ESTATE ADMINISTRATION & PROBATE

When someone dies you will usually need to obtain a Grant of Probate, or Grant of Letters of Administration, or Grant of Letters of Administration with Will annexed – these are three variations of the same thing; a grant giving a person the authority to value and sell assets, pay all of the liabilities and distribute the estate in accordance with the deceased’s wishes.

What is Estate Administration & Probate?

When someone dies it is common for a relative, friend or spouse to take on the job of personal representative and to administer the estate themselves. However, this task is onerous, time consuming, complicated and can come hand in hand with personal liability and so it can be best to instruct someone whose speciality it is to deal with probate and estate administration. An estate specialist can take on the liability instead, and can deal with the necessary processes efficiently and cost effectively.  In this way the  resulting legal fees, paid for by the estate, are often outweighed and offset by tax savings that solicitors, as opposed to non-professionals,  are able to make.

How Can Healys Help?

At Healys we have a team of dedicated, experienced legal experts who can deal with the administration of the estate of your loved one so that you can continue with the things that are important to you. Reasons to employ a solicitor to deal with the administration of the estate are:

1. It removes the responsibility of the job from family and friends when they will be grieving;
2. In the event of a dispute or difficulties within the family a probate specialist can remain impartial and fair, and ensure the administration is carried out objectively;
3. Dealing with a person’s estate has become more complex in recent years and failure to deal with matters properly can lead to problems and potentially losses to the estate in the form of penalties;
4. Solicitors have a high level of expertise in dealing with the administration of estates and this is reflected in the speed at which they can deal with matters;
5. Appointing a solicitor to deal with the administration of an estate means the responsibility of correctly dealing with the administration lies with the solicitor, thereby removing considerable responsibility from family members

Our Transparent Service

It is a common conception that solicitors apply an uplift or value element to their charges for dealing with the administration of an estate. There are some law firms who do this. However, we at Healys do not and will charge our fees based only on the time spent of the specific specialist involved. We also help to keep fees down by employing secretaries and paralegals to assist who charge their time at a much lower rate for matters which a solicitor does not need to be involved in.

Our fees are entirely transparent and we can give you a fixed fee at the outset of the matter if you wish. The cost is entirely dependent on the complexity of the estate. Overall, the cost tends to be in the region of 0.5% to 4% of the value of the estate depending on its size and complexity.

If you need Estate Administration or Probate please feel free to contact us for free initial advice on 01273 685 888 / 020 7822 4000 or email privateclient@healys.old-website.shout-loud.co.uk.