When someone has passed away, their death is registered and the funeral has taken place, the executors will usually need to apply for probate to the Probate Registry. The grant of probate gives the executors authority to deal with the deceased’s assets. Once it arrives, it unlocks the next stage of the process. This involves the executors arranging to sell or transfer the deceased’s house, gather in funds and close accounts, and divide up the estate between the beneficiaries.
Do I need a grant of probate?
In all but the simplest estates, it will be necessary to apply for probate. Sometimes, if the estate only comprises a property owned by the couple as joint tenants and some joint bank accounts, it may be possible to transfer he assets with a death certificate but without a grant of probate. However, in estates where the deceased has bank accounts in their sole name, for example, a grant of probate will usually be needed. A grant will always be needed if the deceased’s house is to be sold.
It is not uncommon to find that on the death of the second to die of a couple, the family home still remains in both of the couple’s names, as the transfer at the Land Registry on the first death was never dealt with. This is a rather untidy and unsatisfactory situation, meaning that a two-stage transfer will be necessary on the second death, but it can be done.
First steps when applying for probate
It is crucial to inform the deceased’s home insurers as soon as possible if their property is now unoccupied, otherwise the conditions of the buildings insurance may be invalidated. This could be catastrophic in the event of a fire, for example.
If the house is lying empty, it is also a good idea to put in place a mail redirection to forward their mail to one of the executors. Mail coming through can often shed light on unknown assets in the estate that might otherwise have been missed.
If the estate is taxpaying, it makes sense to order an inheritance tax reference for the estate from HMRC early in the process. This is the reference number that will allow HMRC to allocate any inheritance tax payments that they receive to the correct estate. The reference number can take a number of weeks to arrive.
Probate Searches
It is good practice for the executors to instruct a ‘combined Will search‘ at the National Will Register, to check for any later Wills. This is a formal search which costs £126 at the time of writing, and as long as the search has been carried out, it will protect the executors from personal liability if a subsequent Will is located at a later stage, when they have already distributed the estate. The Will search takes a month to run, so it should be placed promptly and can run in the background whilst the rest of the estate administration progresses.
Executors would also be well-advised to place what are known as the ‘statutory advertisements‘ in The London Gazette, using a deceased estates notice. This is a more expensive exercise costing around £400, and it takes two months for the searches to be completed. Is is designed to check for any unknown creditors or beneficiaries of the estate. As long as the statutory ads have been placed, if at a later stage a creditor or beneficiary of the deceased turns up out of the blue, again it protects the executors from personal liability and shows that they have made all reasonable efforts to establish whether there were any other claims on the estate before applying for probate and distributing the assets.
Notify organisations and obtain date of death valuations
The executors will need to go through the deceased’s paperwork and make a list of their assets. These may include properties, personal possessions, cars, bank and building society accounts, investments, pensions, life assurance and also more unusual assets.
Each of the organisations concerned then needs to be contacted and notified of the death, and usually asked to provide date of death valuations, withdrawal/transfer forms, and income tax information.
Inheritance tax
In many estates, and even in those which are not taxpaying but are over a certain size, HM Revenue & Customs will require that a full inheritance tax return is completed and submitted to them, along with payment of any inheritance tax due, before they will authorise the probate registry to issue a grant of probate. They do this by providing a letter to the executors with a special reference number to submit to the Probate Registry, which is designed solely for this purpose.
The inheritance tax needs to be paid within six months after the end of the month in which the death occurred, otherwise interest will start to run on the outstanding amount. As a result, it is best to make a prompt start on the estate administration process in order that the estate can be assessed and the tax calculated and sent over to HMRC in good time. The executors can then apply for probate.
Paying the inheritance tax due before the grant of probate is available is often awkward in terms of cashflow, even in generously sized estates. Some strategies which can be used to fund inheritance tax are described here.
Applying for probate
Applying for probate can often be done online, these days. Exceptions to the rule include, for example, estates including foreign assets and intestacies including minor beneficiaries – these estates require a probate application on paper, and paper applications typically take much longer to be processed.
It is crucial that before the executors apply for probate, HMRC have received an inheritance tax return if one is needed, otherwise all but the simplest application will end up being ‘stopped’ at the Probate Registry. It is very difficult to get the process moving again once a stop has been put on the case, because the Probate Registry is extremely difficult to contact. They have recently reduced their telephone answering hours to mornings only, in order to work on clearing the ongoing backlog of probate applications, and will only accept queries from those who have submitted an application 16 weeks ago or longer. Stopped applications will go straight to the back of the queue.
When applying for probate, it is a good idea to order a number of additional copies of the grant of probate rather than just one, as each of the organisations concerned will usually want to see one, and having several will speed up the process of gathering in the estate.
It will be necessary to send the original death certificate and the original Will to the Probate Registry, including their dedicated probate reference number, so that they can match up the original documents with the online application that they have received. The Will becomes a public document when probate is granted, and it will not be returned. It is an irreplaceable document once someone has died, and should always be sent by recorded delivery.
Probate Application is Obtained
Once the probate application has been processed by the Probate Registry, which can take anything from perhaps a week at best to many months at worst, the executors will receive an email confirming that the grant is on its way. Within the following few days, the hard copies of the grant of probate should then arrive through the post. They include a silver hologram to show that they are authentic. Once in possession of the grant, the executors are in a position to gather in the deceased’s assets, pay any debts, sell or transfer the house and other assets and to distribute the estate in accordance with the deceased’s Will.
Chiltern Wills is a Will writing business based in Beaconsfield and run by former London solicitor Rebecca D’Arcy. Call us on 01494 708688 or email info@chilternwills.com for a free initial discussion about how we can help you to apply for probate.
