Practical guidance from Simon Jenkins, Director at Curtis Legal.
Most people applying for probate in England and Wales in 2026 receive their grant within 16 weeks of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) receiving…
Read more →Applying for probate in England and Wales means proving you have legal authority to deal with someone’s estate. In short, you work out whether a…
Read more →To notify banks after a death, tell each bank the person held an account with as soon as you can, either through the free Death…
Read more →To notify the DVLA when someone dies, use the free Tell Us Once service to cancel the driving licence automatically, or tell the DVLA directly…
Read more →The simplest way to notify the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) when someone dies is to use the government’s free Tell Us Once service.…
Read more →Attendance Allowance stops when someone dies, but entitlement runs up to and including the date of death, so any payments owed for that period belong…
Read more →When a property is held as tenants in common and one owner dies, that owner’s share does not pass automatically to the other owner. Instead…
Read more →For the 2026/27 tax year, inheritance tax in the UK is charged at 40% on the part of an estate above the tax-free thresholds. The…
Read more →Probate is the legal process of dealing with someone’s money, property and possessions after they die. In England and Wales in 2026, it usually means…
Read more →Inheriting a property does not, by itself, create a Capital Gains Tax bill. The tax only bites later, when the property is sold, and by…
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