How should I deal with probate when I am the executor?

When you are appointed to be an executor, the person doing so is asking you to take care of their affairs once they have died.  This is a position of great responsibility.

Sometimes it is a position you end up with because there is no Will and someone must take hold of things deal with the deceased persons belongings, cash and property.

Whichever way you become an executor, you need to be aware of your obligations and duties.

Primarily, your role is to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries (those people who inherit from the person who died).

You must find out about everything they owned (assets), such as houses, cars, bank accounts, shares, etc.  You must also find out about everything they may have owed (liabilities), such as debts, mortgages, credit cards or loans.

Once you know this, you can work out what the value of the estate is and whether you need to consider if any Inheritance Tax (IHT) is due or not.  This will then depend on how you apply for probate and what forms need to be completed.

Once you have applied and obtained the probate, you can start to collect the assets and pay off the liabilities.  You then need to consider if any other tax is due (and it may be even if no IHT was due).  For example, if a house or shares are sold for more than originally valued at, you may have Capital Gains Tax to pay.  If the bank accounts or investments receive interest, this could mean income tax is payable.

Only once you are happy and you know of all the assets, liabilities, and taxes should you consider paying out to the beneficiaries.  If you pay too early and another cost comes to light, you are responsible as the executor for settling this.  If you have already paid the beneficiaries, you may struggle to get that money back.

With this level of responsibility, some people like to hand the job off to an expert so that they can be assured that all bases are covered and they will not find that they have missed anything further down the line.  The cost of this help can be paid for by the estate.  This is something we can help with our full administration service. Click here to find out more.

With many electronic processes nowadays and a wealth of information online, people are increasingly finding they can deal with most of the processes themselves.  However, we are finding that, with the increase of blended families or other arrangements, things often are not as straightforward as they may first seem.  We have, therefore, created a tailored solution for clients where you can pick what you would like help with and only pay for that.  For example, a lot of executors are happy to collate the information on assets and liabilities but would like someone to fill out the IHT forms and probate application to ensure that it is all done correctly.  Once the grant comes through, they can then choose to carry on themselves or have some additional support to help with collecting everything, settling any costs or debts and then ensuring the beneficiaries get what they are entitled to.  If you want to find out more about our fixed-fee services, please click here.

If you want to discuss this, please call us on 01473 229200 to speak to one of our probate team in any of our offices.

Our blogs and articles are correct at the time of writing.

These have been created for marketing purposes only and should not be considered as legal advice.