Probate
Why is Probate needed?
The person who administers someone’s estate needs authority from the Courts to access the deceased’s assets. Where a Will has been left, this process involves checking that the Will is legally valid and confirming which of the executors have been authorised to act.
Where a Will has not been left the person who administers the estate will usually be the person with greatest entitlement to the estate and since this will depend upon how large the estate is and what relatives have been left, the process tends to take much longer when there isn’t a Will.
What’s Involved?
- Finding the Will – if there is one, and making checks to ensure that it is the latest Will.
- Determining the assets and liabilities of the deceased.
- Completing two forms,one with the deceased family details and one with their financial details.
- Attending a local Probate office to swear an affidavit that the information given on the forms is correct.
- Collecting in the assets, including selling any property, selling shares, claiming life insurance and unpaid employment, pension or other benefits.
- Paying any bills (including the funeral bill) and debts.
- Distributing the remainder to the beneficiaries.
- Preparing a set of accounts detailing the assets, liabilities, expose and bequests of the estate.
The process isn’t technically difficult, but it is time consuming and comes at a time when many would prefer to do without the bother.
The Willpower Estate Administration Service
Willpower provides a flexible estate administration service where we can deal with an estate in England & Wales whether there is a Will or not and regardless of whether any Will was been drafted by Willpower.
We deal with probate and administering estates every day and our staff are well versed in the procedures and how to avoid potential problems. As a result we can often complete the administration of an estate in less time than a private executor could.
Many executors prefer to be involved in distributing personal effects and agreeing on the sale of a property and just prefer to hand over the paperwork and the form filling to us – which is fine. We can do as little or as much as is needed – from helpful guidance to completing the whole job and the executors can ‘uninstruct’ us at any time.
We are also able to arrange estate administration of estates outside of England & Wales through local lawyers
So let us take the strain.
Fixed fees
We will always quote our fee in writing before we are instructed and before we start work – and we will stick to it.
We will collect our fees and any costs incurred from the estate which means that the executors don’t have to find the money to fund the administration of the estate.
We will only collect our fee once our work has been completed – so the sooner we complete, the sooner we get paid. And because we don’t charge by the hour, there is no incentive for us to delay the case or create unnecessary work.
For a no obligation quote, please contact us.