In this article, we’ve tried to answer the most common questions we get asked by our clients in relation to dealing with a person’s Estate.  If you’re dealing with the Estate yourself or you’ve instructed a Solicitor to deal with it for you, we have set out in the article the typical stages of dealing with an Estate and what you need to know and do as the Executor or Administrator as well as some of the most commonly asked questions.

What are the responsibilities of an Executor?

When a loved one dies, there are practical, financial and legal matters that need to be dealt with.  If you have been appointed the Executor in a Will, a lot of those matters will fall to you to deal with. It will be your responsibility as the Executor of your loved one’s Will to obtain a Grant of Probate (if one is needed) and then administer the estate.  If there is more than one Executor appointed in the Will you will have to work with them throughout the process.

If there is no Will and you need to administer the Estate, you will be the Administrator, not Executor, and the Estate will be dealt with according to the Rules of Intestacy (see below).

What are the stages of dealing with an Estate as an Executor or an Administrator?

The process of administering an Estate for an Executor or an Administrator can be daunting and difficult because it will have various practical, financial and legal issues to deal with and each Estate will be different with its own particular issues.  

However, dealing with an Estate for an Executor or an Administrator generally has the following stages:

1. Register the death, obtain the Death Certificate and notify the ‘Tell Us Once’ service so that public bodies such as DWP, HMRC etc are notified of the death.  You can find more details about what to do here;
2. Locate and obtain the Will – you will then need to confirm that the Will is valid and that it is the latest Will of the deceased.  You will also need to understand what the will is asking you to do in relation to dealing with the Estate;

If there is no Will, the Estate will be dealt with according the rules of Intestacy.  In this situation, you will not be the Executor of the Estate, you will be the Administrator of the Estate.  You can find out about these rules here.

1. Identify all assets and debts of the Estate by obtaining all paperwork and documents in relation to the deceased’s property, finances, possessions, outstanding Bills and debts etc;
2. Obtain a valuation of the property and any possessions and contact all asset and debt holders i.e. banks, insurance companies, pension providers, utility providers, public bodies etc to confirm the value of all assets and debts;
3. Prepare Estate Accounts confirming all assets and debts and how the terms of the Will are to be carried out and ensure these are agreed by all Executors or Administrators;
4. Prepare and complete the application form for the Probate Registry to apply for the Grant of Probate.  The Grant of Probate is the legal document that gives the Executors the legal authority to administer the Estate.  (N.B. In certain circumstances, you will not need to apply for a Grant of Probate – find out more here );

If there is no Will, the Administrators of the Estate will apply for Letters of Administration rather than the Grant of Probate.  However, the Letters of Administration, like the Grant of Probate, is the legal document that gives the Administrators the legal authority to administer the Estate.

1. Prepare the relevant inheritance tax forms to confirm the value of the Estate and to confirm whether or not Inheritance Tax is payable.  Find out more about whether Inheritance Tax is payable and how and when to pay it here ;
2. When the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration have been obtained, you will need to gather in all assets and ensure that all monies are deposited into an account;   
3. Pay all debts and expenses of the Estate and then distribute the remaining Estate funds to the Beneficiaries according to the terms of the Will or the rules of Intestacy.  If the terms of the Will include specific requests, for example, that a specific item is to be given to a certain person, it is the Executor’s responsibility to ensure that person receives that item;
4. As the Executor or Administrator, you will need to prepare the final Estate Accounts to confirm how the Estate has been administered.  Therefore, throughout the process, you will need to document everything you do, obtain confirmation of payment of bills and debts and obtain receipts for any payments.

This is a very basic overview of the role of an Executor or Administrator and the stages you need to work through to deal with a person’s Estate.  However, there are generally issues you will need to deal with that aren’t covered in this article, especially relating to the Estate Accounts, the application forms and Inheritance Tax forms, so if you get stuck at any stage, it’s always a good idea to obtain the professional advice and assistance of a Solicitor.

Do I have to use a Solicitor to deal with the Estate?

The simple answer is no you don’t, you can deal with the Estate yourself with the other Executors/Administrators.  However, the process of dealing with an Estate can be a complex, lengthy and time-consuming one with multiple stages, forms to complete, inheritance tax issues to consider and different banks, building societies and companies to deal with.  An error at any stage or with the forms can delay the process and administering the estate incorrectly could lead to your actions being legally challenged by the Beneficiaries.

A Solicitor can deal with the whole process or parts of the process for you, they can provide advice throughout and help you avoid the pitfalls, hassle and stress of dealing with the Estate on your own.

Who pays the Solicitor’s costs if I instruct them to deal with the Estate?

The legal fees for obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and administering the Estate are paid for from the Estate Funds and not by the Executor or Administrator.  The way a Solicitor charges for dealing with the Estate and the charges themselves will vary from Solicitor to Solicitor.  However, the Solicitor will discuss and agree the fees with you before starting work.   The Solicitor may charge the Estate a fixed fee, an hourly rate or a percentage of the value of the Estate.

If you would like to discuss your role as the Executor or Administrator and how Leech & Co can help you to navigate the process and assist you every step of the way, please call for an informal, no obligation chat on 0161 749 9000 or contact us here.

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How do we make sure our clients and team members are safe while also continuing to help our clients make a plan for their future?

