Wills and Probate

Far too many people put off planning for their future and the future of their estate because it’s something they don’t want to think about, or they believe they can worry about it later.

Unfortunately, if you are one of these people, this means that if the worst happens, your loved ones could be left with some very complicated issues to resolve at an already difficult time.

Our Wills and Probate solicitors understand how sensitive these issues can be, so offer a friendly, empathetic service to help you put the right legal measures in place for you and your loved ones.

We can help with creating a Will or administering the estate of a loved one who has passed away.

• Creating & updating Wills
• Probate & Administration of Estates

 Typically estate administration involves the following steps:

1. Finding out what the assets are.  We will need to obtain date of death values of the assets owned by the deceased, including furniture and other personal items, investments and any residential or commercial property.  The values given must be “open market” values.  We will normally instruct the valuers directly as we can then ensure that appropriate instructions are given to minimise any difficulty with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) further down the line.  If there is no inheritance tax to pay then it may not be necessary for professional valuations to be obtained.  We will advise the executors / administrators about this.
2. Establishing the liabilities of the estate (including funeral expenses).  Please note that executors (or administrators) are eligible for reimbursement from the estate for any proper estate expenses paid by them personally; records should be kept.  Funeral expenses are deductible from the gross value of the estate for inheritance tax purposes.
3. Retrieving information in relation to lifetime gifts.  We would normally request bank and credit card statements for seven years prior to death to carry out the necessary due diligence.  Executors / administrators are personally responsible for disclosing to HMRC anything that could affect the inheritance tax position, and they have a duty to make all reasonable enquiries to ascertain whether any lifetime gifts were made.  Significant penalties can be imposed if HMRC believes tax has been underpaid as a result of inadequate enquiries.  It is advisable to make enquiries with the deceased’s relatives and friends as appropriate. 
4. Putting all of the financial information into the inheritance tax form.  If no inheritance tax is due, a detailed return may not be required.  The inheritance tax account (IHT400 and schedules) will need to be completed in relation to any estate that is subject to inheritance tax (or in any event if the estate is worth over £3m or in certain other situations).
5. Preparing a legal statement for executors / administrators.  In most cases this can be signed by us on behalf of the executors, on their instructions.
6. Sending the completed IHT account to HMRC and arranging payment of inheritance tax (if relevant).  A few weeks later, the Probate Registry will receive confirmation that this has been done, so the following steps can proceed.  If no inheritance tax is payable, this stage is skipped.
7. Sending the original will (if applicable) and statement to the Probate Registry.  If inheritance tax is payable, this stage can only be completed once HMRC’s acknowledgement has been sent to the Probate Registry; we can then send the will and statement direct to the Probate Registry.  Approximately 8 weeks later, the original and several sealed copies of the “grant of probate” should be received (or “grant of letters of administration” if there is no will).  We may advise against marketing any property in the estate until the “grant” has been obtained, but this will depend on the circumstances.
8. Sealed copies of the grant can then be used to collect in the assets of the estate.
9. At the conclusion of the work, we will send out estate accounts for the executors/administrators to sign, and in fact we will start preparing these in draft form at an early stage during the estate administration work. 

Please note that HMRC sometimes takes a very long time to complete its enquiries.  It is likely we will advise that a reserve is kept until we receive the “all clear”, in the form of a letter confirming HMRC has no further enquiries.  In some cases this letter will not arrive until many months after the grant of probate has been obtained.