want to be involved with the process of Estate administration but want to have our legal input as and when required.
It is not always necessary to obtain a Grant of Probate and whether one is needed or not will depend on the assets of the person who has died. The type of thing that can trigger the need to obtain Probate include:-
It is important to bear in mind that any assets held in joint names, unless held as tenants in common as mentioned above, will automatically pass by survivorship to the surviving co-owner/s – if this is not what you would like to happen then the money should ideally be moved into a sole account
If you prefer to deal with the Estate administration yourself but require assistance in obtaining the Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration only, we offer a fixed fee service for such work. We can assist on such a basis whether the Estate is liable to Inheritance Tax or not. If you choose to use this service, we will let you know what information will be required for the application so you can obtain this information yourself. Upon receipt of all of the information required from you, we will then prepare the required Inheritance Tax return, together with the application for the Grant. We will liaise with HMRC and the Probate Registry on your behalf, in order to obtain the Grant.
Please note this is a limited service. It is only suitable in circumstances where you do not require legal advice on the Estate administration itself, and you simply wish for legal assistance with obtaining the Grant.
During an Estate administration, the beneficiaries have an opportunity to benefit from Inheritance Tax planning themselves. Where their own Estate already has an Inheritance tax liability, they may choose to divert their new inheritance to their children or another beneficiary, thus avoiding a double Inheritance Tax liability. We can advise on the Inheritance Tax position and produce the necessary documentation to effect these changes.
A Deed of Variation is a legal document in which one or more beneficiaries of a deceased person’s Estate can choose to give away or reduce the amount of an inheritance they have been left in a Will, or if there is no valid Will, left through the Intestacy Rules.
Deeds of Variation can be made before or after Probate, even if the deceased’s Estate has already been distributed. Importantly, a Deed of Variation must be drawn up within two years of the person’s death.
The deed must be signed by any beneficiaries who may be negatively impacted by the variation and witnessed correctly for it to be legally binding. Usually, the Executors would also sign the document, but this is not an absolute requirement unless they are affected by the terms of the variation or where the Deed of Variation increases the IHT payable by the deceased’s Estate.
To be valid, the Deed must clearly set out the alterations that are being made and include a statement of intent that specifies that the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 and the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 apply to the document. A copy of the Deed must be sent to HMRC within 6 months of the date upon which the Deed was made, if inheritance tax is payable on the Estate.
A common use is to reduce the value of someone’s estate and their inheritance tax liability by transferring some or all of the legacy from one beneficiary to another person. Another reason for a Deed of Variation is where there is no valid Will (hence the estate will be distributed according to Intestacy Rules) or the Will was made a long time ago and does not reflect recent events or wishes of the deceased at the time of their death. For example, the deceased would have wanted to provide for a partner who would otherwise not inherit as they were not a legal spouse, or a child born after the Will was drawn up.
Any adult individual who has mental capacity and is entitled to benefit from a deceased person’s Estate is free to inherit and give away their inheritance to whoever they choose in a Deed of Variation. A beneficiary can nominate someone else to take their individual entitlement, either absolutely or in part. A Deed of Variation cannot be used by someone to increase their inheritance, or ‘disinherit’ another beneficiary. It can also not change the appointment of executors or guardians in a Will.
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