When someone dies it is a sad and emotional time and you may not know where to start when sorting out the affairs of the deceased.
Probate
If the deceased left a Will you will need to apply for a Grant of Probate. If there is no Will , the law decides which people are entitled to administer an estate and apply for a Grant of Representation. these are the Intestacy Rules.
The Probate Registry will expect to receive information about the deceased’s assets and liabilities and evidence that any inheritance tax liability has been paid to HMRC before they issue the Grant. They will also need to know who the blood relatives are. So it’s quite an onerous task but with some support and guidance many people choose to do this themselves.
Without a Grant, the executors or personal representatives will not be able to pay the deceased’s debts, sell their property or distribute the estate to the beneficiaries.
How can we help and why are we different?
We will help, guide and advise you through the various stages of the estate administration on a fixed fee basis.
You’re in control
You will be in control of the estate’s assets at all time. Any monies will be paid into personal representatives or executors account as we will not hold any estate monies in the firms’ own bank account.
We guide and support
We will be your personal assistant and help you keep control of the process. You will need to write letters to various organisations and we will prepare these for you, direct you to the government website for the court papers that need to be completed by you and generally support you throughut the process. We also offer help with organisng a funeral, registering a death and even helping you write an eulogy if you need to make it really personal.
You save
We only assist with the adminisitration side of things and as a result our fees are competitive leaving more money for the beneficiaries.
Third party fees
As well as our administration fees, there will be third party disbursements for the estate to pay eg. Probate Registry fees, Statutory and Trustees Notice fees, Brokerage and indemnity fees for shareholdings, Land Registry Fees and other essential disbursements that the executors will need to pay out of the estate monies. There may be conveyancing and other legal charges if there is a property to sell, but these will be charged by the conveyancer as part of the sale or property registration process.
What happens next?
If you would like to call us on 01656 788922 we will be happy to give you some intial guidance.
Every estate is different, but there are procedures common to all and we will guide you when we know a little more about the estate. We will be working closely with you throughout the process and any questions you may have will be answered as the matter progresses. If we need to, we will direct you to a firm of solcitors for work only they can perform.