The Coronavirus has made us all uncertain about how to act with each other and what we can do to keep people safe and well.  We have read as much as possible about the Coronavirus, its symptoms and how it can be passed between people – a good summary of what we need to know at the moment can be found on the BBC website:

Coronvirus – what are the symptoms?  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51048366

What are social distancing and self-isolation?  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51506729

Coronvirus – how can I look after my older relatives?  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51855011

We have set out below the steps we have taken to combat the spread of the Coronavirus, to keep our clients safe and to keep providing our services to our clients:

1. We have provided all team members with the latest medical advice provided by the Government and NHS in relation to measures to stop the spread of the virus.  We will continue to do this on a daily basis so that we are all aware of all preventative measures that we need to take.The latest Government and NHS advice can be found using these links:
   Coronavirus (COVID-19): UK government response – GOV.UK
   Coronavirus (COVID-19) – NHS
   There is also a summary of the latest advice on the BBC website (correct as at 17^th March 2020): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-51632801
2. We have instructed our team members to wash their hands regularly through the day and especially before and after every client appointment;
3. All team members work from home and drive to all appointments by car.  Therefore, we avoid contact with people in offices and/or on public transport;
4. All non-essential team meetings have been cancelled;
5. We have disinfected all office equipment i.e. keyboards, printers, phones etc so that any contact with any paperwork sent to our clients should be safe;
6. We will offer all clients the option of holding their appointments by telephone and/or by Skype/Facetime – please see full details here.  We are aware that some client matters will require a face-to-face meeting, but these meetings will be kept to a minimum for the time being.
7. Each day we are monitoring all team members and all team members’ families to see if they are displaying any relevant symptoms.  If any relevant symptoms are displayed, the team member and their family will immediately self-isolate and re-arrange all client appointments in accordance with the latest advice and guidance.

We will continue to monitor and update these steps in line with the Government’s and NHS advice,

We wish all of our clients and their families well at this difficult time and if we can be of assistance to you in any way, please let us know.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of our Coronavirus plan and policy further or if you wish to discuss making a Will or Power of Attorney or any of services, please call one of our friendly team on 0161 749 9000 or e-mail us at leech@leech.co.uk to ask for a call back.

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However, at the moment, this is not an ideal world.  The Coronavirus means that, for now, we have had to change the way we do things.  We take the health and safety of our clients and team members extremely seriously and so a face-to-face, sit down meeting with all of our clients is not the best way to help them.

Change in circumstances

We have adopted the steps and procedures detailed to help combat the spread of the virus and keep our clients and team members safe.

However, to allow us to keep helping our clients put a plan in place for their future, we will do the following:

• All appointments with our clients will be held on the telephone (we are also able to speak with you via SKYPE or Facetime or video call.  Please let us know if you need assistance setting these up on your phone or computer);

• All clients will be offered as many telephone appointments that are needed so don’t worry about asking us to call back or spreading the appointment over a series of calls;

• We will provide all documents to you by post or e-mail;

• We will provide you with all of the information (either on the telephone or in writing) you will need to allow you to make your decisions and confirm your instructions;

• We will provide you with full advice and assistance about the correct way to sign and witness your documents;

• We will provide you with self-addressed envelopes to allow you to return documents to us;

• If any of our clients need further assistance, please let us know and we will do our best to help you.

We hope that we will be able to help our clients get through this difficult time and plan for the future.  If you would like to discuss any aspect of our Coronavirus plan and policy further or if you wish to discuss making a Will or Power of Attorney or any of services, please call one of our friendly team on 0161 749 9000 or e-mail us at leech@leech.co.uk to ask for a call back.

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We all know someone who works in the NHS or who is someone’s carer, we all know a teacher or a Police Officer or someone in the Armed Forces.   We also all know how hard they work and how much time and effort they all put in to provide an excellent service to us all.  This is especially true now during this crisis.

We also all know that, unfortunately and for various reasons, times have been tough for people in public service in recent years – funding has been cut, resources are stretched and they are being asked to take on more and more work while their wages are frozen.  They are now being asked to be in the front-line of the fight against the Coronavirus.

Just in our small team, Matt’s wife is an NHS Nurse, Claire’s husband is a retired Police Officer, we have relatives who are teachers and carers, our kids are going through schools and some are receiving Special Educational Needs assistance.   We all appreciate how tough life is for public service workers and we really appreciate the work they do for us all.

Giving back to those who care

At the moment, during this time of crisis, there are now more people than ever around the Country who have stepped forward to help in whatever way they can even though this puts them at greater risk from the virus.  They are the Supermarket workers, delivery drivers, postal workers, refuse disposal workers and many, many more.  They have been rightly called Key Workers and we also appreciate the efforts they are making for us all.

There is now also an army of Volunteers helping Food Banks to stay open, medicines to be delivered, food to be taken to people self-isolating etc etc.

As a Country we are coming together to help each other get through this difficult and frightening time.

Therefore, as a firm, we would like to give something back to all of these people and try to make their hard-earned money go a little bit further and help them make a plan to protect their future and their family’s future.

That is why, for all of 2020, we will offer a 20% reduction to our fixed fees and rates* to all NHS staff, carers, teachers, Police, members of the Armed Forces, Key Workers and Volunteers.  We hope this will make it affordable for them to plan for, and protect, their future and their family’s future.

We can offer assistance with the following:

• Wills
• Powers of Attorney
• Funeral Plans
• Court of Protection
• Probate
• Estate Administration.

N.B. We work closely with several Independent Financial Advisers.  Therefore, if you need financial advice, we can put you in touch with an expert.

Appointments to suit you – at a social distance!

As part of our normal service to our clients, we would always come to see you at home or at work so there would be no need to book an appointment to come and see us.  However, at the moment, due to the Government’s social distancing guidelines, we can only offer telephone appointments.  However, these appointments will be at a time to suit you, your working hours and your shifts.  We offer fixed fees wherever possible and there are no hidden costs.

We are a small, friendly team and we are committed to helping you and your family plan for, and protect, your future.

If you want to find out more about us or about how we can help you, have a look at our website – www.leechandco.co.uk – or call us on 0161 749 9000 /or 07572 373 813 for a free, initial chat.  You can also e-mail us at leech@leech.co.uk to request a call back.

(*does not include Funeral Plan cost)

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