Initial meeting
01We review the will, the family position and the asset picture and agree the level of service.
Probate and estate administration
Administering an estate is an accounting exercise carried out under personal liability. We take on as much or as little of it as the family wants.
Grant only
Fixed fee; you gather the figures
Full administration
Quoted on the estate's complexity
Grant timescale
Commonly 8–16 weeks after submission
Full estate
Typically 6–12 months
01Probate
Two levels of service
On a grant-only basis you gather the date-of-death valuations and we prepare the inheritance tax account and the application for the grant of probate or letters of administration. You then deal with the assets yourself. It is the cheaper route and it suits a straightforward estate with an organised executor.
On a full administration we do everything: notify asset holders, obtain valuations, settle liabilities, prepare and submit the IHT account, obtain the grant, sell or transfer property, place statutory advertisements to protect the executors, prepare estate accounts and distribute to the beneficiaries.
02Probate
Inheritance tax
Whether tax is due or not, an account of the estate must usually be delivered to HMRC. The nil rate band, the residence nil rate band where a home passes to direct descendants, transferable allowances from a predeceased spouse, and the seven-year rule on lifetime gifts all affect the figure.
Tax is generally payable before the grant is issued, which creates a cash-flow problem that most families do not expect. We explain the options — the direct payment scheme from the deceased's own accounts, instalments on land, or a short-term facility — early rather than at the point of crisis.
03Probate
Executor liability
Personal representatives are personally liable for getting it wrong: distributing before a claim period expires, missing a creditor, or misapplying a tax relief. Statutory advertisements under section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 and a careful set of estate accounts are the protection, and we put both in place as a matter of course.
STEPSHow the matter runs
Every probate file follows the same sequence.
Valuations
02Asset holders notified and date-of-death valuations obtained.
IHT account
03The correct HMRC account prepared and submitted and any tax arranged.
Grant obtained
04Application made to the Probate Registry and the grant issued.
Assets collected
05Accounts closed, investments encashed or transferred, property sold or transferred.
Accounts and distribution
06Estate accounts prepared for approval and beneficiaries paid.
Questions we are asked most
Not always. Small estates below an asset holder's threshold, and assets held as beneficial joint tenants which pass by survivorship, can often be dealt with without a grant. We will tell you at the first meeting whether an application is necessary.
Property law, handled properly.
Need help with probate?
Send us the basic details and we will come back with a written quotation, the likely timescale and the name of the solicitor who will handle it.