What’s Probate About?

Probate is a term commonly used when talking about applying for the right to deal with a deceased person’s affairs. It is sometimes called ‘administering the estate’.

In practice, different terms are used depending on whether or not the deceased person left a will.

If the person who has died leaves a Will In this case, one or more Executors named in the Will will need to deal with the person’s affairs after their death. The Executor applies for a Grant of Probate which proves that the Executors have the right to administer the Estate and deal with the finances and assets and that the current Will is the last Will and Testament of the deceased and that a newer, more up to date Will is not in existence.

A Grant of Probate is needed if the estate is worth more than £5,000 and/or includes stocks and shares, house or land, certain insurance policies.

If the person who has died doesn’t leave a Will If there isn’t a Will then the deceased is said to have died intestate and in this instance the Intestacy Rules apply and an Adminstrator is appointed. The law sets out who can be Administrators and the details are in the Administration of Estates Act 1925. As you might expect, it sensibly sets out possibilities for people who can be Administrators and these are the close relatives of the deceased, the first and most obvious one will be the deceased’s spouse.

As can be seen there is quite a lot of jargon and to add to this, the Administrators or Executors are sometimes also known as Personal Representatives. In any case, these are all the people that are responsible for making sure that the deceased’s wishes that are set out in any Will are then followed. In the case of an intestate where there is no Will, then the Administrators or Personal Representatives are required to follow the Intestacy Rules. As you might also expect in anything that involves the Government the Personal Representatives are responsible for finding out if inheritance tax applies and then calculating it and paying it. Any inheritance tax must be paid within six months of the death. Again, as you would expect with the Government, the Personal Representatives are also responsible for dealing with any outstanding income tax. The Personal Representatives stand in the place of the deceased and can deal with the disposal of any property.

Sometimes peoples’ estates are very straightforward, this is usually because they do not have many assets. However, the system is all quite technical and it is important to obey the rules or things can go quite badly wrong and there may be resulting financial implications for the Personal Representatives or even the Beneficiaries. As a general rule, it is often advisable to have a professional appointed to deal with the estate at an early stage.

We are not looking to scare anyone, but if you do need some help or you would like us to take it all off your hands so you don’t have to worry about it, then please don’t hesitate to call us for some advice.