Probate

Why we do probate

Probate is often the most misunderstood and potentially the most painful process, by definition, at a difficult time.

The grant of Probate, as it is most commonly known as, is the process by which executors get permission from the court to deal with Probate or if you are declared intestate (you have no valid Will), the court deal with your estate.

The last thing you want after the death of a loved one is to deal with the court of law.

What we do

Probate leads to the grant of probate which is the court process by which your will is granted legal effect. It must be the original and in pristine condition. A clean bill of health, with all taxes paid up, from the taxman is needed before the court can grant probate.

We guarantee that your Will optimises your Inheritance Tax liability. We also ensure all the necessary precautions are taken, if your Will is ever challenged.  That is why we always recommend we store the will for you for life.

We also register the will with the National Will Registry called ‘Certainty’ and use the Kings Court Trust who are one of the largest estate administrators in the country. They are by far and away the best, in our opinion.  In this industry solicitors and banks charge a percentage of the value of your total estate. In London these charges are typically very high, as the rates in some cases, are up to 10%. We don’t agree with this.

Who we do it for

Probate will be required for everyone.  Usually people do not like to even think about probate, let alone plan for it properly.

Even on first passing when everything usually goes tax free to the surviving partner, there are important tax issues to lodge with the taxman for when it eventually goes to the children or other beneficiaries.

The results you can expect

Kings Court Trust charge a fixed fee, which they agree with your family at the time, depending on the number of points of  contact and complexity of the will and estate. So the cost for a very valuable estate is no higher than it needs to be.

Kings Court Trust lawyers are dedicated to probate and estate administration. They have relationships with all the banks and relevant institutions. That is all they do.  In our experience nobody moves quicker and more efficiently.

They also have a dedicated subsidiary who search and track down lost heirs for whom legacies have unexpectedly become available.

Many law practitioners use the Kings Court Trust rather than try to do probate themselves. Client reviews rate them very highly indeed.

Your wills are stored safely, so when a death certificate is issued, the up-to-date Will, in perfect condition, is guaranteed to be available to the court.

The chaos of a lost will is avoided.

As soon as we hear of the death, we arrange a visit in order to collect all the relevant information which is needed, to process the estate. We register and deal with the taxman including completing the IHT400 form, which is very detailed indeed.

Your allocated Probate Estate Manager PEM keeps all those involved, up to date with progress on an agreed basis. They are very experienced at dealing with any challenges to your Will. We also see the process through from start to finish with you.

This means your grieving beneficiaries do not have the typical long wait for the estate to be finalised.

What to do now

Anyone can challenge a Will. This is called ‘Contested Probate’. We ensure that all the paperwork is completed at the Will Instruction stage to help make sure a contested claim does not succeed.

We can carry out the Executor job professionally for you or we have a comprehensive Peace of Mind Family Package that supports all executors and holds their hand throughout the process.

Even if we have not written your will, we can still do your probate for you.

Please call Sarah on 020 3858 0307 to find out more.