Probate - first actions

If someone close to you has died and you know you’re going to be an executor and trustee of their will, there are some immediate action items you need to contemplate and deal with quickly.
Check the house
Particularly if the person who has died was living by themselves you need to make sure the house […]

Evicted at 106 years old

Is this really how we treat our elderly? We all know there’s two sides to every story, but you can’t but wonder in amazement when you read this story from the Daily Mail, today.
The 106-year-old evicted from care home in snow after court battle defeat
By Andy Dolan

With only an umbrella and a blanket to protect […]

Probate paperwork

The choice many executors are faced with is ‘can I complete the probate paperwork myself or do I need to turn it over to a professional?’
Firstly, you’ll need to have got a hold of these leaflets and forms from the probate service to see which apply to you and which jobs you don’t need to […]

Registering a death

Whatever advice we give about probate hinges on also informing you that no two estates are the same. While we can give guidelines as to what you need to do and when, to complete probate, there will always be many other different questions relating to the exact circumstances of your own probate situation.
One of the […]

Whose money is it?

After someone dies there is often the question of who actually owns the money in a joint bank account. This difficulty can make dealing with probate lengthy and uncomfortable.
If the joint holders of a bank account are husband-and-wife the money in the account automatically passes to the survivor. There is a presumption in law that […]

Auntie’s will - solicitors enjoy her assets

Here’s a tale that should send many tens of thousands of people looking to their Wills to check and see if they’ve nominated their solicitor to carry out their probate, after they pass on.
Auntie, who was 100 when she died, left a nice sized estate when she died over two years ago. The estate would […]

Transferable Nil Rate Band –

How we help our clients prepare
The Transferable nil rate band has been in practice for some time now but complications happen when the first spouse died many years ago. Helping the surviving spouse prepare certain documents will help to ensure the transferable nil rate band can be used on their own estate.
The transfer of an […]

Inheritance Tax increase

Well actually, it isn’t the tax rate that’s increasing, but the allowance we all get before inheritance tax is due.
From the start of this new tax year (6th April 2009) the nil rate band (the amount you can have as a tax free allowance on your estate when you pass on) was increased from the […]

Who should be your executors and trustees? Part two

So now you know you need to appoint the right capable trustworthy people to be your executors/trustees, you’ll also appreciate the need to appoint someone or other people as replacements in case your first choice(s) can’t actually carry out the task at the time. They might be ill themselves or working on the other side […]

Who should be your executors and trustees? Part one

Our consultants realise that it’s difficult for clients to fully understand the role of an executor and/or trustee if they’ve never been in the position of either having carried out the work or knowing someone who has – because the people will have moaned all the way through about the difficulty of the task, especially […]