Probate
When a person dies someone has to deal with their estate. This involves dealing with a person’s money, property and possessions, paying off any debts they have left behind and distributing what is left to the beneficiaries.
PD Lawyers can provide professional assistance to deal with all matters relating to probate and the administration of an estate.
We can deal with banks, building societies, utility providers and inland revenue etc on your behalf, using our wealth of experience and contacts to make what is a difficult time a lot easier to cope with.
We appreciate this is a very difficult time for you and we aim to guide you through the process with care and empathy, making the legal procedure as smooth as possible.
Please feel free to telephone Ursula Deriaz, or call in to our offices if you would like to discuss matters further.
Executor Duties
An executor’s duties may include responsibilities such as:
- Organising the funeral, notices for the paper, flowers
- Locating the Will
- Obtaining a copy of the Death Certificate
- Making sure any property and assets are safe and secure
- Determining the value of assets
- Applying for Probate
- Paying insurance policies, debts and taxes
- Collecting monies belonging to the deceased from financial institutions and insurance companies
- Collecting debts owed to the deceased
- Lodging tax returns for the deceased and for the estate
- Selling properties and assets
- Reporting to beneficiaries
- Distributing the proceeds of the estate to beneficiaries
- Setting up trusts
Being an Executor can be overwhelming, particularly when you are grieving, but rest assured we can guide you through.
Do Executors get paid?
It depends. If you are a beneficiary of the will it is presumed that your benefit will cover your costs. If you’re not a beneficiary then you can apply for commission.
What if there is no Will?
This situation is referred to as intestacy and the law determines how assets will be shared out after debts have been paid. If you are the next of kin you can apply for authority to administer the estate.
What if I’m not up to the job?
Just because you have been named an Executor doesn’t mean you have to accept the responsibility. If there is another Executor named, they can take on the whole of the job, or if you are the sole executor you can apply to the court to appoint someone else. You cannot change your mind later though – giving up the responsibility is final.
Contact us to find out more or to arrange an appointment with our Ursula Deriaz.
Service & Cost Information
We offer 2 different Probate Services:
Full administration: these are the cases where we carry out all the estate administration from registering the passing, obtaining balance / value information, draft the Executor’s Oath and Inheritance Tax forms, collect in assets and prepare the distribution account. For these matters we work on a time recorded basis and our fees are as follows: –
Our legal fees are £150+VAT per hour ( we time record to the minute though so if we only carry out 35 minutes work you would only be charge for 35 minutes.
In addition there are fixed unit costs for the following:
Letters in and out are charged at £7.50 +VAT
Phone calls and emails are charged at £5.50 + VAT
Probate Registry fee £273 (If the estate is above £5,000, free if below)
Office Copy Grant of Probate / Letters of Administration £1.50 (per copy)
For example if we carried out 4 hours 12 minutes of work, sent 13 letters out, received 17 letters in, 12 phone calls the fees would be as follows: –
Legals fees £630.00 +VAT = £756.00, letters & phone calls = £291 , Probate fee & 3 copies = £277.50
Total fees = £1,324.50
Probate Application only: these are cases where the executors register the passing and collect balance / value information. We then use these figures to draft the Executor’s Oath and Inheritance forms. Once the papers are sworn we make the application to the Probate Registry for the Grant. Once the Grant has been issued we hand it to the executors for them to finish off the Administration.
For this service we charge a fixed fee as follows:
Legal fees £995+VAT = £1,194
Probate Registry fees = £273 (if the estate is over £5,000, free if below)
Office Copy Grant = £1.50 (per copy)
As each probate matter is vastly different it is difficult to provide average fees. If you would like to discuss your particular needs please contact Ursula Deriaz.