PROBATE AND TRUSTS

The death of a loved one is a distressing experience and this can be made worse by the procedures that have to be gone through in order to deal with the administration of the estate. When you least feel like turning your mind to business matters is the very time when they need dealing with promptly. You need to be able to turn to someone for help.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Find out the probate value of the estate, sort out any Inheritance Tax, deal with all the necessary returns and prepare the papers to apply for the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. Once obtained register the grant and collect in the assets, pay the debts and other expenses. At the conclusion of the administration prepare the Accounts and then pay the beneficiaries. All this to be dealt with as speedily as possible.

TAX

Inheritance Tax may be payable and a full Inland Revenue Account may be required. Now it may well be that even after the death has occurred that there are still ways to save Inheritance Tax for instance by way of a Deed of Variation of the provisions of the Will or the intestacy. The taxation aspects can prove to be complex and we look at the estate to see if there are any ways to mitigate the impact of tax and hence save money.

COSTS

So far as costs are concerned this is always difficult to predict because, as with the provision of services generally, it is often impossible to say what is likely to happen during the course of the matter. Solicitors costs are normally worked on the basis of either an hourly charge or a percentage of the value of the transaction or a combination of the two. What we will do is tell you at the outset the basis of our charges.

So why pay our costs when you or a friend or relative could deal with the estate or you could go to someone who might say they will handle matters cheaply?

First of all why instruct a firm of Solicitors? The answer to that is that all Solicitors must carry substantial insurance against anything going wrong. Furthermore if your Solicitor was to run off with the whole estate then the Law Society Indemnity Fund will reimburse the beneficiaries so that they do not lose out. Could the same be said if an individual were to mishandle the estate and its assets.

So if instructing a Solicitor is a good idea then why choose this firm against any other?

I am a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, a world wide organisation of specialists in Trust and Probate work. The Society demands high standards from its members and thus if a Solicitor is a member of this Society you can be assured that he or she has a considerable amount of expertise in estate administration. In addition I am also a member of the Probate Section of the Law Society. I have lengthy experience in dealing with estate administration having worked for a leading Trust Company and also for a major City firm of Solicitors. I have previously lectured in Trust Accounting and Trust Taxation.

SAFETY FIRST

We are not the cheapest around and we make a charge which is in our view realistic and certainly reflects the degree of expertise and care that will go into handling the estate. After all an estate could comprise tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds and is it really worth saving a little bit when there is this amount of money involved.

CONTACT US

We offer an initial free discussion which normally lasts about thirty minutes. Telephone on 01245 358257 or email us on law@wwtsol.co.uk and speak to John Trusler or his secretary.