Our Probate Services

When someone dies their estate (i.e. their money, property and possessions) needs to be dealt with by the executor named in their Will. The executor needs to obtain the necessary legal permission to do this – which is known as a ‘Grant of Representation’ or ‘Probate’.

To obtain probate, you can either apply for it yourself or you can appoint someone who is licensed to provide probate services – like Get Probate. You remain the executor of the Will and you appoint us as your representative.

For an overview of what is involved from registering a death to distributing the estate of the deceased, a very helpful ‘Wills and Probate Checklist’ is provided by The Gazette.

This is designed as a starting point for anyone who needs to deal with probate.

There is also a lot of very useful information on the GOV.UK website.

In most cases, the probate process involves the following stages:

• If there is a Will, someone will be named as the executor. (Where there is no will, the next of kin can apply to be the executor)
• The executor applies for probate to get the legal right to access things like the deceased’s bank account
• The executor must calculate whether any Inheritance Tax is due – and arrange for it to be paid
• The executor collects all the assets of the estate e.g. money in bank accounts, shares and from selling the deceased’s property
• The executor has a legal responsibility to pay any debts that need to be paid e.g. unpaid utilities and tax bills
• The executor distributes the estate to everyone who is entitled to anything in the will i.e. the beneficiaries.

Inheritance Tax is an aspect that some executors are not confident with. As the executor you will need to work out the value of the estate and see if any Inheritance Tax is due. You will need to complete the appropriate Inheritance Tax (IHT) form – even if you think no tax is due. This form must be completed accurately as you could be charged a penalty if it is not accurate. It is your responsibility to pay what IHT is due. (This needs to be paid before the assets of the estate are available – which can cause issues for some executors.)

For many people, the roles and responsibilities of being an executor are very onerous, especially when they are going through a stressful time. So they prefer to appoint someone else to deal with the Probate on their behalf – either in part or in full.

This is where Get Probate can help you.

If you are the executor of a Will we can help you with probate. We can take the stress off you at this difficult time. Our friendly and professional probate team can help you to:

1. Obtain the Grant of Probate. You will then handle the rest of the probate process yourself. Our fee for this is just £350 (inc. VAT). Find out more about our Grant of Probate fees.

or

2. We can handle the whole probate process for you. You remain the executor of the Will and you appoint us as your representative. We’d work alongside your Accountant to ensure the deceased’s tax planning strategy is carried out in the way they wanted.

Our fee for this is priced on a case-by-case basis and can be paid from the estate during the administration process. This means there are no upfront costs for you.

Whichever option you would like to use, our service is affordable, friendly and professional.

Our fees are affordable – especially compared to many solicitors and banks who often have higher basic fees and charge a percentage of the estate.

There is no need for face-to-face meetings as everything can be done via phone, email and our client portal.

For your free initial advice about our probate services, contact us on 0161 907 4044 or [email protected]