Free Legal information and Legal advice
When a person dies somebody has to deal with their estate (the money, property and possessions left) by collecting in all the money, paying any debts and distributing the estate to those people entitled to it. If the deceased has left a Will appointing an executor; this will be the person entitled to administer the estate. The legal authority to do this is the Grant of Probate which is issued on application to the Probate Registry. If the Deceased did not leave a Will then he Law lays down a Statutory Order for those entitled to carry out the administration. The person or persons entitled will apply for authority in much the same way to the Probate Registry for a ‘Grant of Letters of Administration’.
A Grant is not always needed but will be required to sell or transfer property held in the Deceased’s name. Even if required the procedure to obtain a Grant is quite straightforward and it is only in the most exceptional and complex estates that it is necessary to employ a solicitor to carry out the administration process.
Questions and answers:
Q. I have no need to make a Will as when I die I just want everything to go to my wife and then to our children |
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Q. My husband has recently died. He had savings of £9500 in a building society but they will not release the money to me without a grant of probate. Is there anything I can do? |
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