Not Always
If you are an Executor of a Will or a Representative of a deceased person (if there is no Will), you will need to establish whether a Grant of Probate is required for their estate.
Usually, a Grant of Probate is required from a government department known as the “Probate Registry” if any of the following apply to a deceased person:
Owns property in their sole name or as a “Tenant in Common” with another person or people; and/or
Have a significant amount of money (approximately £25,000 plus) in one bank account/Personal Equity Plan (PEP)/Individual Savings Account (ISA), or Premium Bond/National Savings account; and/or
They hold more than approximately £10,000 in one shareholding (BT, Microsoft, BP, etc.).
If any of the above apply, then the Executor(s) or the Representative(s) must obtain permission from the Probate Registry before the estate can be distributed to the beneficiaries of the Will or the beneficiaries by law if there is no Will.
Therefore, it is NOT a foregone conclusion that a Grant of Probate certificate must be obtained for everyone after they have died.
If permission is required, then it is known as a “Grant of Probate”, and it is issued in the form of a certificate by the Probate Registry.
Must I use a Solicitor to Obtain a Grant of Probate?
No!
It is a myth that you must use a solicitor firm to obtain a Grant of Probate, as this is an extremely expensive and mainly unnecessary route to take. It is not uncommon to pay over £6,000 to a solicitor to obtain a Grant of Probate, and so-called “legal services” firms can often charge even more than this. To justify such high fees, it is not uncommon for solicitors and legal services firms to take 9 months or longer to complete the process on behalf of an Executor or Representative so that the expensive fee they have charged appears more reasonable.
This can have serious repercussions if a property must be sold to pay an Inheritance Tax liability upon the deceased’s estate because HMRC (the Inland Revenue) require payment of Inheritance Tax within 6 months of a death. The problem lies in the requirement for a Grant of Probate certificate to be provided by the Probate Registry to enable the Executor(s)/Representative(s) of the deceased’s estate to complete the sale of a property, and the Probate Registry will only issue the Grant of Probate certificate once the Inheritance Tax has been paid. If the property sale proceeds are needed to pay an Inheritance Tax liability, then this is a potentially very vicious circle.
HMRC often imposes penalties and fines if Inheritance Tax is not paid within 6 months of a death.
A Cost Effective Solution
Some Executors or Representatives are confident enough to apply for Grant of Probate directly to the Probate Registry. However, if Executors or Representatives are not confident to apply to the Probate Registry directly, they need not spend more than a maximum of £1,000 to obtain the same outcome, merely by carrying out some worthwhile research and using a properly qualified Probate guidance service which is priced much more fairly.
Summary
Provided that an estate is not extremely complex and the application for the Grant of Probate is completed properly, the application process should rarely take longer than 3 months to complete. As a result, if Executors or Representatives pay less to obtain a Grant of Probate more quickly, then there is more money which remains within the estate for distribution to its beneficiaries, and those beneficiaries receive their inheritance much sooner. Not to mention avoiding the risk of being unable to settle an outstanding Inheritance Tax liability within the necessary timescale.
For further details WITHOUT consultation fees nor obligation, please visit our Probate page.
TRF Wills (TRF) was created by Michael Cotterill in 2005. He is a member of the Society of Will Writers and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.