Probate & Estate Administration

Probate is commonly used to describe the legal process of dealing with the money, property and possessions of someone who has died. Strictly, a Grant of Probate is the document issued where there is a valid Will and an executor is applying for authority to deal with the estate.

Estate administration is the wider process. It can include identifying and valuing assets, dealing with inheritance tax, obtaining the appropriate Grant, paying debts, preparing estate accounts and distributing the remaining assets to beneficiaries.

Not every estate requires a Grant. Whether one is needed will depend on the type and value of the assets, how they were owned and the requirements of the banks, investment providers and other organisations involved.

Some jointly owned assets may pass automatically to the surviving owner, while land, property, larger accounts and certain investments will commonly require formal authority before they can be sold, transferred or released.

Our team can review the estate and advise whether a Grant is required and, if so, which type of Grant should be obtained.

If someone dies without a valid Will, they are described as having died intestate. Their estate is distributed according to the statutory rules of intestacy rather than personal wishes recorded in a Will.

An eligible person will usually need to apply for Letters of Administration before they can deal with assets that require formal authority. The person applying is known as the administrator rather than the executor.

Intestacy can create additional questions about who is entitled to administer and inherit the estate. Wollens can identify the appropriate beneficiaries and guide the administrator through the process.

The timescale depends on the estate’s assets, tax position, number of beneficiaries and whether there is any property, business interest, overseas asset, missing information or dispute to address.

A straightforward estate involving one executor, one beneficiary and only a small number of assets may take approximately three to four months. In a suitable simple estate, we may be able to prepare and submit the application for the Grant within approximately two months of receiving instructions and all the necessary information.

This does not mean that the Probate Registry will issue the Grant within two months. Registry processing times are outside our control.

More complicated estates can take a year or longer, while the most complex estates may take several years. We will provide a more tailored timescale once we understand the circumstances.

The cost depends on the size and complexity of the estate and the amount of work you would like Wollens to handle.

For a simple estate involving one beneficiary, one or two bank accounts and no property, our legal fees start from £1,750 plus VAT, giving a total of £2,100 including VAT.

For an illustrative non-taxable estate involving several beneficiaries, mixed assets, a small number of electronically held shares, bank accounts and one residential property, legal fees may be approximately £5,200 plus VAT, giving an estimated total of £6,240 including VAT.

These examples are not fixed quotations and are based on stated assumptions. Probate Registry fees and other third-party disbursements are additional. Once we have details of the estate, we will provide a more specific estimate and explain any available charging options.