You don’t need a solicitor to do probate

Probate and Estate Administration | 24 September 2024

Probate is the process by which the Probate Registry reviews the Will of a deceased person to confirm its validity. It is required when a property is held in the deceased’s sole name or as tenants in common, when there are bank accounts with balances in excess of £50,000, NS&I investments over £5,000 or stocks and shares.

Applications for probate are made via an online portal and can be submitted immediately where there is no Inheritance Tax to pay or 20 days after submission of a tax return to HMRC. The original Will must be provided to the Probate Registry together with a legal statement made by the executors, which includes the value of the deceased’s estate. If everything is in order probate will be granted approximately 20 weeks after submission. Without a probate certificate it is not possible to exchange contracts on a property sale, close bank accounts or sell stocks and shares. If there are any queries in respect of the application, it goes to the back of the queue, and this can cause significant delays in issuing the probate certificate.

A solicitor is not required to make the application and often the executors choose to collate the necessary information, draft the legal statement and submit the application themselves. This seems to work well where there is just a property, no discrepancies between the Will, the death certificate and the various holdings and the application is being made by the named executors. Sometimes, when an application is made without the assistance of a solicitor, a spelling mistake on the Will or an asset held in a maiden name, can be easily overlooked and result in a delay in the granting of probate or the issued probate certificate not matching the name on the asset that needs to be encashed.

Where Inheritance Tax is payable it is necessary to submit a full tax return to HMRC and to pay the tax due before the Probate Registry are given clearance to proceed with the probate application. The tax return must include date of death balances for all assets. There are a large number of reliefs and exemptions that can be applied to reduce Inheritance Tax liability. Each individual has £325,000 that they can leave tax free (the nil rate band) and, if they inherited the estate of a deceased spouse, the unused nil rate band of the deceased spouse can also be applied. There is an additional allowance of £175,000 (the residential nil rate band) where property is being left to direct descendants. Again, it is possible to transfer any unused allowance from a deceased spouse.

In addition, and much less utilised, are business relief (which can also be used against certain shareholdings, business property and investment portfolios), agricultural relief, annual allowances against gifts, and taper relief where large lifetime gifts have been made.

Tax on property can be paid over ten annual instalments, although payment in this way does attract interest on the unpaid tax. The remaining tax must be paid within six months of the end of the month in which the death took place. Failure to make the tax return on time can result in penalties and interest is payable on a daily rate.

It is possible to plaster a wall yourself. If it is a small patch, you may make a reasonable job of it. If it is a whole wall, you are likely to get a lot more plaster on the floor than on the walls! Some jobs are better left to the professionals.

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