What is probate and estate administration?

When someone has died in order to realise their assets and pay any debts you need to apply for a document that gives you the authority to act on their behalf. This is known as the grant of representation. When there is a will it will appoint executors to act and these are the people who have to apply for a grant of probate to administer the estate.

Where there is no will the person is said to have died intestate and there are rules set out as to who will be the person who will be appointed what is known as their administrator and then the rules dictate how the estate is to be divided.

The probate process explained

The Probate process often involves a lot of complicated legal, tax and financial work. We have broken it down into 4 steps

Step 1: We will identify the deceased’s assets and liabilities in order to determine the value of their Estate.

Step 2: We will prepare the application forms and IHT forms and pay any money due to HMRC in order to obtain the grant of representation

Step 3: After the grant of representation has been issued by the Probate Registry we are able to close bank accounts, sell shares or property and turn the assets into a fund which we will hold safely on our designated client account. This will enable us to discharge any debts and administration expenses. We will prepare accounts showing all of the transactions (estate accounts) and send it to the personal representative for approval before any monies are paid to beneficiaries.

Step 4: Once everything is agreed we will arrange the transfer of any assets that the beneficiaries wish to retain then distribute the balance of the Estate funds.