As part of our service, we will usually:
- Meet with you to take your instructions and advise you regarding the estate administration.
- Agree with you what work you require us to undertake in the estate administration and what work you wish to carry out yourself.
- Consider the deceased’s paperwork you provide us with to identify the actual or potential estate assets and liabilities.
- Contact the institutions with whom the estate assets and liabilities are or may be held or owed to obtain the information and paperwork required from them.
- Collate the information we receive from those institutions into an Estate Account.
- Prepare the Probate application paperwork and any Inheritance Tax accounts required by HMRC. Claim any Inheritance Tax allowances available and calculate the amount of Inheritance Tax due.
- Meet with you to complete the paperwork and to provide you with an update regarding the estate administration.
- Arrange to pay the Inheritance Tax due from the deceased’s bank accounts.
- Obtain the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
- Once the Grant has been issued, collect in the monies due to the estate and pay out the estate liabilities.
- Contact the estate beneficiaries to check their identity and, once funds are available, to pay out the legacies/distributions due to them.
- Submit a corrective account, if needed, to HMRC to finalise the Inheritance Tax position.
- Prepare Final Estate Accounts and provide the executors/administrators and residuary beneficiaries with a copy of these.
Assuming that everything proceeds smoothly, we would usually expect to be in a position to:
- Meet with you to complete the Probate application and Inheritance Tax paperwork approximately 3 to 4 months after our first meeting where no Inheritance Tax is payable, or 4 to 5 months after our first meeting where Inheritance Tax is payable.
- To complete the estate administration in approximately a further 2 to 3 months where no Inheritance Tax is payable, or 4 to 6 months where Inheritance Tax is payable.
We may in certain circumstances be able to meet with you to complete the matter much quicker than this. Alternatively, there are many factors, such as the time it takes to sell a property, negotiations with HMRC and delays in obtaining instructions from beneficiaries or information from institutions, which may unfortunately mean that it takes longer than this to deal with the matter.
All work will be carried out either by or under the supervision of an experienced solicitor.