Information to gather for your probate solicitor

• Posted onFebruary 5, 2020

As executor of a deceased person’s estate, it is your responsibility to ensure your probate solicitor has all the information necessary to administer the estate. The amount of information will depend on the complexity of the deceased person’s various assets and investments and how well organised they were with their paperwork.

The better the information an executor can provide, the quicker we will be able to complete the estate administration process and get any bequest to the beneficiaries.

What are the responsibilities of an Executor?

Executors have a legal responsibility to administer an estate in accordance with the law and the will. This involves gathering in all the assets, paying off any debts (including any inheritance tax) and finally distributing the net estate to the beneficiaries.

If there is no will, an administrator (for example, the next of kin) must be appointed by the court. The administrator will then have the same responsibilities as an executor and will distribute the net estate to the entitled individuals, the deceased’s closest living relatives, under the statutory rules of intestacy.

You will need to think about what assets and debts need to be valued, and you will need to collect various pieces of documentation from your loved one’s papers and belongings. These will enable your solicitor to make an application for a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration, if there is no will).

 

Initially, your solicitor will need:

• the death certificate and a couple of certified copies;
• the will (if there is one) and any codicil;
• if your loved one left a letter of wishes, your solicitor should see this;
• contact details of all beneficiaries named in the will or the closest relative(s) entitled under the intestacy rules, if there is no will;
• marriage certificate if it is necessary to show, for example, change of name; and
• a list of all debts and assets.

Information about assets

To collect in assets your probate solicitor will need documentary proof of ownership or entitlement to financial accounts. This means considering what documents and other information are necessary to supply to banks and other institutions in order to cash in the accounts and sell or transfer assets. The most common documents (or login details) you will need to produce are:

• bank and building society account statements;
• share certificates to enable stock transfer forms to be completed;
• land and property deeds or documents showing proof of legal ownership, for example, if the home needs to be sold or transferred;
• documents relating to any business interests;
• passwords for digital assets, such as investment platforms, cryptocurrency accounts, multi-media services, websites or social media; and
• details of personal items of value, such as expensive jewellery, antiques and collectables.

Unexpected finds and things you cannot trace

From time to time, an expensive artwork is found wrapped in a carpet or antiques are found hidden away in the loft after someone’s death. Sometimes such finds provide an estate with an unexpected windfall. Unfortunately, in other cases the house clearance company discovers an item of value and reaps the financial benefit.

Before you contact a local house clearance business, check the property thoroughly and if you are unsure of the value of anything you find, consider talking it through with your solicitor before disposing of it.

Tell your solicitor if you think your loved one owned valuables which you cannot find or held certain shares or bonds or had an account which you cannot trace.

What you should do now?

Armed with the certainty of what information you now need to collate, make an appointment with a specialist probate solicitor who can then get the estate administration under way, giving you welcome peace of mind.

For more information and advice on the documents your solicitor will need before applying for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, please contact our experienced private client team or email contact@wspsolicitors.com.